Windows 10 Tip: Print to PDF

In Windows 8, Microsoft tried to push an unnecessary new document format called XPS. But Windows 10 finally embraces the PDF format everyone already uses. And you can now print to PDF.

This is useful because the PDF document format is a de facto standard and is accepted virtually everywhere, whereas XPS was never really adopted outside of Windows.

Printing to PDF is simple enough: From any desktop application or universal app that supports printing, simply select Microsoft Print to PDF from the list of available printers. For example, Microsoft Word 2016, which natively supports exporting to PDF, also picks up the Windows 10-based PDF printing capability because it appears like a real printer in the Print experience.

It works in universal apps that support printing too. For example, you can print an email at any time by typing CTRL + P. The normal universal Print window appears, letting you select among the available printers, including Microsoft Print to PDF.

As you should expect, PDFs created in Windows 10 work fine in any app or application that supports this format: Microsoft Edge (part of Windows 10), Adobe Reader, whatever.