Does a Google Docs PDF keep the hyperlinks?

Yes, from File, Download and from the phone app's Share & export. The Print route turns them into plain text.

Where does the PDF go when I download it from Google Docs?

Into the browser's Downloads folder, named after the document. On a phone, Save as puts it in Drive next to the document and Send a copy opens the share sheet.

Are comments included when I save a Google Doc as a PDF?

No. Comments and open suggestions are left out. Accept the suggestions first if they belong in the final document.

Why did my pageless Google Doc get cut in the PDF?

Pageless mode has no page width, so Docs paginates it at export using File, Page setup. Switch to Pages and check the layout before downloading.

Can I convert a Google Doc to PDF without downloading it?

Yes. File, Email, Email this file attaches a PDF and sends it from your account. On a phone, Save as writes the PDF to Drive.

Can a tool on this site open a Google Doc directly?

No. A Google Doc has no file until Google exports one. Download the PDF from Docs, then open it in Compress PDF or Merge PDF here.

Convert a Google Doc to PDF

Compress PDF

How to save a Google Doc as a PDF

Check the page setup

File, Page setup. Pick Pages rather than Pageless, then paper size, orientation and margins. A pageless document is paginated at export using these values.
Download it

File, Download, PDF Document (.pdf). The browser saves it to its Downloads folder under the document's name.
Or email it

File, Email, Email this file, then choose PDF as the attachment type. Google sends it from your account without a download.
Open the PDF

Check that the links are clickable and the page breaks fall where the editor showed them. If it is too large to send, open it in Compress PDF.

What the export keeps

The Download route makes the PDF on Google's servers, which is where the document already lives, and hands it to the browser. Hyperlinks, images, tables, headers and footers come through. Text stays selectable with the fonts embedded, including Google Fonts that are not installed on the computer. Comments and suggested edits are left out, and suggestions are exported as if accepted only when you accept them first.

A document in Pageless mode has no page breaks in the editor. At export Docs paginates it using the paper size and margins from File, Page setup, and a wide table or image can be cut. Switch to Pages mode and look before downloading.

How to make a Google Doc a PDF from the File menu

File, Download, PDF Document. The file lands in the browser's Downloads folder, named after the document with a .pdf ending. That is the whole route on a computer, and it works the same in every browser because the conversion happens on Google's side. This is how to save as PDF in Google Docs, and there is no other export button to look for.

File, Email, Email this file opens a small form. Choose PDF under attachment type, add a recipient and a note, and Google sends the message from your Gmail address with the PDF attached. Nothing is downloaded, which suits a phone-sized data plan or a shared computer.

Print versus Download

File, Print also produces a PDF, through the browser's print dialogue and its Save as PDF destination. Do not use it for a document people will read on screen. The print pipeline has no place for a link, so every URL becomes plain coloured text, and the page size follows the printer settings rather than the document. Download keeps the links and the page setup.

Print earns its place only for a page range, which Download does not offer. Download the whole document and cut it afterwards instead; the links survive on the pages you keep.

Save a Google Doc as a PDF on a phone

In the Google Docs app on iPhone or Android, open the document, tap the three dots, then Share & export. Save as, then PDF document, makes a PDF copy in the same Drive folder as the document. Send a copy, then PDF, makes the file and opens the phone's share sheet, from which Save to Files on iPhone or Save to Downloads on Android puts it on the phone.

Both routes keep hyperlinks, because both use the same export as the computer. The phone's own print sheet is the one to avoid, for the same reason as Print on a computer.

How to turn a Google Doc into a PDF without Google

You cannot, and no converter here pretends otherwise. A Google Doc is not a file on your machine; it is a record in Google's editor with no bytes to open until Google writes them. A tool in a browser tab can only read a file you hand it. The way out is to export first: File, Download, Microsoft Word gives a .docx, and File, Download, PDF gives the PDF directly, which is the shorter route.

The .docx route has one use. A document that must match Word's layout rather than Docs' rendering can be downloaded as .docx, opened in Word and exported there, or converted in Word to PDF, following Convert Word to PDF. For a plain Google Doc to PDF, the direct download is the answer.

Fonts, page size and things that move

Docs embeds the fonts it uses, so a PDF made from a document in a Google Font looks the same on a machine without it. Paper size comes from Page setup and defaults to Letter for a US account and A4 elsewhere; set it deliberately if the reader will print. Images placed with Wrap text or Behind text keep their position. A drawing inserted from Google Drawings is rasterised at the size it occupies.

A .docx opened in Docs without conversion exports the same way but in Docs' rendering of Word's layout. Columns and text boxes are the parts that shift most often.

After the PDF exists

A Doc with photographs exports to a file that email caps and web forms refuse. Compress PDF shrinks it in this tab to a size you type, keeps the text selectable, and reads the result back to check the pages against the original before the download. Several Docs that belong together go into Merge PDF in the order you set, and the merged file is checked on the way out. Neither tool sends the PDF anywhere.

Going the other way, putting an existing PDF into a Doc, is a different problem with a different answer, in Add a PDF to Google Docs. Every other document and spreadsheet guide is under PDF, Word, Excel and PowerPoint help.

Questions people ask

Does a Google Docs PDF keep the hyperlinks?: Yes, from File, Download and from the phone app's Share & export. The Print route turns them into plain text.
Where does the PDF go when I download it from Google Docs?: Into the browser's Downloads folder, named after the document. On a phone, Save as puts it in Drive next to the document and Send a copy opens the share sheet.
Are comments included when I save a Google Doc as a PDF?: No. Comments and open suggestions are left out. Accept the suggestions first if they belong in the final document.
Why did my pageless Google Doc get cut in the PDF?: Pageless mode has no page width, so Docs paginates it at export using File, Page setup. Switch to Pages and check the layout before downloading.
Can I convert a Google Doc to PDF without downloading it?: Yes. File, Email, Email this file attaches a PDF and sends it from your account. On a phone, Save as writes the PDF to Drive.
Can a tool on this site open a Google Doc directly?: No. A Google Doc has no file until Google exports one. Download the PDF from Docs, then open it in Compress PDF or Merge PDF here.

Do it now

The tool runs in this browser. Your file never leaves the machine, and the result is checked before you download it.