How to Save a TextEdit Document as a PDF on a Mac

What you need: A Mac and the name of a note you saved in Documents with TextEdit, such as the note from How to Save a Document in the Documents Folder on a Mac. You do not need a printer: these steps make a PDF file instead of a paper copy.

Steps

1. Click Finder (the blue smiling face) in the Dock, the row of app icons along the edge of the screen.
2. In the menu bar at the top of the screen, click Go, then Documents. Look through the names for your note. The Mac may hide the ending of a name, such as .rtf. Scroll down to see more files.
3. Click your note's name once to select it. At the top of the screen, click File, move the pointer onto Open With to open its menu, then click TextEdit.
4. Check that your note is showing and that TextEdit appears beside the Apple menu at the top of the screen.
5. Click File at the top of the screen, then Print. A Print window opens.
6. At the bottom of the Print window, click the small down arrow beside PDF to open its list, then click Save as PDF. If a box with a Save As field opens as soon as you click, go on to the next step. Nothing is printed on paper.
7. In the box with the Save As field, click the field three times quickly to highlight all the text in it, then type your note's name followed by PDF, such as Shopping list PDF, so you can tell the two files apart. Leave the other boxes in it as they are.
8. Click the Where menu, which shows a place name, then click Documents in the list. If you see a larger window with a list of places on its left side instead, click Documents in that list.
9. Click Save. The box closes. If a message asks whether to replace a file that already exists, click Cancel, type a different name in the Save As field, and click Save again.
10. Click Finder in the Dock to bring its window to the front. It still shows Documents.

Expected result: Documents shows a new file with the name you typed, such as Shopping list PDF. Scroll down to see more files if you do not see it. This new file is the PDF. Your note is still there and has not changed.