Can a Notary Certify a Screenshot, Email or PDF?

Not in the usual way. A notary certifies a copy by comparing it with the original, and a screenshot you bring is not an original. But a notary can often view an email, PDF or web page at its source and certify that a printout is a true copy of what they saw.

Key takeaways

• A notary's certified copy is a comparison with the original. A screenshot or printout you made is a copy, not an original.
• For electronic documents, the notary can often access the source directly, such as an email account or web page, and certify what they saw.
• The notary certifies what was displayed and when, not that the content is genuine or unaltered at its source.
• Some official documents are now issued electronically. DFAT accepts only a limited range of electronic documents, and a scan is never one.
• For court evidence overseas, ask the foreign lawyer exactly what form of notarial record is needed before the appointment.

Why can't a notary certify a screenshot you bring?

When a notary certifies a copy, the certificate says that the copy is a true copy of an original document the notary has examined. For a paper document, that means the notary holds the original and compares the copy with it. A screenshot, a printed email or a PDF saved to a USB stick is not the original: it is already a copy, and the notary has no way to know whether it was edited before it reached them.

Certifying it as a "true copy of the original" would therefore say something the notary cannot know. Most notaries will decline, or will certify only that the printout matches the file you provided, which is a much weaker statement that many foreign bodies will not accept. Our guide to a certified true copy explains the ordinary rule.

What can a notary do with electronic documents?

Where the original is electronic, the practical equivalent of "seeing the original" is seeing it at its source. A notary can often sit with you while you log in to your email account, bank portal or government account, or visit a web page, and view the document as it is displayed there. The notary can then print it, or supervise the printing, and certify that the printout is a true copy of what they viewed, from where, and when.

How far a notary will go depends on the notary and the purpose. Some prefer to access the source on their own device, to rule out tampering; some record the web address, the date and time, and the steps taken. The certificate describes exactly what was done, and nothing more. It does not confirm that the email was genuinely sent by the person shown, or that the page was not altered by its owner.

How are screenshots, emails, PDFs and web pages handled?

Each kind of electronic document raises slightly different questions. The table shows how they are commonly approached, but practice varies between notaries, and the foreign body's requirements come first.

Item	Common approach	What the certificate can say
Screenshot you bring	Usually declined as a true copy	At most, that a printout matches the file provided
Email	Opened live in your account, in the notary's presence	What was displayed, including sender, date and time shown
PDF from an online portal	Downloaded live from the portal during the appointment	That the printout matches the file downloaded then
Web page	Visited by the notary at a stated address and time	What the page showed at that address and time
Chat or social media messages	Viewed live in the app or account	What was displayed, not who actually wrote it
Digitally signed official PDF	Check whether the receiving body accepts the electronic original	Depends on the body and the issuer

What does the notary's certificate actually prove?

A notarial certificate for an electronic document proves what the notary did and saw: for example, that on a stated date and time, at a stated address or in a stated account, the notary viewed a document, and that the attached printout is a true copy of what was displayed. That is valuable, because it fixes the content at a point in time and is made by an independent professional.

It does not prove that the content is true, that an email was genuinely sent by the person named, or that the page was never altered. Those questions of authenticity and weight are for the court or authority that receives it. If the document matters for litigation, the foreign lawyer may also want technical evidence, such as email headers or metadata, which a notary can include only if asked and only as what was displayed. Our guide to the legal effect of a notarial certificate goes into more detail.

What about electronic official documents?

More official documents are now issued electronically, such as digital police checks, digital certificates from some registries and electronically signed tax or company records. For use in Australia, many bodies accept the electronic document directly, often with a verification code, so no certification is needed at all.

For use overseas, the position is narrower. DFAT can apostille or authenticate only a limited range of electronic documents, assessed when they are lodged, and a scan or printout of a paper document is never treated as an electronic document. Where DFAT cannot deal with the electronic original, the usual answer is a paper version from the issuer, or a notarised copy, depending on what the foreign body will accept. Check DFAT's current guidance on Smartraveller before relying on an electronic document, and see our guide to which documents can be apostilled.

What about evidence for a court overseas?

Foreign courts and lawyers sometimes ask for web pages, emails or messages to be "notarised" as evidence, for example in intellectual property, defamation or contract disputes. Courts in some countries have well-established expectations for this kind of notarial record, such as how the notary's own device and connection are checked before the pages are viewed, and how each step is recorded.

If the document is for litigation, get the foreign lawyer's precise instructions before the appointment: what must be accessed, from which device, what must be recorded, and in what language the certificate should be. Then share them with the notary in advance, so the notary can say whether they can meet them. The foreign court decides what weight the record carries. Our guide to court document notarisation covers related situations.

How do you prepare for the appointment?

1. Tell the notary in advance that the document is electronic, and ask how they handle it.
2. Get the foreign body's instructions on what form of notarised record it needs.
3. Make sure you can access the source on the day: logins, two-factor codes and a working device.
4. Do not edit, forward or re-save the document before the appointment.
5. Bring photo identification, and any related paper documents the notary asks for.

What if you only have the screenshot?

Sometimes the original has gone: an email was deleted, an account closed or a page taken down. In that case a notary cannot certify it as a true copy of an original they have not seen. Options include asking the sender or website owner for a fresh copy, using an archived version the notary can access directly, or making a statutory declaration or affidavit yourself explaining what the screenshot shows and how you obtained it, which a notary can witness. Whether any of these will be accepted is for the receiving body to decide, so ask first. Our guide to what to do when an original document is unavailable covers the options.

What does this look like in practice?

Here is an illustration, not a real case. Priya is in a contract dispute with a supplier in Singapore, and her lawyer there wants notarised copies of emails from the supplier and of the supplier's web page advertising its terms.

She first offers the notary printed screenshots, which the notary will not certify as true copies. Instead, at the appointment, she logs in to her email account on the notary's computer, and the notary views the emails, records the date, time and sender details displayed, and supervises the printing. The notary then visits the supplier's web page, records its address and the time, and prints it. The notarial certificate describes each step, and the Singapore lawyer files it.

In short

A notary cannot certify a screenshot or printout you bring as a true copy of an original, because it is already a copy. But a notary can often view an email, PDF or web page at its source and certify a printout of what was displayed, with where and when. That fixes the content at a point in time; it does not prove the content is genuine. Ask the receiving body what it needs first.

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