Microsoft is pulling the plug on Publisher. What now?
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Microsoft is retiring its 35-year-old desktop publishing software in October. Here’s how to save your Publisher files and what to use instead.
Microsoft is pulling the plug on Publisher. What now?
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Microsoft is retiring its 35-year-old desktop publishing software in October. Here’s how to save your Publisher files and what to use instead.
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It’s the end of a very long era: As of October 2026, Microsoft Publisher, in the company’s words, “will reach its end of life.” That makes it 35 years since the desktop publishing tool was launched back in 1991.
What does reaching end of life mean? That depends on what version of Publisher you use. If you get Publisher as part of Microsoft 365, it truly means the end of the road. After October 1, Publisher will no longer be available to those who use it as part of a Microsoft 365 subscription. Your personal publisher files (.PUB) won’t be deleted, but you won’t be able to open them in Publisher anymore — and most other desktop publishing software can’t open PUB files.
If you have a copy of Publisher that is part of Office 2021 or Office LTSC 2021 (Office Long-Term Servicing Channel 2021, for business and government computers), there’s good news and bad news. The good news is that those versions of Publisher (sometimes called “perpetual” versions) won’t die. You’ll still be able to use the software to create new files, open and edit old ones, and so on.
However, there is a caveat: After October 13, 2026, Publisher won’t be supported by Microsoft. That means it won’t get any updates, including security updates. So your PC will be more vulnerable to being hacked. Any bugs Publisher had before that date will still be bugs after that date. You also won’t be able to get any technical support for it.
If you’re comfortable with that, you can keep using Publisher. However, at some point you’re likely going to want to stop using it.
So what to do with all those PUB files on your computer for newsletters, marketing materials, and other business publications — as well as personal items like flyers or birthday invitations?
We’ve got your back. Here’s what you can do to make sure those projects live on, or at least that you have access to them after Publisher bites the dust. We’ve also provided suggestions on what programs you can use to create the kinds of documents you used to create with Publisher.
Convert PUB files to PDF using Publisher
If you’re reading this before October 1 and still have a working copy of Publisher, or if you have a perpetual version of Publisher and you’re planning to abandon it, you can manually convert PUB files to other file types — most notably .PDF, which is your best bet. PDF files should look just like whatever documents you’ve created with Publisher, which means your files will live on. Perhaps more important is that there are many programs that can either edit PDF files directly or save them into another format and edit them in that format.
For example, Word can import PDF files, which you can convert to .DOCX files, and either save them in that format or as a PDF. (You can save them in other file formats as well.)
Publisher also saves to other file types, including multiple graphics formats including .TIF, .JPG, .PNG, .GIF and .BMP. You can also save them in various web formats.
To do it, in Publisher, open the file you want to convert, go to File > Save as, and select a file format and folder location.
Mass convert PUB files to PDF
It can be time consuming to save individual PUB files if you’ve got a lot of them. Microsoft offers a free way to mass convert them to PDF files, by offering a free a script that does just that. Keep in mind, though, that you will need to be comfortable with editing scripts, because you will most likely need to make changes to the script, such as the name of the folder where your PUB files live, where you want them exported, and so on. You also need to understand PowerShell.
There’s one caveat to this: The script only works if you have a working, licensed version of Publisher on your PC. If you have one and you’re comfortable working with scripts, here’s what to do:
Download the script.
Edit the script. See Microsoft’s documentation for help.
Open a PowerShell window that has the execution policies you need to use.
Run the script.
For more details, go to the Microsoft support page “Microsoft Publisher will no longer be supported after October 2026” and scroll to the “Example conversion script” section.
Alternatives you can use instead of Publisher
Just because Publisher is dead doesn’t mean you can’t create the kind of documents you used to in it. There’s plenty of software out there to do it. Depending on what you used Publisher for, you may need to use one or more alternative programs.
You may even find that many of these programs are better bets than Publisher ever was. There are multiple reasons Microsoft killed Publisher, but one is that it was getting long in the tooth and wasn’t as capable or easy to use as newer programs. Publisher also didn’t work with mobile devices, didn’t allow multiple people to work on the same document, and didn’t have web-based versions. Many, but not all, competing programs do.
Here’s a list of what you can use.
Microsoft 365 apps
If you got Publisher via a Microsoft 365 subscription, there’s good news: You have everything you need to create new Publisher-like documents. And if you’ve saved PUB files with designs and content you may want to use again converting them to PDF files means you’ll be able to reuse the content. You might be able to reuse the designs as well, although not necessarily.
The two main Microsoft 365 programs that’ll do the work for you are Word and PowerPoint. Note that if you’re using PDFs converted from PUB files, Word does a much better job than PowerPoint of keeping the initial designs intact.
When to use Word and when to use PowerPoint to create the kind of documents you used to create with Publisher? Here’s what Microsoft recommends:
Type of documentWhich app to useAds or flyersWord or PowerPointBrochuresWord or PowerPointBanners, signs, or postersPowerPointCertificatesWord or PowerPointBusiness cardsWord or PowerPointBusiness invoices, applications, and formsWordCalendarsWord or PowerPointEnvelopesWordLabelsWordLetterheadWordNewsletterWordPrograms, folded paper projectsWordCards (greeting, compliment, etc.)Word or PowerPoint
Note that you can also try to create documents like posters, banners, signs, and greeting cards with Microsoft Designer, the AI image creation tool that comes for free with a Microsoft 365 subscription. With Designer, you create these materials using text prompts, which means you won’t have fine-tuned control over the designs the way you do in Word or PowerPoint. On the other hand, they’ll likely be more visually powerful than anything you can create with Word or PowerPoint.
Microsoft also recommends Microsoft Create, a tool in its Copilot AI app that incorporates Designer and other creative apps and offers customizable templates for various graphics projects.
Other alternatives to Publisher
If you don’t have Microsoft 365, there are several alternatives to Publisher you can try. Unfortunately, many of them are expensive and difficult to use. Here are some free or low-cost options that are fairly straightforward to use.
Affinity is a great bet and does pretty much everything that Publisher did. It’s free for individuals and businesses, but is also available as a paid product for enterprises. If you want image creation software as part of the package, you’ll have to pay to use the Canvas suite, which includes Affinity.
LibreOffice Draw is part of the free LibreOffice suite. It’s a good bet for flyers, brochures, newsletters, posters, and certificates. It has the added benefit of being able to directly import PUB files. Keep in mind, though, that although it can import PUB files, its ability to accurately capture complex layouts and documents, table formatting, and WordArt can be flaky.
Scribus is a free, professional-level tool for desktop publishing. It’s tough to use, but gives you even more control over your creations and layouts than Publisher did. If you’re not a professional, this program isn’t for you.
Marq has similar capabilities to Publisher. Individuals can try it for free for three projects. Paid versions cost $10 per month.
Microsoft OfficeOffice SuitesProductivity SoftwareMicrosoft 365Microsoft
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