Microsoft Publisher retirement: what happens to your files
Last updated 28 September 2026.
Microsoft is retiring Publisher in October 2026. If you make newsletters, bulletins, flyers or cards in Publisher, or have old .pub files you may need again, this page sets out what changes, when, and what you can do about it.
The short version
- From 1 October 2026, Microsoft 365 subscribers can no longer use Publisher. It is removed from Microsoft 365 and can no longer be downloaded or installed.
- From 13 October 2026, Publisher 2021 (bought outright, not by subscription) is no longer supported. Publisher 2016 and 2019 already lost support in October 2025. If you bought Publisher outright, you can keep installing and using it, but it gets no more updates or fixes.
- There is no Publisher 2024 and no replacement. Office 2024 leaves Publisher out.
- Your .pub files are not deleted. The problem is opening them once you no longer have Publisher: Microsoft itself says
Publisher doesn't have a viewer for opening and viewing Publisher (.pub) files
.
What Microsoft announced
Microsoft announced the retirement in February 2024: In October 2026, Microsoft Publisher will reach its end of life. After that time, it will no longer be included in Microsoft 365 and existing on-premises suites will no longer be supported.
Microsoft's own page is Microsoft Publisher will no longer be supported after October 2026.
Which copy of Publisher do you have?
| Your Publisher | What happens |
|---|---|
| Microsoft 365 (a subscription: Personal, Family, Business, Education) | No longer available from 1 October 2026. You can't open or edit .pub files in Publisher after that. |
| Publisher 2021, Office 2021 or Office LTSC 2021 | Keeps working. Support ends 13 October 2026: no more security updates or fixes. |
| Publisher 2016 or 2019 | Keeps working. Support already ended on 14 October 2025. |
| Publisher 2013 or older | Keeps working if it's still installed, but has been unsupported for years. |
| Office 2024 or Office LTSC 2024 | Never included Publisher. |
If you bought Publisher outright, Microsoft says you can still install and use it after October 2026. Through Microsoft 365 you can't: Publisher is no longer available to download. And Publisher has only ever run on Windows PCs, never on a Mac, a Chromebook, an iPad or a phone.
What Microsoft suggests
Microsoft's advice is to convert your files while you still have Publisher: save each one as a PDF to keep it, or as a PDF you then open in Word if you want to keep editing it. For new designs, it points to Word, PowerPoint and Microsoft Designer. It also offers a script that converts a folder of .pub files to PDF, but the script needs Publisher installed to run.
If you still have Publisher, converting the files you care about to PDF now is good advice, whatever else you decide.
Your options for opening .pub files afterwards
| Option | Good for | Bear in mind |
|---|---|---|
| Keep using Publisher 2016 to 2021, if you bought it outright | Carrying on as before | Windows PCs only; no security updates |
| Save everything as PDF now | A lasting, printable copy of each file | Needs Publisher; PDFs are hard to edit |
| Rebuild in Word, PowerPoint or Designer | New work in tools you already have | They can't open .pub files, so each design is rebuilt by hand |
| Canva or Affinity | New designs | Neither can open .pub files |
| LibreOffice Draw or Scribus | Free desktop apps that import .pub files | Installed software; layouts often come out wrong (see below) |
| Online converters | A quick PDF of one file | You upload the file to someone else's server; free use is often limited to a few files a day |
| Publican | Opening, editing and printing .pub files in any browser, on any device | Saves edits as PDF or its own .publican format, not yet back to .pub |
We made Publican for exactly this: it opens .pub files from every version of Publisher, from 1993 to Microsoft 365, in your web browser, and the file never leaves your device. On our test set of difficult files, 97% of pages came out without defects, compared with 51% for LibreOffice. You can edit the text, pictures and shapes, and print or save as PDF. It's free.
A checklist for a school, club, charity or small business
- Find your .pub files. Search shared drives, old computers, email attachments and USB sticks for
*.pub. Don't forget templates you reuse every week or year. - Keep the originals. A .pub file holds more than a PDF of it: text you can edit, pictures you can swap. Don't delete them after converting.
- If you still have Publisher, export what you use to PDF for printing and archiving.
- Decide how you'll make the next one. Word or another design tool for new work, and a way to open the old files when you need them.
- Tell whoever inherits the job. The next newsletter editor or office volunteer is the person most likely to find a .pub file and no way to open it.
Common questions
- Will Publisher stop working on my computer?
- If you have it through Microsoft 365, yes: from 1 October 2026. If you bought Publisher outright, you can keep using it, but without security updates: Publisher 2021's end on 13 October 2026, and Publisher 2016's and 2019's ended in October 2025.
- Will my .pub files be deleted?
- No. They stay wherever they are. What goes away is Publisher, the program that opens them.
- Can Word open a .pub file?
- No. Word can't open Publisher files. Microsoft suggests saving them as PDF in Publisher, then opening the PDF in Word.
- Can I still get Publisher?
- Not from Microsoft 365, where it can no longer be downloaded. Office 2024 doesn't include it, and there is no Publisher 2024.
- How do I open a .pub file without Publisher?
- Open it in a web browser with Publican: free, nothing to install, and the file stays on your device. LibreOffice Draw can also import .pub files, less accurately. See how to open a .pub file without Publisher for each kind of device.
- How do I turn a .pub file into a PDF without Publisher?
- Open it in Publican, then choose Print or save as PDF from the menu, and pick Save as PDF as the printer. The steps for each browser are in converting a Publisher file to PDF.
Dates and quotations are from Microsoft's published announcements as of the date above.