Microsoft Publisher is retired: how to open your .pub files now

Checked on 30 September 2026 against Microsoft's notice Microsoft Publisher will no longer be supported after October 2026. Omnvert is not affiliated with Microsoft; Microsoft product names appear here only to describe file compatibility.

If you just want your files back in a readable form, the shortest route is to convert your .pub files to PDF with the Omnvert Publisher converter. It takes one file, a folder or a ZIP of folders, and shows page 1 of up to 20 files before you pay anything. The rest of this article explains what Microsoft changed, who is affected, and which of the remaining options suits which situation.

What Microsoft is changing, and when

Microsoft's support page says Publisher reaches end of life in October 2026, is no longer included in Microsoft 365 after that, and that existing on-premises suites are no longer supported. The page gives three concrete points:

• Until 1 October 2026 Publisher keeps its current functionality.
• After 1 October 2026 Microsoft 365 subscribers cannot access Publisher. The FAQ on the same page adds that subscribers will no longer be able to install or download it, and will no longer be able to open or edit their Publisher files in Publisher.
• On 13 October 2026 support for the perpetual (one-time purchase) version ends, the same day Office 2021 and Office LTSC 2021 reach end of support.

The detail that matters most is in the FAQ: a perpetual licence does not switch off. Microsoft writes that if you have the perpetual version, "although support will end, you will still be able to install and use the app beyond this date." What stops is security fixes and help, not the program. Microsoft's own recommendation for everyone else is to convert existing files to PDF or Word format.

Who is affected

The Office 2024 row surprises people. Microsoft's Office 2024 FAQ lists Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and (in Home & Business) Outlook, and states that Office LTSC 2024 does not include Publisher because it is being retired. Buying the newest one-time Office therefore does not give you a way to open .pub files.

Your options, ranked

Ranked by how faithful the result is and how much effort it takes, from the top:

1. Export from Publisher itself, if you still have it. A perpetual Office with Publisher installed produces the most faithful PDF, because the same engine that laid out the page also draws it. Use File > Save As and pick PDF. Microsoft also publishes a sample PowerShell script for bulk export, but it needs a working, licensed copy of Publisher on the same computer.
2. Convert online. Without Publisher, a converter is the practical route. Omnvert turns .pub files into PDF, PNG or JPG page images, an editable ODG file for LibreOffice Draw, or one combined PDF. It works in bulk and writes a report that names every font it had to replace. Microsoft's page notes that third-party converters vary in quality and are not supported by Microsoft, which is fair: check the preview before you rely on any of them.
3. Open it in LibreOffice Draw. The free LibreOffice suite lists Microsoft Publisher 98-2010 among the formats Draw can open. It is a good option for a handful of files you want to edit, one at a time.
4. Go through PDF to Word for editing. This is Microsoft's suggested path: PDF first, then open the PDF in Word. Microsoft warns that the layout may differ from the original, especially with many graphics. Our PDF to Word converter does the same step without desktop Word.
5. Rebuild the templates you actually reuse. For a letterhead or a price list you update every month, recreating it in the tool you will use from now on is often less work than fighting a converted copy. Our comparison of Publisher alternatives in 2026 covers where to rebuild.

How to convert your .pub files now

1. Find them. Microsoft suggests searching for ".pub" on your PC, OneDrive and SharePoint. Copy everything into one folder, keeping any subfolders that mean something to you, such as years or clients.
2. Open the Publisher converter and drop the files, the folder, or a ZIP of the folder onto the page.
3. Choose the outputs: a PDF per file, one combined PDF, PNG or JPG images at 150 or 300 DPI, or ODG if you want to keep editing.
4. Look at the free preview. It shows page 1 of up to 20 files. Check accented letters, fonts and any text boxes that continue onto another page.
5. Convert and download the ZIP. Your folder structure is kept, and a CSV and HTML report lists each file with its status, page count, fonts used, fonts replaced and warnings.

Ready to try it on your own archive? Open the bulk Publisher to PDF converter and start with the free preview. The first file each day is free at full quality with no watermark; after that the existing plans apply (a credit pack covers 3 files, a Day Pass lasts 24 hours, and Pro is the subscription). The converter page shows the current prices when you go past the free file. Once you have PDFs, you can merge them into one file or compress them for email.

Old Publisher 97/98 files with Turkish, Greek or Cyrillic text

Files saved by Publisher 97 and 98 do not store text as Unicode. They store it in the Windows code page of the PC that saved them: Windows-1254 on a Turkish PC, Windows-1251 on a Russian one, and so on. A converter that assumes the Western European code page turns "Şirket Kaşığı" into "Þirket Kaþýðý", because the bytes for Ş, ş, ı and ğ mean Þ, þ, ý and ð in that table.

Omnvert detects the code page and decodes these files correctly, so Turkish comes out as Turkish. The same applies to Cyrillic, Greek, Hebrew, Arabic and Central European text. If you have old school newsletters, parish bulletins or company forms from the late 1990s, this is the part to check first in the preview.

What happens to the fonts

Microsoft fonts are not available on the conversion server, so each one is replaced by an open font. For many common faces there is a metric-compatible twin: every character has the same width, so line breaks stay exactly where they were. That covers Arial, Times New Roman, Courier New, Calibri, Cambria, Georgia, Arial Narrow, Segoe UI, Palatino and Book Antiqua, Bookman Old Style and Century Schoolbook.

Other fonts get a close design rather than an exact twin, and there text may reflow slightly: Garamond, Franklin Gothic, Gill Sans, Rockwell, Comic Sans and Century Gothic are typical examples. The report names every replacement, so you know which files deserve a second look.

What will not convert perfectly

Complex layouts can shift. Text that flows through linked text boxes, such as newsletter columns or a story "continued on page 2", may repeat in each box in the current version; the report warns you when that happens. WordArt effects and some embedded objects may be simplified. For files where every millimetre matters, such as a print-ready brochure, an export from Publisher itself remains the most faithful option if you still have access to it.

Where your files go

Conversion runs on Omnvert's server, using LibreOffice inside an isolated container that has no network access. Outputs are deleted 15 minutes after you download them, originals within 120 minutes, and a bulk download you never collect after 60 minutes.