Publisher is retired. What do I do with my files?
Last updated: 5 November 2026
If you made newsletters, flyers, menus or cards in Microsoft Publisher, your files are still there and you can still use them. Here is what changed, and what you can do, step by step.
What happened
- Microsoft removed Publisher from Microsoft 365 on 1 October 2026.
- Support for the versions bought once (Publisher 2016, 2019 and 2021) ended on 13 October 2026. These may still open on your computer, but they no longer get security updates.
- No other Microsoft program opens .pub files: not Word, PowerPoint or Designer.
1. Find your .pub files
On Windows, open File Explorer, click in the search box at the top right and type *.pub. On a Mac, open Finder and search for .pub. Look in Documents, Desktop, Downloads, OneDrive, USB sticks and old e-mails, too.
2. Keep a copy
Copy the files into one folder and keep a second copy on a USB stick or in your cloud storage. The .pub files themselves are not deleted by Microsoft; only the program is gone.
3. Open them without Publisher
Pubwork opens .pub files from Publisher 97 up to Microsoft 365 in any web browser, on Windows, Mac and Chromebook. Nothing is installed and your files are never uploaded.
4. Choose how to keep them
- To keep, print or share them as they are: save them as PDF. A PDF looks the same on every computer, for years to come.
- To keep changing them: open them in Pubwork and save them as Pubwork files, or save as Word (.docx) if you prefer to work in Word.
- For pictures to post online: save each page as JPG or PNG.
5. Many files? Do them all at once
Choose a whole folder, and every .pub file in it is converted to PDF or Word in one go, coming back in one .zip file with a list of how each file went.
What about Microsoft’s advice?
Microsoft suggests saving files as PDF while you still have Publisher, and opening the PDF in Word to edit it. That works for simple text, but pictures and text boxes often move or break apart. If you no longer have Publisher, you can’t do the first step at all. Pubwork reads the .pub file itself, so the layout is kept.
For new flyers, newsletters and cards
You don’t need to learn a complicated program. Pubwork has a page in the middle, your pages on the left, and simple options on the right, just like Publisher. It also has templates, mail merge, labels, booklets and calendars.
Questions
Can I save back to .pub? No: Microsoft never published how to write .pub files, so no other program can. Keep the original .pub files as they are, and save your new versions as PDF, Word or Pubwork files.
Are very old files supported? Files from Publisher 97 onwards open. Files from Publisher 95 and older can’t be read.