What actually changed
Microsoft retired Publisher in October 2026. If you have Publisher through a Microsoft 365 subscription, it's gone from your apps, and Word, PowerPoint and Excel can't open .pub files. Office 2024 never included Publisher in the first place.
Your .pub files weren't deleted. They're just files nothing on your computer can open anymore. That matters most for things you reuse: the church bulletin, the yearly flyer, the newsletter template, the menu.
Option 1: an old perpetual copy of Publisher
If you own a one-time-purchase version such as Publisher 2019 or 2021, it keeps running. It doesn't get updates anymore, but it opens your files. If you have it, use it to save a PDF of every file you care about, today, as a backup.
Good for: people who already own it. Not good for: the long term, since it will eventually stop installing on new computers.
Option 2: LibreOffice Draw (free)
LibreOffice is a free office suite, and its Draw app opens most .pub files. For a simple one-page flyer it's often fine. Larger documents can shift: text that flowed between columns gets copied into every column, wrapped text stops wrapping, and fonts change.
Good for: looking at a file, or a quick edit to something simple.
Option 3: PDF, then Word
Microsoft's own suggestion is to save as PDF and, if you need to edit, open the PDF in Word. You need Publisher to make the PDF, and Word turns a designed page into a long document with floating boxes. It works for text-heavy files and falls apart on anything with columns or pictures placed on the page.
Good for: letters and simple text documents. See converting Publisher to Word for when that's the right call.
Option 4: convert to a layout format you can keep editing
The files that hurt to lose are layouts: pages with text boxes, pictures and columns. Those belong in a layout app, and several can't open .pub but can open other layout formats:
- PowerPoint (already in Microsoft 365) opens .pptx, and handles flyers, cards and newsletters better than you'd expect: one slide per page, every box movable.
- Canva imports .pptx files as editable designs.
- Affinity (free from Canva) and InDesign open IDML, the standard layout exchange format, with linked columns.
That's what my converter does. You drop a .pub file in, preview every page free, and for $12 get a .pptx, an IDML file and a Word .docx. If you have a stack of files, the $19 pass covers 30 days of unlimited files.
Which should you pick?
- You just need to read or print an old file: get a PDF. My converter makes one for $4.99, no Publisher needed, with a free preview first.
- You'll edit it again and it's mostly text: PDF to Word is fine.
- You'll edit it again and it's a designed page: convert it to PowerPoint, Canva, Affinity or InDesign.