The quickest way: convert the .pub straight to .docx
My converter opens the .pub file itself, so you don't need Publisher or a PDF first. Drop the file in, preview every page free, and for $12 you get a Word file (.docx) with every text box and picture where it was, plus a PowerPoint file and an IDML file for when you'd rather keep the layout exactly as it was. Have a folder of them? The $19 pass covers 30 days of unlimited files.
If you still have Publisher
Publisher can save a copy as PDF (File > Export > Create PDF). Open that PDF in Word with File > Open, and Word converts it into an editable document. For a letter, a report or a list, the result is usable.
If you don't have Publisher anymore
You need a PDF of the file first. My Publisher to PDF converter makes one ($4.99, free preview), or LibreOffice Draw (also free) can open the .pub and export a PDF. Word can then open the PDF the same way. Expect fonts to change if you don't have the originals installed.
Why the layout breaks
Publisher places things on a page: a text box here, a picture there, three columns that continue on page 4. Word thinks in a single stream of text that flows from top to bottom. When Word converts a designed page, it either turns everything into floating boxes that jump around as soon as you type, or it pours the text into one long column and drops the design.
That's fine for a document that was mostly text to begin with. It isn't fine for a flyer, newsletter, brochure, menu or card. (Already making your newsletter in Word? These settings make Word behave more like Publisher.)
What to use for designed pages
Pick an app that works the way Publisher did, with boxes on a page:
- PowerPoint, which you likely already have. One slide per page, sized to your page, every text box and picture where it was.
- Canva, which imports PowerPoint files as editable designs.
- Affinity (free) or InDesign, full layout apps that keep text flowing between linked columns.
My converter turns a .pub file into a PowerPoint file, an IDML file for Affinity or InDesign, and a Word file, all three for $12. You can preview every page free before paying.
If it has to be Word
The same conversion also gives you a Word file (.docx) made straight from the .pub, with no PDF step. Each page keeps its size, and every text box and picture sits where it was as a Word text box or picture, with stories that continued across columns linked so Word flows them for you. It's the closest Word gets to the original layout. Expect column breaks in long stories to land slightly differently, since Word measures the text itself.