If you've clicked on a newsletter, flyer or certificate this month and Publisher simply won't open, nothing is wrong with your computer. Microsoft switched Publisher off for Microsoft 365 subscribers on 1 October 2026. The good news: your files haven't gone anywhere, and you can still get at them.
How to open a .pub file without Publisher: the quick answer
- —Free and quickest: install LibreOffice (free) and open the .pub file. It opens in LibreOffice Draw, where you can view, edit and print it, or save it as a PDF with File → Export as PDF.
- —Most accurate: open it on any computer that still has Publisher 2021 or 2019 installed and choose File → Save As → PDF.
- —Need to edit it in Word? Word can't open .pub files directly. Convert the file to PDF first, then open the PDF in Word with File → Open.
The rest of this guide covers which option suits which file, how to find every .pub file you have, and where to rebuild the newsletters, flyers and templates you use every month.
What actually happened
- —If you have Microsoft 365 (Business Basic, Standard, Premium, Family or Personal), Publisher stopped working on 1 October 2026. You can't open it, reinstall it or download it any more.
- —If you bought Office 2021 or 2019 outright (a one-off licence, not a subscription), Publisher still opens. It just no longer gets security updates.
- —Your .pub files are not deleted. They're still on your computer, in OneDrive or in SharePoint, exactly where you left them. You just need another way to open them.
This mostly affects small businesses, charities, schools and churches that made newsletters, flyers, menus, price lists, certificates and event posters in Publisher, sometimes for years.
Step 1: Find all your Publisher files
Before you fix anything, find out what you have. Most people are surprised how many there are.
- —On your computer: open File Explorer, click into the search box and type *.pub. Search your Documents, Desktop and any shared drives.
- —In OneDrive and SharePoint: search for .pub in the search bar at the top of OneDrive or your SharePoint site.
- —Ask your team: the person who does the newsletter or the event flyers usually has the most.
Then sort them into two groups: files you just need to keep (old newsletters, past events) and files you reuse (templates you edit every month). They need different fixes.
Step 2: Open and convert the files you need to keep
Pick whichever of these suits you. For files you only need to keep, a PDF is the safest format: anyone can open it, and it looks exactly like the original.
- —Option A: use a computer that still has Publisher. If anyone in your business (or a volunteer) has Office 2021 or 2019 installed, open each file there and choose File → Save As → PDF. This gives the most accurate result.
- —Option B: use free LibreOffice. LibreOffice is a free office suite that can open most .pub files (they open in its Draw app). Open the file, check it looks right, then choose File → Export as PDF. Simple layouts come through well; complex ones can shift slightly, especially if a font is missing.
- —Option C: turn the PDF into an editable Word file. Once you have a PDF, open it in Word with File → Open, and Word converts it into a document you can edit. This works best for text-heavy files like newsletters and letters, less well for busy designs.
A word of caution about free online converters: they work, but you're uploading your files to a stranger's server. Don't use them for anything with client, donor, pupil or staff details in it.
Keep the original .pub files too. Put them in one archive folder in SharePoint, next to their PDF versions, in case you ever need them.
Step 3: Rebuild the things you reuse, in the right tool
For anything you edit regularly, rebuilding is usually quicker than fighting a converted file. Here's what to use for what:
- —Newsletters, letters, reports, forms and price lists → Word. Word handles columns, images and text boxes well, and everyone already knows how to use it.
- —Flyers, posters, certificates, menus and signs → PowerPoint. This surprises people, but PowerPoint is the closest thing to Publisher: you can place anything anywhere on the page. Go to Design → Slide Size and set it to A4 or Letter, then print or save as PDF.
- —Social media graphics and quick designs → Microsoft Designer (included with Microsoft 365) or Canva.
When you rebuild something you'll use again, save it as a template (File → Save As, then choose Word Template or PowerPoint Template), so nobody accidentally types over the master copy.
Step 4: Make templates easy for the whole team to find
This is where most businesses go wrong: the new templates end up in one person's Downloads folder, and six months later there are five slightly different versions of the newsletter. Put them somewhere central instead:
- —Create a Templates library in a SharePoint site everyone uses (for example your company or staff site).
- —In that library, select + New → Add template and upload your Word and PowerPoint templates. They then appear in the + New menu, so people start a fresh copy every time instead of editing the original.
- —Give each template a clear name, like Monthly newsletter or Event flyer A4, and decide who's allowed to change the masters.
Larger businesses can go a step further and have their admin set up an organisation templates library, so the templates show up right inside Word and PowerPoint under New. Either way, the point is the same: one official version that everyone can find.
Manufacturers and distributors often kept catalogues, price lists and data sheets in Publisher. Those work better as a searchable product library in SharePoint, where sales teams and distributors always get the current version. Here's how I set that up for manufacturing and distribution companies.
Your quick checklist
- —Search for every .pub file on computers, OneDrive and SharePoint.
- —Convert the ones you need to keep to PDF (Publisher 2021/2019 or LibreOffice).
- —Rebuild the ones you reuse in Word or PowerPoint and save them as templates.
- —Put the templates in one SharePoint library so the whole team uses the same version.
- —Archive the original .pub files next to their PDFs, and tell your team where everything is.
Use it as a chance to tidy up
Publisher is one of several older Microsoft tools retired this year. SharePoint Alerts and InfoPath forms have gone too. If one of them caught you out, it's a good moment to check how your files and templates are organised overall. My free Microsoft 365 setup checklist is a good place to start, and if you're not sure where your team should be saving things, read OneDrive vs SharePoint vs Teams.
If you'd rather have it done for you, I help small businesses and charities and nonprofits move their files and templates into Microsoft 365 properly through my Microsoft 365 setup service.
