I have thousands of Publisher files; I'm not opening each one individually to convert them. What is this BS about retiring publisher and losing access to all those files? This is 20 years of work that my business is going to lose, we won't recover from th

Hi @Anthony Sofie,

Welcome to the Microsoft Q&A forum.

Thank you for reaching out to us. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused by the discontinuation of support for Microsoft Publisher. In this email, we would like to provide you with detailed information about Publisher, along with a solution to help you convert Publisher files in bulk automatically.

You can continue using Microsoft Publisher with full functionality until October 2026. Support for the perpetual version of Publisher will end on October 1, 2026, when Office LTSC 2021 officially reaches end of support. After that date, Microsoft 365 users will no longer be able to access the Publisher application.

We deeply appreciate your trust in Microsoft over the past 20 years — a truly long and meaningful journey. During that time, you’ve created many Publisher files to support your business operations. Therefore, we’d like to share the following method to help you convert Publisher files to PDF in bulk:

You can refer to the following document: Microsoft Publisher will no longer be supported after October 2026 - Microsoft Support

 Instructions for Bulk Converting Publisher Files to PDF

Note: This is provided for instructional purposes, and we recommend you modify and test for your specific needs.

How to run:

1. Ensure you have a working and licensed version of Publisher installed on your computer.
2. Download the sample script to your computer.
3. Modify the script as needed for your intended purpose.
4. Open a PowerShell window with the required execution policies.
5. Run the script against the files or directories you need.

Examples:

• Converts the specified Publisher file to PDF format.
  • Convert-PubFileToPDF.ps1 -Filter "C:\Documents\MyFile.pub"
• Converts all Publisher files in the current directory to PDF format.
  • Convert-PubFileToPDF.ps1 -Filter "*.pub" ​​​​​​​
• Converts all Publisher files in the current directory and all subdirectories to PDF format.
  • Convert-PubFileToPDF.ps1 -Filter "*.pub" -Recurse
• Converts all Publisher files in the specified directory to PDF format.
  • Convert-PubFileToPDF.ps1 -Filter "C:\Documents*.pub"
• Converts all Publisher files in the specified directory and all subdirectories to PDF format.
  • ​​​​​​​Convert-PubFileToPDF.ps1 -Filter "C:\Documents*.pub" -Recurse

Notes:

• The script is designed to continue running if it encounters errors and will display which files were converted and which encountered an error.
• If a file with the same name already exists, it will not be exported and an error will be shown. Please delete or rename the conflicting file and run the script again.
• Refer to the Document.ExportAsFixedFormat documentation for additional parameters you may want to adjust, such as PbFixedFormatType and PbFixedFormatIntent. You may also consider using Document.SaveAs with PbFileFormat to export to alternative formats.

 Recommended Microsoft 365 Apps to Replace Publisher

Ads or Flyers – Word, PowerPoint, or Designer

Brochures – Word or PowerPoint

Banners, Signs, Posters – PowerPoint or Designer

Certificates – Word or PowerPoint

Business Cards – Word or PowerPoint

Business Invoices, Applications, and Forms – Word

Calendars – Word or PowerPoint

Envelopes – Word

Labels – Word

Letterhead – Word

Newsletter – Word

Programs, Folded Paper Projects – Word

Cards (Greeting, Compliment, etc.) – Word, PowerPoint, or Designer

Note: As community moderators, we kindly ask for your understanding that our access to internal development details is limited. Our primary role is to guide users toward the appropriate resources and support channels. While we may not influence product design decisions, we’ll continue doing our best to support you within the scope of our responsibilities.

We hope you find these steps helpful. Please give them a try and let us know if they resolve the issue. If not, we’re more than happy to continue assisting you until we find a solution.

Thank you so much for your patience and understanding throughout this process. If you have any questions or need further support, please don’t hesitate to reach out at any time.

 If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment". 

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