Publisher App

For creating new content that used to be done in Publisher, the recommended Microsoft 365 alternatives depend on what is being created:

• Ads or flyers: Word or PowerPoint
• Brochures: Word or PowerPoint
• Banners, signs, posters: PowerPoint
• Certificates: Word or PowerPoint
• Business cards: Word or PowerPoint
• Business invoices, applications, forms: Word
• Calendars: Word or PowerPoint
• Envelopes, labels, letterhead, newsletters, programs, folded paper projects, cards: Word (or Word/PowerPoint where listed)

For existing .pub files, there is no separate end‑user “conversion program,” but there are supported ways to convert them:

1. Manual conversion in Publisher (for individual files)
   • Open the Publisher file.
   • Select File > Save As.
   • Choose a location, select PDF as the file type, then select Save.
2. Bulk/automated conversion using PowerShell (for many files)
   • Ensure a working, licensed version of Publisher is installed.
   • Download the sample PowerShell script Convert-PubFileToPDF.ps1 from the article.
   • Modify it as needed, open PowerShell with the required execution policy, and run it against your files.
   • Example usages:
     • Single file:
       Convert-PubFileToPDF.ps1 -Filter "C:\Documents\MyFile.pub"
     • All .pub files in current folder:
       Convert-PubFileToPDF.ps1 -Filter "*.pub"
     • All .pub files in current folder and subfolders:
       Convert-PubFileToPDF.ps1 -Filter "*.pub" -Recurse

The script is designed to continue if it encounters errors and will report which files converted successfully and which failed. If a PDF with the same name already exists, that file is skipped and an error is shown.

If future editing is needed, Publisher files can be converted to PDF and then opened in Word (File > Open in Word with the PDF), understanding that layout may change, especially for graphics-heavy documents.

References:

• Microsoft Publisher will no longer be supported after October 2026
• Save As or convert a publication to .pdf or .xps using Publisher
• 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 - Microsoft Q&A