How to open .pub files without Publisher after October 2026

What changed

Microsoft has retired Publisher. Its support page, Microsoft Publisher will no longer be supported after October 2026, says that Microsoft 365 subscribers can no longer open or edit Publisher files in Publisher on or shortly after 1 October 2026. The one-time-purchase Publisher still works, but its support ended on 13 October 2026. Microsoft's own batch-conversion script needs a working, licensed Publisher.

Your .pub files are not deleted. You just need another program to open them.

Option 1: an older Publisher is still installed

1. Open the file in Publisher.
2. Choose File, Save As, pick PDF and save.
3. For many files, Microsoft's support page links a PowerShell script that does a whole folder. It needs that installed Publisher.

Option 2: free LibreOffice Draw, one file at a time

1. Download the free LibreOffice from libreoffice.org and install it.
2. Start LibreOffice Draw, choose File, Open and pick your .pub file.
3. Choose File, Export as PDF, then Export.

Good for a few files. LibreOffice reads Publisher files with its own reader, so complex layouts can look a little different (see What to expect).

Option 3: LibreOffice from the command line

LibreOffice can convert files without opening a window. In a Command Prompt, change the two folder paths to yours:

"C:\Program Files\LibreOffice\program\soffice.com" --headless --convert-to pdf --outdir "D:\Converted" "D:\Old newsletters\*.pub"

It does one folder at a time without sub-folders, LibreOffice has to be closed first, and one file that makes LibreOffice hang stops the whole command. There is no list of what failed and no PNG pages. For a whole archive with sub-folders, see how to batch convert Publisher files to PDF.

Option 4: whole archives with PUB Lifeboat (free trial, then from $14)

1. Download the free trial of PUB Lifeboat and install it. Install the free LibreOffice as in Option 2, or let PUB Lifeboat download it for you.
2. Start PUB Lifeboat and click Choose a folder. Sub-folders are included.
3. Tick PDF and/or PNG and click Start.

It recreates your folder structure, never changes the originals, skips files already done, stops files that hang and writes a report of every file. The quality is the same as Option 2, because it uses the same engine. The first 10 files are free, so you can try it on your own files first. After that a licence ($14, or $29 with editable SVG and ODG) removes the small trial line.

Option 5: online converters

Many websites convert .pub to PDF. They are fine for a single file with nothing private in it, but you are uploading the file, so think twice with member lists, addresses or school material.

What to expect from the conversion

• Simple flyers, letters, notices and certificates usually look close to the original.
• Newsletters with long stories running through linked text boxes can show text printed over the next story.
• Pictures can end up on top of text instead of text flowing around them.
• Missing fonts are replaced, so lines may wrap differently. Install the fonts the files were made with if you can.
• Very old files (Publisher 98 and 2000) can lose tables or fonts.

From our own tests with 23 public sample files (Apache POI, Apache Tika and LibreOffice's test files) and LibreOffice 26.8.2, 9 November 2026. We had no files from Publisher 2016 or later to test.