Microsoft Publisher is retiring: what changes after October 2026

You didn't provide any text to translate. Could you please provide the text you want to translate from Italian to English? October 1st, 2026 Microsoft Publisher exits the stage. After thirty years, the program leaves the Office suite and stops being supported.

If you have used it for flyers, price lists, business cards or newsletters, the practical problem is only one: what happens to the files? .pub what you have in the archive.

The answer is not the same for everyone. It depends on how you have Office installed, and the difference is clear. With a subscription. Microsoft 365 those files become unreadable. With one perpetual license no.

Two dates, not one

October 1st, 2026. Publisher exits from Microsoft 365. Those who have the subscription lose access to the program.

October 13, 2026. The support for the perpetual version included in Office LTSC 2021 ends. The program remains where it is and continues to open, but from then on there will be no more corrections or security updates.

Nobody uninstalls anything from your computer. What changes is that the subscription stops giving you access to the software, while a license bought once remains yours.

With Microsoft 365 you lose the archive

Let's say it straight: from October 1st You will no longer be able to open your .pub files. .

The files do not disappear. What disappears is the only program on your computer capable of reading them, which for all practical purposes is the same thing.

Do you have models and price lists that you update every season? That material becomes digital waste paper. It's not a theoretical risk: it's the expected behavior.

With a perpetual license, you have time.

Publisher 2016, 2019 and 2021 purchased with a perpetual license They remain installed and continue to open .pub files. Even after October 2026. You lose Microsoft support, not the program.

This does not make it a forever solution. A software that no longer receives security updates is not the place to permanently store the company's archive.

However, it buys you something tangible: the ability to convert leisurely instead of in three days. For those with hundreds of files, it makes all the difference.

This is also the reason why in recent weeks several Microsoft 365 subscribers have been buying a perpetual license for Publisher. Not to use it for a long time. But to avoid being locked out on October 1st.

What to do with .pub files, in practice

The procedure indicated by Microsoft is trivial, and must be done as long as Publisher still opens. Open the file, Save as name , format PDF . If there are many files, Microsoft distributes a PowerShell script that converts the entire folder in one go.

A warning about the PDF: it's great for storing and printing, much less for editing. It can be reopened in Word, but the layout almost always needs to be manually reconstructed.

So don't convert everything in the same way. Divide into two groups: what you still need and what you keep just for historical purposes. Redo the first one in the program you will manage it with from now on, using the PDF as a visual reference. Archive the second one in PDF and don't think about it anymore.

What to use instead of Publisher

Microsoft has not written a substitute. It has moved the functions of Publisher into programs that you probably already have installed.

Word Takes newsletters, forms, envelopes, labels, everything that is paginated text.

PowerPoint He takes flyers, business cards, calendars, certificates. It seems like a bizarre choice, but it's actually the most sensible: he works on a canvas of free dimensions and places the objects exactly where you tell him to, which is the way Publisher used to be used.

Microsoft Create It is useful if you prefer to start from an already set model rather than from a blank sheet.

When Word and PowerPoint are not enough

Those who used Publisher for work, not just for the occasional flyer, will soon realize what's missing: colors for professional printing, side-by-side pages, fine control over typography, and high-resolution image management.

At that point, the leap is not within Office, it is towards a real graphics program. CorelDRAW It covers the desktop publishing territory well and is available with a perpetual license, so no monthly subscription is required.

If instead you want to understand how far Word goes compared to Publisher, we have compared them in the Guide on the differences between Publisher and Word .

The questions we get asked most often

Does Publisher stop working after October 2026?

It depends on how you have it. With a Microsoft 365 subscription, yes, from October 1, 2026 it is no longer accessible. With a perpetual license, no: it remains installed and continues to open, but without support or updates.

Can I still buy Publisher?

Yes. Perpetual licenses for Publisher 2016, 2019, and 2021 are still available for purchase and remain usable after expiration. On Macrosoft, they start from €29.00 for 2016, €39.90 for 2019, and €49.90 for 2021, with digital delivery via email in just a few minutes.

How do I open a .pub file without Publisher?

There is no truly reliable way. Word only opens .pub files in limited cases and almost always gets the pagination wrong, while online converters yield inconsistent results and require you to upload the document to an external server. This is exactly why the conversion needs to be done now.

What do I use instead of Publisher for flyers?

PowerPoint, which is the alternative suggested by Microsoft and works better than you might imagine. If the material goes to printing and you need control over the print colors, then you need a graphics program like CorelDRAW.

Can .pub files converted to PDF still be modified?

Not directly. The PDF reopens in Word, but the result almost always needs to be reassembled. For documents that you update often, it is advisable to recreate them in the new program from scratch, using the PDF as a reference.

I have Publisher within Office 2021: what changes for me?

Your Publisher remains installed and operational. Since October 13, 2026, it no longer receives updates, so you can continue to use it to manage the archive, but it is advisable to plan the conversion of the files that you will still use in the coming years.

Deadlines like this are noticed when they have already passed. If you use Publisher, the useful thing to do this week is just one: open the .pub folder and decide what to save.

options to keep the program available while you organize the archive, on Macrosoft there are. Perpetual licenses of Publisher starting from 29,00 €. If you are rethinking the entire suite, in Office Catalogue You will find the complete versions with Word and PowerPoint. The support responds in Italian from Monday to Saturday, even remotely.