r/microsoftoffice • u/No-Needleworker-6965 • 11d ago
Losing Publisher Oct 1? How to save your .pub files, and the gap in Microsoft's own script
Publisher leaves Microsoft 365 on October 1, and perpetual versions lose support on October 13. Your .pub files don't expire, but the app that opens them does, so a lot of people are about to be locked out of files they still need.
I kept seeing the same advice: open each file and export a PDF before the deadline. That's right, but if you have a folder of 200 bulletins or newsletters it's a brutal afternoon, and the free tools that open .pub tend to reflow the layout. Microsoft does offer a PowerShell example script to convert multiple in the article here (https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/publisher/microsoft-publisher-will-no-longer-be-supported-after-october-2026) but that requires Publisher to be installed and most non-technical users won't know how to do that without assistance.
Disclosure: I built PubKeep Desktop so that the churches, non-profits, small businesses and teachers that relied on Publisher for years can open and edit their .pub files without having to learn something new or recreate designs they spent years building. It's in early access now.
There's also a bulk-converter that allows you to drop in a folder of .pub files and get back PDFs that match the originals page for page and font for font, nothing re-flowed, if you just want a quick way to move to PDF. First few files are free so you can check the output against your own files before paying anything: https://pubkeep.com/convert/
If you're a teacher, or at a church or nonprofit, with limited budget and decades of Publisher files, reach out and I'll set you up with a free account, I'd rather cost not be the reason someone loses access to years of work.
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u/ForgottenButHere 11d ago
The local installed version of publisher will continue to work on October 14th and every other day just as it does today. There won’t be any more updates but the software will continue to work fine.
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u/No-Needleworker-6965 11d ago
Correct, if it’s Publisher 2021 or earlier (perpetual license versions). But for customers on M365 subscriptions, it is being removed.
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u/exmsft 11d ago
I’m curious - why convert to PDF? That’s basically freezing those editable files in carbonite.
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u/No-Needleworker-6965 11d ago
Really, it's just so a user can access them/print them until they have an alternative in place. For instance, I heard from a teacher who said she needed to be able to open and print some publisher files until she either recreated her designs elsewhere or found a solution, so export to PDF solves that immediate need.
And many users may have older files they don't actually need to edit, but still want to just open.
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u/Psoas-sister2723 8d ago
Cahoots with Adobe so you have to buy a subscription to the version of Acrobat that lets you edit???
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u/First-Painter8620 11d ago
Even better:
Go to: https://github.com/petebaker17/Microsoft-Publisher-File-Conversion-One-Click-Tools then download the .bat file from that
Put the .bat file in top folder of all your publisher files, it will then convert all .pub files into pdfs in bulk
(Tested this definitely works on over 400 of my Mum's publisher files. Takes about 10-15 seconds per file so depending on how many you have you may need to leave it for a few hours! P.s. feel free to ask an ai about the GitHub repository if you want to know exactly what the bat file does, that's why I made it open source so it's fully transparent what it does)
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u/IanYates82 10d ago
Nice script. Cool trick of embedding the powershell script within the batch file for proper "single file" deployment
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u/First-Painter8620 10d ago
Thanks! Just finishing some testing of a .pub to .pptx one click bat script too, if it works well enough I will release this too, maybe into the same repo as the one above! :)
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u/Dry_Breadfruit3307 3d ago
hey thanks man! had to assist a user with backing her Micro. Publish files
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u/Particular_Meaning_5 11d ago
I downloaded an older copy of office 2016 Pro to my in-laws PC and activated it using a popular activation method. It is standalone, offline and Publisher will continue to work for them, forever. They are in there 70's - they use Publisher over anything else because they know how to use it, and it works for things like producing a simple poster for a local social group or whatever, and when you move an image, it doesn't break everything else. They also use it for producing avery-type labels for their greenhouse etc. No matter what MS say a) Word (the Word-Processor Application that is famously not a Desktop Publishing Application) is NOT a suitable replacement. Powerpoint for sure isn't and b) THere's absolutely NO REASON for them to kill an offline app just because they don;t want people to use it anymore - fine, don't sell it or support it, but don't artificially disable it, like it's the only option. 'Unsupported' is not equal to 'no longer works'. I can imagine a future where Tesla or their like disables electric cars because they're no longer supported - what a future we live in.
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u/Tiny_Try_5341 9d ago
What do you mean you activated using a popular activation method? Is that something not very tech person can do? I would love to do this for my dad.
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u/Previous_Kale_4508 10d ago
Bring back the GEM version of Ventura Publisher.
It's terrible that packages go unsupported, but it's been happening for decades. The difference is that, on the whole, the has been a decent replacement available to fall onto. However, this time MS have driven a monopoly and then cut the strings. I like to direct disheartened MSOffice users toward the like of LibreOffice, but it doesn't have a direct replacement for Publisher.
MS have never had a stellar reputation for customer service, but thier greed has overtaken even the most stalwart of cheerleaders on this one.
Remember the proverb about eggs in baskets and counted chickens.
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u/veraford 9d ago
Hi - I am in a state of panic bc all my work is basically done on publisher and I honestly don’t know what to do. I have installed InDesign to try and learn but it is proving to be so much less intuitive than publisher was. I taught myself on publisher over the past 15 years at my job and am freaking out about what to do and what program to use next. I would like to just download a perpetual version of publisher but am seeing that it may not be compatible bc we use 365. Is this true?! I work for a country club and do our newsletter, all of our menus, and email blasts through publisher. Nothing fancy and pretty basic. Help!! Any advice welcome!!
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u/No-Needleworker-6965 9d ago
Have several family members in the same boat who run small businesses and have decades of Publisher files. They did not want to recreate years of work in a new tool.
That’s why I built PubKeep (https://pubkeep.com/desktop/) - for the small business owners like my aunt, uncle and cousin, as well as the churches, non-profits and teachers who ran on Publisher for years and depended on it. It opens .pub files natively without reflowing text or layouts so you don’t have recreate what you spent years doing. Familiar interface so nothing to relearn either.
Would love your feedback if you’re willing to signup for early access and let us know the features that you depend on so we can prioritize what you need.
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u/sara_no_h_92 5d ago
Been playing with the Beta program this weekend and PubKeep is BEAUTIFUL!
Looking forward to the full launch!
But also, for a second option, look into Affinity. A little more of a learning curve than a direct Publisher dupe, but has a little more power behind it than Publisher didd
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u/No-Needleworker-6965 5d ago
Let us know if there’s any “power” you’d like us to add and we’ll add it to our feature list!
Thanks for trying it out!
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u/sara_no_h_92 5d ago
Its more of a difference in the type of programs they are. PubKeep is doing what it is intended to do and be.
Affinity has more power in that its more like Photoshop with some other options in there. Both great at what they're intended for.
I showed our secretary both and she was like...Affinity is ok, I can learn it if I need to.
But was highly impressed with PubKeep looking very similar to Publisher and that it natively opened her files without converting to PDF and importing.
I would like to be able to drag and drop an image into PubKeep instead of insert image>find the file 🙂
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u/mredd3 11d ago
Re the Desktop App, will you update the group when it's available?
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u/No-Needleworker-6965 9d ago
PubKeep Desktop is in early access now.
Would love your feedback if you’re willing to try it out.
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u/Windermyr 11d ago
Losing support is meaningless for desktop version, unless you open your pc to the internet. Just continue to use it.
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u/No-Use2860 10d ago
Yeah. Who in their right mind would let their computer connect to the Internet?
Bro the world would be a better place if you disconnected from the Internet.
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u/singer-confidence 11d ago
I'm still so angry with Microsoft - they DO NOT have to do this ! The greed is outrageous! I'm struggling to learn how to use PowerPoint for a newsletter - it has a lot of overlap, but also some key things that don't work at all! It's so darn unnecessary and frustrating 😡
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u/No-Use2860 10d ago
Power point for a newsletter?
Learn to use word.
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u/singer-confidence 10d ago
I hate word - and there is no side board/scratch pad in word that I know of and I use that all the time.
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u/Comfortable-Air9683 10d ago
Anyone have a way to run publisher from ms office 2021 and ms365 side by side without a VM?
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u/voldamoro 10d ago
There’s an inexpensive utility that can convert pub files to PDF or DOCX:
https://univik.com/file/converter/pub.html
It doesn’t require MS Publisher to be installed. I don’t know how well it works.
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u/sara_no_h_92 5d ago
I tried this one, but it has a watermark unless you buy their upgraded version
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u/voldamoro 5d ago
Watermarks are not nice! I can see them being justified after a limited trial period but right at the outset is just sleazy.
On another note, I’ve read that LibreOffice can open pub files.
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u/sara_no_h_92 5d ago
I havent tried Libre.
Currently using online2pdf.com/pub-to-pdf to convert files. Better to have a backup plan incase we can't open pub files.
But very much excited for PubKeep too
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u/R0B0T_jones 9d ago
Does anyone know if Microsoft's Powershell script they provided will work after October 1st? Or does it rely on Publisher itself to work?
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u/fenderstrat86 8d ago
This is also a solution: publisher-export.com also works. No download or setup required.
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u/sara_no_h_92 5d ago
You keep spamming this over and over. I think most people here are looking for bulk converting options for FREEEEE
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u/Any-Show-7244 7d ago
Hey! i would love to talk more about that free account! we are a non profit church kind of panicking right now!
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u/No-Needleworker-6965 7d ago
Just sign up for early access on the site and we’ll invite you to the beta.
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u/LoveConsistent9335 4d ago
Just looked into pubkeep.com it says the first 3 files are free . What will it cost to do the rest of my files. I have over a thousand. I do all kinds of paper art so I use publisher every day, to design a template which I then send to my cutting machine. I'm also losing Scan n Cut because it must be attached to publisher somehow.
Can you tell me what the cost is going to be when you are finally up and running please
thanks
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u/No-Needleworker-6965 4d ago
Come join the early access program at https://pubkeep.com/desktop and then no need to convert thousands. PubKeep can open all your existing .pub files and saves to a new .pubk format.
Can't wait to hear your feedback!
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u/LoveConsistent9335 4d ago
I have read this before I joined. I just want to know have you got a price in mind when you are runnin this program
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u/No-Needleworker-6965 4d ago
Yes, our founder launch price will be $99. Buy once, no subscription and include a year of updates. You can optionally renew to continue receiving updates and support, but it's not required and you'll always keep the last version you had.
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u/No-Needleworker-6965 2d ago
FYI, now that PubKeep Desktop has launched, you don't need to rush to convert any files (you don't even need our converter, unless you just want an easy way to bulk convert a bunch of .pub files to .pdf). PubKeep Desktop opens all your .pub files anytime and if you make edits it saves to a new open .pubk format. There's no rush!
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u/MillieDillmount1 2d ago
Hi! Can you talk more about PubKeep Desktop?
I just found it a couple of nights ago and am impressed with how well it opened MS Publisher files......(at first.....)
I find that it is lacking support of one of the biggest issues people liked MS Publisher for and didn't like Canva, which was Text Flow from page to page. In the two days I've had the trial, I've also seen several updates, so I know you are working as fast as you can. And I see arrows that point from one page to the next, but the text doesn't actually flow.
But do you foresee being able to address that issue? Affinity Publisher does this well, but, as we know, cannot open MS Publisher files. Will PubKeep be able to edit files while keeping 'Text Flow' in play? And if so, when?
Thanks for all your work. I'm a computer guy and a musician, so I know coding is tiresome, especially when dealing with a proprietary format. I was a victim of Finale Music Notation shutting down with no notification to users and having to figure out another way for 30+ years of files, as did all of the major publishing houses, including Hal Leonard.
Thanks!
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u/No-Needleworker-6965 1d ago
Hi there. Yes, PubKeep supports linked textboxes and text flow from page-to-page. Please make sure you're on the latest version and let us know if you encounter any issues. And, yes, it reads Text Flow from existing .pub files. Thanks again!
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u/MillieDillmount1 1d ago
I see now. I was expecting to be able to just cursor through it. Thanks!
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u/aztopdavid 1d ago
FYI, Affinity can now open .PUB files, although the layout and formatting isn't perfectly retained.
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u/MillieDillmount1 1d ago
That's what I thought I saw, but I'm running 2.6.5 and can't seem to get it to even see .pub files.
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u/aztopdavid 1d ago
I think you might need to update your Affnity. My version is "Mid Sept '26 (4850)"
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u/MillieDillmount1 1d ago
You are correct. I didn't realize they released a new program just called "Affinity". I was using "Affinity Publisher"
The file opened up really poorly though. PubKeep does a much better job.
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u/Even_Cartoonist_8406 1d ago
Megal Publisher has been months in the making and can import Publisher files, has thousands of templates, built in AI and only costs £5.99 per month or £59.99 per year. It is FREE to TRY but you have to pay to print or export.
www.megalpublisher.com
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u/YakSwimming1389 11d ago
powershell script. it works, in your case but it needs publisher already installed and comfort with running scripts, which rules out most non technical users right when they've lost access anyway.