Microsoft Publisher Retirement

Microsoft Publisher retiring October 2026

In October 2026, Microsoft Publisher will reach its end of life. After that time, it will no longer be included in Microsoft 365 and existing on-premises suites will no longer be supported. Microsoft 365 subscribers will no longer be able to open or edit Publisher files in Publisher. Until then, support for Publisher will continue and users can expect the same experience as today.  

Many common Publisher scenarios—including creating professionally branded templates, printing envelopes and labels, and producing customized calendars, business cards, and programs—are already available in other Microsoft 365 apps such as Word and PowerPoint. For recommendations on where to start common Publisher scenarios, see below.

How will this affect you:

You can continue to use Publisher with its current functionality until October 1, 2026.

Microsoft 365 subscribers will not be able to access Publisher after October 1, 2026.  

Support for the perpetual version of Publisher will end on October 13, 2026, when Office LTSC 2021 and Consumer Office 2021 reach end of support.

How to prepare before October 2026:

Action Recommended: Convert your existing files to another format before 10/1/2026. After this date, you will no longer be able to open or edit these files in Microsoft Publisher.  

How to prepare your files for Publishers retirement by saving them in another format. 

View content after Publishers retirement by converting to PDF format

• Steps to Convert Publisher Files to PDF
  
  1. Open Publisher file.
  2. Go to File > Save as.
  3. Choose a location to save the file.
  4. Select PDF as the file type and Save.
• To convert many Publisher files, consider automating this process by using a PowerShell script. You can refer to Example conversion script as a guide.

Edit content after Publishers retirement by either:

• Converting a Publisher file to PDF, and then a Word file.
  
  • Convert Publisher file to PDF.
  • Steps to Convert PDF Files to Word
    
    1. Open Word.
    2. Go to File > Open.
    3. Locate and open the PDF file.
    4. Select OK in the dialog box.
• From here your document will open as a Word file.

Note

The converted Word document will be optimized for text editing. As a result, its layout may vary from the original PDF—particularly if the document includes many graphics.

• Using a third-party conversion tool to convert directly from Publisher to another file type.

Note

These services vary in quality and capabilities, and Microsoft does not provide support for them. 

Moving forward, we recommend using Canva at ODU, Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, or Microsoft Designer for your basic desktop publishing and layout needs.

To complete common scenarios in Publisher, Microsoft recommends the following Microsoft 365 apps:  

Where to start?