Microsoft has confirmed that Publisher will reach end of life in October 2026, which means it will no longer be supported and will be removed from Microsoft 365 after that point.

For many businesses, Publisher is one of those applications that quietly sits in the background. It may not be used every day, but it often powers important things like old brochures, flyers, labels, newsletters, menus, business cards, and other branded documents. If that sounds familiar, now is a good time to start thinking about what happens next.

What’s changing?

Microsoft says Publisher will continue to work as normal until October 2026. After that, it will no longer be included in Microsoft 365, and Microsoft 365 users will no longer be able to open or edit Publisher files in the app. Microsoft also states that support for the perpetual version ends on 1 October 2026, when Office LTSC 2021 reaches end of support.

That does not mean your files vanish overnight, but it does mean businesses relying on .pub files should start planning now rather than leaving it until the last minute.

Why this matters

A lot of businesses still have years of legacy files tucked away in shared folders, old PCs, SharePoint libraries, or OneDrive. Even if Publisher is not part of your day-to-day workflow anymore, you may still have documents that matter — especially if they are regularly updated templates or files you may need to revisit later.

Microsoft is recommending that existing Publisher files are converted to another format before 1 October 2026.

That makes this less about software retirement and more about business continuity. If you only have a document in Publisher format and need to make changes after support ends, that could become a problem.

What should you do now?

The first step is simple: find out where Publisher is still being used.

Microsoft recommends searching for .pub files across your PC, OneDrive, or SharePoint to identify what you still have. In practice, that means checking:

• shared company folders

• OneDrive and SharePoint document libraries

• old marketing folders

• desktop documents on long-serving staff machines

• templates used for printed materials

Once you know what is there, you can sort those files into a few groups.

1. Files you only need to keep for reference

If a file is just there for record-keeping or occasional viewing, converting it to PDF is probably the best option. Microsoft specifically recommends PDF for preserving content after Publisher retires.

2. Files that still need editing

If the content still needs to be updated in future, Microsoft suggests converting the Publisher file to PDF first, then opening that PDF in Word. They do note that the layout may change, especially in more graphic-heavy documents.

3. Files that are business-critical

If you have important branded templates that are used regularly, the better long-term option may be to rebuild them properly in Word or PowerPoint rather than depending on file conversion.

What can you use instead of Publisher?

Microsoft’s recommendation is to use other Microsoft 365 apps for the most common Publisher tasks. For example:

• Word for newsletters, letterheads, envelopes, labels, forms, invoices, and programmes

• PowerPoint for posters, signs, banners, and more visual layouts

• Word or PowerPoint for brochures, business cards, certificates, calendars, and cards

Microsoft also points users toward Microsoft Create for ready-made templates across many of these document types.

What if you have a lot of Publisher files?

If your business has built up a large archive of Publisher documents over the years, doing this manually could be time-consuming.

Microsoft provides a sample PowerShell conversion script that can be used as a guide for exporting Publisher files to PDF in bulk, as long as you still have a licensed working copy of Publisher installed.

That gives businesses a useful migration window between now and October 2026 to tidy things up in a controlled way.

Our advice

This is not something most businesses need to panic about today, but it is worth adding to the IT to-do list now.

A sensible approach would be:

• identify where .pub files are stored

• decide which files still matter

• convert archive-only documents to PDF

• rebuild important templates in Word or PowerPoint

• avoid creating new business-critical documents in Publisher from this point onward

The earlier this is reviewed, the easier it will be to avoid a last-minute rush.

Final thoughts

Microsoft Publisher has been around for a long time, and for many organisations it has quietly filled a useful gap for simple design and print tasks. But with retirement confirmed for October 2026, now is the right time to move those workflows into more modern and better-supported apps.

If your business still has Publisher files in use, this is a good opportunity to clean up old content, modernise templates, and make sure important documents remain accessible long term.