Microsoft Publisher Will No Longer Be Supported After 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.  

How will this affect you:

You can continue to use Publisher with its current functionality until October 2026. Support for the desktop version of Publisher will end on October 1, 2026, when Office LTSC 2021 reaches end of support. Microsoft 365 subscribers will not be able to access Publisher from that date forward. 

NOTE: After October 2026, MCC will no longer support Publisher. While we will not uninstall Publisher from current devices, after October 2026 we will no longer install the application. We highly recommend starting to save all needed files now and to start using an alternate application. 

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. 

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.

Recommended alternatives to Microsoft Publisher

To complete common scenarios in Publisher, we recommend the following Microsoft 365 apps

Can I still install Publisher after October 2026? 

If you have a Microsoft 365 subscription, Microsoft Publisher will no longer be available for installation or download after October 2026. However, if you have the desktop version of Publisher, although support will end, you will still be able to install and use the app beyond this date.

NOTE: After October 2026, MCC will no longer support Publisher. While we will not uninstall Publisher from current devices, after October 2026 we will no longer install the application. We highly recommend starting to save all needed files now and to start using an alternate application. 

What happens to my existing Publisher files after the end of support? 

If you have a Microsoft 365 subscription, you will no longer be able to open or edit your Publisher files using Microsoft Publisher. It is recommended to convert your existing files to PDF or Word format before this date. If you have the desktop version of Publisher, you will still be able to access and edit your files.

What can I use instead of Publisher? 

We suggest using the recommendations provided above as starting points for common Publisher scenarios.

How can I find my Publisher files? 

A file search for “.Pub” on your PC, OneDrive, or SharePoint can help you locate your Publisher files.