Your Publisher files, rescued as PDF and Word in one batch
Since October 2026, Microsoft 365 subscribers can no longer open or edit .pub files in Publisher. Send us the folder, however many files and however old, and we convert every one on licensed Publisher installations, so the layout, fonts and images come out the way you designed them. You get print-ready PDFs, editable Word versions and a report of anything that needs a second look.
- Converted with Microsoft Publisher itself, not a reverse-engineered reader, so newsletters, bulletins and flyers keep their layout.
- Every file gets a print-ready PDF with fonts embedded and an editable Word version; your folder structure and file names are kept.
- Your first 3 files are converted free so you can check the quality. After that one price for the whole archive, paid once; files that fail are not charged.
Microsoft says Publisher is no longer available to Microsoft 365 subscribers after October 2026 and recommends converting existing files to PDF or Word.
Source: support.microsoft.comZamzar's free online PUB converter has a 3 MB maximum file size.
Source: zamzar.comPublisher has been retired, and years of documents are stuck in a format nothing else reads well
Microsoft Publisher was removed from Microsoft 365 on 1 October 2026. Subscribers can no longer install it, and they can no longer open or edit their .pub files with it. The perpetual version keeps working for people who own it, but its support ends with Office LTSC 2021. For many organizations the archive is the problem: ten or fifteen years of newsletters, bulletins, certificates, flyers and forms, often the only editable copy.
Microsoft's advice is to convert the files to PDF or Word before you lose access, and it published a PowerShell script that does that in bulk. The catch is that the script needs Publisher installed on the machine that runs it. If you have already lost Publisher, that route is closed.
The alternatives are imperfect. Free online converters handle one small file at a time. LibreOffice can import some .pub files, but its own bug tracker records text running off the page, missing images and lost table borders on real newsletters and brochures, because the format was never published. Pub Rescue runs the conversion on licensed Publisher installations and checks the output, so you do it once and do it right.
Without it
- Microsoft's PowerShell script: Free and official, and the best choice if you still have Publisher installed: it converts a folder to PDF or Word in…
- Free online converters: Zamzar, CloudConvert and similar sites convert one file at a time, and free tiers cap file size (Zamzar's is 3 MB).…
- LibreOffice Draw: Free and opens many .pub files, but the format was never published and real newsletters can lose images, table borders…
With Pub Rescue
- Converted with Microsoft Publisher itself, not a reverse-engineered reader, so newsletters, bulletins and flyers keep their layout.
- Every file gets a print-ready PDF with fonts embedded and an editable Word version; your folder structure and file names are kept.
- Your first 3 files are converted free so you can check the quality. After that one price for the whole archive, paid once; files that fail are not charged.
- Print-ready PDF for every file
- Editable Word version
How it works
- 1
Send the folder
Upload a zip, share a OneDrive, SharePoint, Google Drive or Dropbox folder, or let us collect every .pub from a shared drive. We count the files and confirm the price before any work starts.
- 2
We convert on real Publisher
Each file is opened in licensed Microsoft Publisher and exported to a PDF with fonts embedded and to an editable Word document. Missing fonts are substituted with the closest match and noted.
- 3
We check the output
Every PDF is compared page by page with Publisher's own preview. Files that are password-protected, corrupt or from very old Publisher versions are listed with what we could recover.
- 4
You get your archive back
A download with the same folder structure and file names, plus a spreadsheet listing every file, its page count and any notes. Usually within 2 business days for up to 300 files.
Features
Print-ready PDF for every file
Fonts embedded, images at original resolution, page size and bleed kept, so a print shop can use the PDF directly. Multi-page booklets stay in page order.
Editable Word version
Each publication exported to .docx so text can be changed without Publisher. Simple layouts edit cleanly in Word; complex multi-column pages are best kept as PDF, and the report says which is which.
Any Publisher version, any language
Files from Publisher 2000 onward, in any language and script, including right-to-left text. Older Publisher 95–98 files are attempted and flagged if they cannot be opened.
Folder structure and names kept
Output mirrors your folders exactly, with the original file name and modified date in the index, so the archive is still findable years from now.
Conversion report
A spreadsheet of every file: pages, fonts substituted, linked images that were missing on the original machine, and whether the Word version needs layout cleanup.
Template rebuilds
The few layouts you reuse every month, such as the weekly bulletin, the newsletter masthead or the certificate, rebuilt as proper Word or PowerPoint templates on the Organization plan.
Searchable index
An optional single PDF index of the archive, with the first page of each file and the extracted text, so you can search ten years of newsletters for a name or date.
A look inside
What you get: the working view and the delivery report.
Who it's for
Churches, schools and community groups
Weekly bulletins, newsletters, programs and certificates built in Publisher for years, often by volunteers, with no budget for new design software.
Small businesses and offices
Flyers, menus, price lists, forms and letterheads that still need occasional edits, now that the Microsoft 365 subscription no longer includes Publisher.
Print shops and IT providers
Customers arriving with .pub files you can no longer open. Send them to us in bulk and hand back clean PDFs under your own name.
Archivists and records managers
Long-term retention of publications in a format that will still open in twenty years, with an index of what was converted.
Works with
- Microsoft Publisher (licensed perpetual installations)
- PDF with embedded fonts (PDF/A on request for archiving)
- Microsoft Word (.docx)
- Microsoft PowerPoint templates for reused layouts
- OneDrive and SharePoint shared folders
- Google Drive and Dropbox
- Zip upload over an encrypted link
- CSV or Excel conversion report
Pricing
One-time prices per archive, paid once after we confirm the file count by email. Your first 3 files are converted free so you can judge the quality before paying anything. No subscription. Files we cannot convert are listed and not charged. Founding customer pricing applies to early-access orders.
Small batch
$9 one-time
A few years of flyers or a single newsletter series
- Up to 25 .pub files
- First 3 files free to check quality
- PDF and Word for every file
- Folder structure and names kept
- Conversion report
- Delivery within 2 business days
Archive
$29 one-time
Most churches, schools and small offices
- Up to 300 .pub files
- PDF and Word for every file
- PDF/A archive copies on request
- Searchable PDF index of the archive
- Conversion report with layout notes
- Delivery within 2 business days
Organization
$99 one-time
Large shared drives, dioceses, school districts and print shops
- Up to 3,000 .pub files (more at $0.03 each)
- Everything in Archive
- Collection from SharePoint, OneDrive or Google Drive
- 5 reused layouts rebuilt as Word or PowerPoint templates
- White-label delivery for print shops and IT providers
- Priority delivery
Compared with the alternatives
- Microsoft's PowerShell script
- Free and official, and the best choice if you still have Publisher installed: it converts a folder to PDF or Word in bulk. It needs Publisher on the machine that runs it, so it does not help once Publisher is gone.
- Free online converters
- Zamzar, CloudConvert and similar sites convert one file at a time, and free tiers cap file size (Zamzar's is 3 MB). Fine for a handful of small flyers; slow and uncertain for an archive with images.
- LibreOffice Draw
- Free and opens many .pub files, but the format was never published and real newsletters can lose images, table borders or text positions. Good for a quick look, risky as your only archive copy.
- Buying a perpetual Office licence
- Keeps Publisher working on one PC, at the price of a licence for software whose support is ending. Worth it if you still design in Publisher every week; not if you only need the files out.
What changed
- Microsoft says Publisher is no longer available to Microsoft 365 subscribers after October 2026 and recommends converting existing files to PDF or Word. Source: support.microsoft.com
- Zamzar's free online PUB converter has a 3 MB maximum file size. Source: zamzar.com
- LibreOffice bug reports describe imported Publisher files losing table borders and backgrounds, and text inside shapes being misplaced. Source: libreoffice.org
From request to rescued archive
We confirm the file count and price within one business day of your request and deliver most archives within 2 business days after that.
- Day 1: Request the service and share the folder or upload a zip. We convert 3 files free and email them with the exact price for the rest.
- Day 2: Conversion runs on licensed Publisher installations; every PDF is checked against Publisher's preview.
- Day 3: You download the converted archive and the report, and tell us about any file that needs a re-run.
- Day 14: Your files are deleted from our machines unless you asked us to delete them earlier.
Security and data
- Uploads and downloads use expiring, encrypted links; shared folders are accessed with read-only permission that you can revoke at any time.
- Files are processed on machines we operate, not sent to third-party online converters or AI services.
- Originals and converted files are deleted 14 days after delivery, or immediately on request, and we confirm the deletion by email.
- Only the people working on your order can access the files, and access is logged.
Questions
Can I still open .pub files after October 2026?
Not with Microsoft 365: Publisher is no longer included or installable for subscribers. People who own a perpetual Office version with Publisher can still open files, and LibreOffice can open some of them with layout errors. Converting the archive to PDF and Word removes the dependency for good.
Will the PDF look exactly like my original?
For almost all files, yes, because we export with Publisher itself. Differences come from fonts or linked images that were on the original computer and not saved in the file; the report lists each case, and you can send the missing fonts or images for a free re-run.
Is the Word version fully editable?
The text and images are editable in Word. Single-column documents, letters and forms convert cleanly. Multi-column newsletters and brochures keep their positions as text boxes, which edit fine but feel different from Publisher; for layouts you reuse often, the Organization plan includes rebuilt templates.
What about very old or damaged files?
Files from Publisher 2000 onward convert normally. Older files and damaged files are attempted; anything we cannot open is listed by name, not charged, and returned untouched.
How do you keep our files private?
Files are transferred over encrypted links, processed on our own machines, never shared with third-party conversion services, and deleted 14 days after delivery unless you ask us to delete them sooner. We can sign your data processing terms.
How much does it cost?
The first 3 files are free. After that, up to 25 files are $9, up to 300 are $29 and up to 3,000 are $99, each paid once; above 3,000, each file is $0.03. We count the files and confirm the exact price by email before starting, and nothing is charged for files that fail.
What should I use instead of Publisher from now on?
Microsoft suggests Word and PowerPoint, which cover most Publisher layouts, and its Microsoft Create template library. Many groups also move to Canva or Affinity Publisher. The converted Word files and rebuilt templates are a starting point for whichever you choose.
Ready when you are
Tell us about your setup. We confirm by email and get you running within 2 business days.
Request service