Announcement - Microsoft Publisher to be discontinued after October 2026

Question

Updated and revised May 12, 2025

Dear fellow users,

Microsoft announced in late 2024 that it will discontinue and drop support for Microsoft Publisher after October 13, 2026. The announcement was posted on Microsoft's 365 admin center on February 15, 2024:

"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. Until then, support for Publisher will continue and users can expect the same experience as today."

Microsoft also stated that it will try to incorporate Publisher like features in other 365 apps:

"As we look ahead to the retirement of Microsoft Publisher, we are exploring modern ways to achieve other common Publisher scenarios across applications like Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Designer. We will update as we have more to share. "

Learn more on Microsoft's website

Publisher has been around since 1991 and has been used by millions for preparing newsletters/bulletins, brochures and cards for organizations, parishes, etc. Like you, many are wondering what to do. Your option is to either purchase other desktop publishing software (see below), or use Microsoft Word. I have used Word to create bulletins, although it involves more work and is some ways awkward to use. It is possible to print bulletins in booklet format and you can create text boxes and link them as in Publish. The only advantage is that Word offers better control and use of styles.

Can I still use Publisher on my computer?

Users who have the stand-alone edition can keep using the software and reinstall it forever. Publisher included with 365 will continue to run on your computer, except if you must reinstall or switch to a new computer. It's not clear yet whether Microsoft will automatically uninstall the software, or simply prevent the software from running after October 2026. For those using the 365 version of Publisher, Microsoft advises users to create PDF versions of their documents to preserve them.

Alternative Software

Unfortunately, Microsoft has already stopped selling licenses for the standalone version of Publisher. Other companies that sell Publisher licenses online have also stopped selling Publisher.

For a complete list of desktop publishing software available to users, visit these pages on Wikipedia:

Comparison of desktop publishing software:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_desktop_publishing_software

List of desktop publishing software:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_desktop_publishing_software

Be aware that publication software like Adobe InDesign and QuarkXPress are extremely expense and designed for the professional desktop publication industry, and involve a steeper learning curve. There are less expensive online-based or desktop-based publication desktop publication apps available.

What's the closest equivalent to Microsoft Publisher?

At this point, Microsoft 365 users who need a Publisher-like app should consider purchasing Affinity Publisher 2. It is easy to use and has more features than Microsoft Publisher (e.g., include footnotes, better text handling). You can purchase and download it directly from Affinity's website (or through Microsoft Store in Windows 10 or 11). For more information about Affinity Publisher, visit: https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/publisher/. Affinity Publisher has received generally favorable reviews and awards. A huge bonus is that the software is available for both the Windows AND macOS platforms (and lately an iPad version was released). Affinity Publisher is only available as a stand-alone desktop app. There is NO subscription. Cost is $86.99 CAD ($US cost will be less) and is one-time purchase. You will get updates, and you can always upgrade, when you need to. Affinity is a European-based software company that has been around for many years and continues to develop and update Affinity Publisher. Affinity also sells photo-editing software that works great with Affinity Publisher.

Ruperstland,

Canada

Screenshot of Microsoft Publisher:

Answer 1

I agree with the OP. My husband and I run a small IT support business in a rural area, and we have hundreds of clients that are going to be slammed by this, including a number of non-profits who rely on it for daily use. Canva/MS Designer type products just aren't good replacements, because they're so "smart" that they're stupid. Everything auto-resizes and auto-crops and auto-everything; elements do not line up neatly without heaps of struggle, you can't add grid lines easily for margins and folds, they don't have options for booklet layout, basic functions are limited (fonts, page layout/margins/formatting, bullet list options, tables, etc. etc.)... I could go on and on. Word is much too clunky and ornery for any serious layout scenarios; it's a word processor. I've heard it suggested that PowerPoint is a good alternative and I almost choked. Clients bring me brochures or handouts or forms that they're struggling to assemble in Word or PowerPoint, and I flip them into in Publisher in a matter of minutes, where they become robust and beautiful, and most importantly, easy-to-update for the client whom I've already converted to Office 365. I have over a decade of client and personal work files that are all going to need to be converted to who-knows-what format to try to save them, and scores of clients who will need training on some new platform in order to salvage their stuff. So far it's looking like Scribus might be our only option, but it's not a great option.

I'm all about starting up a campaign to see if we can get Microsoft to reconsider supporting this product. I own InDesign but never use it, because Publisher is sufficient for most layout tasks, much easier to work with, and I can hand my clients their own files to keep updated after I do the initial layout. This would be impossible with InDesign, which is even less user-friendly than an income tax form. I would rather keep all our clients in the Office 365 stack than start experimenting with open-source software.

Answer 2

We use Publisher for our church, too. It is ideal for formatting bulletins. I use the 8.5 by 11 fold-over booklet format. I'm not sure how I would accomplish this with any other software. It's too bad. At least we have a couple years. Hopefully Microsoft will find a good replacement for this software. I'm not sure what we are going to do going forward in 2026.

Answer 3

How to get the Publisher standalone version

Hi Stephanie.

The Office Watch website has an article that lists several options for keeping Publisher, and what will happen after October 2026 for existing installations.

Your best bet would be to purchase the Publisher 2019 standalone version (perpetual license) now from Microsoft and that way it's saved to your Microsoft account. You will be able to download and install the product anytime, for example when you purchase a new computer and you need to install Publisher again. This version is hard to find on Microsoft's website (hmm... so, they can't find it?) Ready the OW article here for a link, or read their other article here.

Publisher 2019 can also be legally purchased from My Choice Software here.

Publisher is included in the ‘Professional’ and ‘Professional Plus’ versions of both Office 2019 and Office 2021. These two versions will keep working after October 2026, but you won't get any security updates or bug fixes.

Rupertsland,

Canada

Answer 4

While Scribus has been around for a long time and offers a free open source DTP, if you or anyone else is looking for an affordable alternative I would suggest you look at Affinity Publisher from the old Serif company.

https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/publisher/

I think they still offer a free trial and purchase price is only $70. It runs on a PC, a MAC and an Ipad. It is where I wish MSFT had taken Publisher.

Serif has always been a small innovative company and I would even bet that they will develop the ability to open Pub files by the time MSFT officially dumps Publisher. Or maybe Scribus will...

DavidF

Answer 5

I agree, I've been using Publisher to make all sorts of things, birthday cards, newsletters, leaflets, booklets, calendars, etc. I was gutted to hear that it will be discontinued. I genuinely don't know what I would do without it!