To keep using MS Publisher would it be best to purchase Office 2021 and not use 365 at all?

Question

To keep using MS Publisher would it be best to purchase Office 2021 and to not use MS 365 at all and uninstall it completely? I've been using MS Publisher since 1993 and have thousands upon thousands of documents. I don't use MS Word at all. Really starting to panic since the last 33 years of my life have been created in Publisher. Tried their solution of turning them into pdf's but every program I try to use to open them up and edit is a complete failure.

Answer 1

Hi you can purchase Office professional 2021 directly from Microsoft here:  Buy Microsoft Office Professional 2021 - Download Key & Pricing

I have Office Professional 2021 and use the free 5GB OneDrive. You could increase your storage by purchasing/downgrading to Microsoft 365 Basic, which increases the 5GB to 100GB. Microsoft 365 Basic plan

Switch between Microsoft 365 subscriptions

Answer 2

I recommend either Affinity or LibreOffice as a Publisher replacement.
Affinity does a better job though. But you'll first need to convert your Publisher files to PDF, then you can import the PDF into Affinity. See

https://www.affinity.studio/page-layout-software

https://www.affinity.studio/help/get-started-import-pdf/

There are YouTube videos that will help you get up to speed.

For the few cases were the conversion is not acceptable, you can convert the Publisher files directly to Affinity using https://markzware.com/markzportal/converting-microsoft-publisher-to-affinity-publisher/

However, markzware charges a fee for each file. So I would only use it when you absolutely need to.

Another alternative is to use LibreOffice Draw. It will import your Publisher files directly. No need to convert them to PDF. But you may find that Draw is not as precise as Affinity.

See https://www.libreoffice.org/discover/draw/

Both Affinity and Draw are free. You download them and they run on your computer, not the web.

Answer 3

Purchasing Office 2021 (the perpetual, one-time purchase) will not solve the long‑term problem of Publisher’s retirement.

Key points from the current plan for Publisher:

1. Publisher end of life
   • Publisher reaches end of life in October 2026.
   • 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 after that date.
   • Support for the perpetual version of Publisher (including Office LTSC 2021) ends on October 1, 2026, when Office LTSC 2021 reaches end of support.
   This means buying Office 2021 only extends full, supported use of Publisher up to October 2026; it does not provide an indefinite way to keep using Publisher.
2. What happens after October 2026
   • For Microsoft 365 subscribers: Publisher will no longer be available for installation or download, and Publisher files cannot be opened or edited in Publisher.
   • For perpetual (non‑subscription) Publisher: support ends on October 1, 2026, but the app can still be installed and used beyond that date. However, it will be out of support (no security or feature updates) and may not be compatible with future Windows versions.
   So, if a perpetual copy of Publisher 2021 is already owned, it can continue to be used after 2026 at personal risk, but this is not a recommended long‑term strategy.
3. Recommended preparation
   • Action is explicitly recommended: convert existing .pub files to another format before 10/1/2026, because after that date Microsoft 365 users cannot open or edit them in Publisher.
   • For viewing only: convert .pub files to PDF via File → Save As → PDF.
   • For editing after retirement using Microsoft tools:
     1. Convert the Publisher file to PDF.
     2. Open Word → File → Open → select the PDF → OK. Word converts the PDF to an editable Word document. Layout may change, especially with many graphics.
   • For large numbers of files: use a PowerShell script or other automation to bulk‑export Publisher files to PDF. The example script in the documentation shows how to:
     • Convert a single file to PDF.
     • Convert all .pub files in a folder.
     • Convert recursively through subfolders.
4. Alternatives to Publisher
   • Many common Publisher scenarios are already covered by other Microsoft 365 apps:
     • Ads/flyers: Word, PowerPoint, or Designer
     • Brochures: Word or PowerPoint
     • Banners, signs, posters: PowerPoint or Designer
     • Business cards, certificates, calendars, newsletters, programs, labels, envelopes, forms, etc.: primarily Word or PowerPoint
   • Additional templates are available at Microsoft Create (link in the documentation).
5. Practical implication for the question
   • Completely abandoning Microsoft 365 and buying Office 2021 does not avoid Publisher’s retirement; it only delays the support end date to October 2026.
   • The only sustainable approach within Microsoft’s ecosystem is to:
     • Keep using Publisher (via Microsoft 365 or a perpetual version) until October 2026 to access and batch‑convert all existing files.
     • Use bulk conversion (for example, the PowerShell script) so thousands of files do not need to be opened manually.
     • Move ongoing work to supported apps (Word, PowerPoint, Designer) and/or maintain an out‑of‑support Publisher installation after 2026 with full awareness of the risks.

In summary, purchasing Office 2021 alone is not a long‑term fix. The priority should be to convert existing Publisher files before October 2026 and transition workflows to supported applications, optionally using automation to handle large volumes of .pub files.

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References:

• Microsoft Publisher will no longer be supported after October 2026
• Publisher help
• Is Apple more reliable with old programs or do they also trash your years of work like Microsoft is doing with Publisher? - Microsoft Q&A
• I have thousands of Publisher files; I'm not opening each one individually to convert them. What is this BS about retiring publisher and losing access to all those files? This is 20 years of work that my business is going to lose, we won't recover from th - Microsoft Q&A