Publisher options?

Question

What is going to happen on October 1, 2026 with Publisher? Will Microsoft remove the software? I have a client with over 5,000 Publisher files. What do you suggest they do?

What was the last stand alone version? I'm sure I have all of the past install files and license keys.

At the very least you could release it to public domain/open source instead of screwing you VERY loyal customers.

Pathetic!

Answer 1

Microsoft Publisher will reach its end of life on October 13, 2026. For users on Microsoft 365 subscriptions, the application will be removed from the suite, and you will lose the ability to open or edit files directly through that service. However, if your clients own a perpetual license such as Publisher 2021 or Office Professional 2021, the software will remain (functional) on their computers. It will continue to function indefinitely on the hardware where it is installed, though it will no longer receive security updates or technical support after that date.

The last standalone version ever released was Publisher 2021. It is important to note that Microsoft did not include Publisher in the Office 2024 release, so upgrading to the newest suite may actually trigger the removal of the older software. Since you have 5,000 files, you might want to consider using a PowerShell script to bulk-convert them into a more sustainable format like PDF for archiving or Word for basic editing. You should be able to use the following script within the directory containing the files to automate this process using the Publisher COM object.

$pubApp = New-Object -ComObject Publisher.Application
$files = Get-ChildItem "C:\Path\To\Your\Files\*.pub"
foreach ($file in $files) {
    $doc = $pubApp.Open($file.FullName)
    $pdfPath = $file.FullName -replace '\.pub$', '.pdf'
    $doc.ExportAsFixedFormat(1, $pdfPath)
    $doc.Close()
}
$pubApp.Quit()

Obviously you should test it first.

For more editing moving forward, you might consider professional conversion tools like Markzware's DesignMarkz, which can migrate Publisher files into Adobe InDesign or Affinity Publisher. If your clients intend to keep using the software past 2026, ensure they are using a perpetual license key and consider moving the installation to a dedicated, offline computer or a virtual machine to mitigate security risks associated with the lack of future patches.

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hth

Marcin