Publisher disappeared from my PC

What happened to Publisher?

Microsoft retired it. Its own notice, Microsoft Publisher will no longer be supported after October 2026, says Publisher "will no longer be included in Microsoft 365." It also says that "Microsoft 365 subscribers will no longer be able to open or edit Publisher files in Publisher."

That update is what made it disappear. Microsoft's message to IT admins, MC1469564, says it reaches PCs starting in mid-November 2026 on the Current Channel, and early December 2026 on the Monthly Enterprise Channel. Until a PC gets it, Publisher may still open. If you're not sure which one you have, it doesn't matter: once Publisher is gone, the steps below are the same.

If you bought Publisher outright, rather than through Microsoft 365, Microsoft says you can keep using it. It just doesn't get fixes or security updates anymore. More on that in Can you still download Microsoft Publisher?

Are my .pub files gone?

No. The update takes away the app, not your files. They're still in Documents, on your desktop, in OneDrive or wherever you saved them. They may now show a blank icon, and Windows may ask which app to open them with.

To find them all, open File Explorer, click Documents or This PC, and type *.pub in the search box.

Open them again today

• From the Microsoft Store (recommended). Get PubStudio from the Microsoft Store. Windows shows no warning, and updates come through the Store.
• With the installer. Get it from the download page. Windows may show a warning for a new app, and the page explains what to click.
• In your browser, with nothing to install. Go to web.pubstudioapp.com in Chrome or Edge and drop the file in. This works on a work PC where you can't install apps, and on a Mac or a Chromebook. The file is opened in your browser, not uploaded.

Then open the file: double-click it, choose File > Open, or drag it onto the PubStudio window. Files from Publisher 98 through Microsoft 365 open with their text, pictures, tables and pages where you left them.

Make .pub files open with a double-click

If Windows still asks which app to use, right-click any .pub file, choose Open with and then Choose another app. Pick PubStudio and choose Always. From then on, a double-click opens your .pub files in PubStudio.

Keep using them like before

• Edit and print with a ribbon, a pages pane and a print preview that handles booklets, labels and folded cards.
• Your original is never changed. Saving makes a PubStudio copy (.pubx) next to it.
• Save a PDF of anything you only need to keep. See convert a .pub file to PDF.
• Got hundreds of files? Pro can convert a whole folder at once.
• A weekly bulletin or a monthly newsletter? In Pro, Design > Next Issue makes the next edition with the dates moved on and the issue number counted up.

What it costs

Opening, editing, printing and saving are free, for good, with no account. On Free, prints and PDFs carry a "Made with PubStudio" line. Pro is $10 a month or $99 a year, and adds clean prints and PDFs, mail merge, every template with new designs each month, and more. Every new PC gets a 7-day Pro trial, with no card.

If a file doesn't look the way it should, click "Looks wrong? Send it to us" at the top of the PubStudio window, or email [email protected]. We'll take a look.