Guides
Plain answers about Publisher files. Each guide has the converter at the top, so you can try your own file as you read.
- Publisher is retired: your optionsPublisher left Microsoft 365 on 1 October 2026. An honest guide to every option for your old .pub files: PDFs, LibreOffice Draw, an old copy of Publisher, Word and more.
- Open a .pub file without PublisherHow to open a Microsoft Publisher .pub file when you don't have Publisher: view every page in your browser, then save it as a PDF. Nothing to install and nothing uploaded.
- Open a .pub file on a MacThere was never a Mac version of Microsoft Publisher. Here is how to open a .pub file on a Mac or MacBook, see every page and save it as a PDF, without installing anything.
- PUB to PDF without uploadingMost .pub to PDF converters upload your file to their servers. This one runs entirely in your browser, so files with names, addresses or pupils' details stay on your computer.
- Convert a whole folder of .pub filesHave hundreds of old .pub files? Drop many at once, or a ZIP of a whole folder, and convert them in your browser. Free one at a time; one ZIP of PDFs with the unlock.
- Publisher 98 and 2000 filesFiles from Publisher 98, 2000 and 2002 are a different format from later versions and many converters skip them. Here is how to open and convert them, and what to expect.
- School files and pupils' dataSchool .pub files often hold pupils' names and details. How to convert them to PDF without uploading them to a third-party server, and what to tell your data protection lead.
- Edit a .pub file without PublisherThe honest answer on editing .pub files without Microsoft Publisher: LibreOffice Draw, copying the text out, rebuilding in Word, and what does and doesn't work.