If a Publisher file that opened last month now won't, nothing is wrong with your computer or the file. Microsoft removed Publisher from Microsoft 365 on 1 October 2026, and nothing else Microsoft makes opens the format. The file is fine. You just need a different program to read it.
Publisher used to come with Microsoft 365 subscriptions. On 1 October 2026 Microsoft removed it, so subscribers no longer have it, and double-clicking a .pub file now either does nothing useful or asks which app you'd like to use. Microsoft points people to Word, PowerPoint or Designer for new documents, but none of them opens an existing .pub file.
If you bought Office 2021 outright rather than subscribing, Publisher 2021 still runs. Its support ended on 13 October 2026, so it no longer gets fixes, but it will still open your files. That makes now a good moment to convert them, while it still does.
The step-by-step guide to opening .pub files covers the details, including two free fonts that fix most layout problems.
Check it's really a Publisher file. Programmers' SSH public keys also end in .pub. If the file is tiny and opens in Notepad as a single line starting with "ssh-", it's a key, not a document. Leave it alone.
It may be damaged. Files copied off old floppies, CDs or failing drives are sometimes partly unreadable. If LibreOffice can't load one, try any older copies you have: email attachments and backups often hold an intact version.
It may be very old. Documents from Publisher 95–98 convert less reliably than anything from 2000 onward. If a later version of Publisher is still installed on another computer, open and re-save the file there first.
Once LibreOffice is installed, right-click the .pub file, choose Open with → Choose another app, pick LibreOffice Draw and tick Always use this app. From then on, double-clicking a .pub file opens it directly.
Don't rename the file to .docx or .pdf in the hope that Word will open it. Renaming doesn't change what's inside, and Word will refuse or show nonsense. And don't delete the originals after converting. Keep them alongside the PDFs, in case a better converter comes along.
Everything above works one file at a time, which is the right answer for a handful. For an archive, PubRevive converts everything at once: every file comes back as a PDF and an editable ODG copy, your folders stay as they were, and a report shows exactly what converted.
Upload the folder and you'll see page one of one of your files rescued, with the exact price, before you pay anything. If fewer than 80% of your files rescue, you get a full refund.
No. Nothing on your computer or in OneDrive was deleted or changed. You lost the program that opens them, not the files.
No. Word, PowerPoint and Designer can't open existing Publisher files. Convert the file to PDF first and Word can then open the PDF, though complex layouts won't convert perfectly.
Not through Microsoft 365. If you own a perpetual Office 2021 licence, Publisher 2021 still runs, but it no longer receives fixes.
Yes. It's long-established free, open-source software published by The Document Foundation. Download it only from libreoffice.org.
Last updated 16 October 2026.