Why Android cannot open .pub files
Microsoft never made Publisher for Android or ChromeOS, and the Microsoft 365 and Word apps cannot read .pub files. Google Drive and the Files app cannot preview them either, so tapping one usually gives you "No app can open this file".
This page does the conversion on our servers and shows the result in Chrome, so you can read the file without installing anything.
Files from WhatsApp, Gmail and Drive
- Gmail: tap the download arrow on the attachment. It is saved to your Downloads folder.
- WhatsApp: open the document once so it is saved to your phone, then pick it from Documents or WhatsApp in the file chooser.
- Google Drive: no need to download first. In the file chooser, tap the menu and choose Drive to pick the file directly.
- Outlook and other mail apps: open the attachment and choose save or download.
Opening the file here
Tap "Choose file" at the top of this page and pick the .pub file. After a few seconds the pages appear in a strip you can swipe through, with zoom buttons for small print. Tablets show the page strip down the side, like on a computer.
Tap "Download PDF" to save the whole document. Choose PNG or JPG under the upload box if you would rather have images to post or send in a chat.
On a Chromebook
Chromebooks cannot install Publisher, and the web version of Microsoft 365 does not include it. This page works in Chrome on ChromeOS exactly as it does on a phone, with drag and drop from the Files app. The downloaded PDF opens in Chrome's built-in viewer, and you can also open it in Google Docs to edit the text.
Sending pages in WhatsApp and other chats
A PDF arrives in a chat as a document that has to be opened. An image shows up straight away in the conversation, which is usually better for a flyer, menu or event poster. Before you upload, choose JPG under the upload box for small files that send quickly, or PNG if the page is full of small print. Then download the page you want and share it from your Downloads folder or the download notification.
For a newsletter with several pages, "All pages as JPG" or "All pages as PNG" saves every page in one ZIP, which the Files app can unpack.
Printing and sharing
Open the downloaded PDF and choose Print from the menu to print over Wi-Fi, or tap Share to send it to any app. Your upload is deleted within 60 minutes, so download anything you want to keep.