Why PDF is the right format for old Publisher files
A .pub file can only be opened properly by Microsoft Publisher, and Publisher only ever ran on Windows. A PDF opens on every phone, tablet and computer, prints the same way everywhere, and is accepted by print shops, schools, councils and email clients without anyone needing special software.
Microsoft retired Publisher in October 2026 and is removing it from Microsoft 365, and it does not convert existing .pub files for you. Turning your newsletters, flyers, certificates and price lists into PDF now is the simplest way to make sure you, and the people you send them to, can still read them in years to come.
What the PDF keeps
The converter lays out each page the way Publisher would and writes it to PDF. You get:
- The original page size and orientation, whether the publication is A4, US Letter, a folded card or a custom poster size.
- Every page in order, in a single PDF file, up to 200 pages.
- Pictures, shapes, borders and colours as they were placed in the design.
- Real, selectable text, so the PDF can be searched, and wording can be copied into another document.
- No watermark and no added pages. The PDF contains only your document.
Fonts: the one thing to check
Publisher documents usually use the fonts that were installed on the computer that made them. When a document asks for a font we have, it is used as is. When it asks for one we do not have, a close match is used instead, which can make a line of text slightly wider or narrower than the original.
Rather than leaving you to spot that, the viewer lists every font that was replaced, right above the preview. If nothing is listed, every font was available. If something is listed, glance at the pages that use it before you print.
Converting a Publisher file to PDF on any device
Because the conversion runs on our servers, the device you use does not matter. It works in Chrome, Safari, Edge and Firefox on Windows, Mac, iPhone and iPad, Android and Chromebook. There is nothing to install and no account to create.
If you need the pages as pictures rather than a document, the same upload also gives you PNG or JPG images of every page. If you want to edit the wording, see how to get a Publisher file into Word.