When exactly does Microsoft Publisher stop working?

There are two dates and they apply to different people. For Microsoft 365 subscribers, Microsoft's support page states: "You can continue to use Publisher with its current functionality until October 1, 2026" and "Microsoft 365 subscribers will not be able to access Publisher after October 1, 2026." For the perpetual, one-time-purchase versions, the same page states: "Support for the perpetual version of Publisher will end on October 13, 2026, when Office LTSC 2021 and Consumer Office 2021 reach end of support." Much of the third-party coverage quotes only October 13 and applies it to everyone, which is wrong for the subscription channel and eleven days too generous.

Will I lose access to my existing .pub files?

If you are a Microsoft 365 subscriber, yes — in Publisher. Microsoft's wording is explicit: "If you have a Microsoft 365 subscription, you will no longer be able to open or edit your Publisher files using Microsoft Publisher." The files themselves are not deleted from your storage, but the only application that reads them is being removed from the subscription. If you have a perpetual version, Microsoft states: "If you have the Perpetual version of Publisher, you will still be able to access and edit your files." That distinction is the single most important thing to establish about your own estate before planning anything.

Is this different from a normal end-of-support date?

Yes, and the difference matters for how you prioritise it. A normal end-of-support date means security updates stop and the software keeps running — you carry risk, but you retain access. Windows Server 2016 in January 2027 works that way. Publisher on the subscription channel does not: the application stops being available, so the documents stop being readable in it. Treat it as a data-migration deadline with a fixed date, not as a patching risk to be accepted and monitored.

How do I convert a large number of Publisher files at once?

Microsoft publishes a sample PowerShell script, Convert-PubFileToPDF.ps1, on the Publisher retirement support page. It accepts a -Filter argument and an optional -Recurse switch, so it can be pointed at a single file, all .pub files in a directory, or a directory tree. Microsoft's own guidance is that it is provided for instructional purposes and should be modified and tested for your environment. Two behaviours are worth knowing before you run it: it continues on error and reports which files converted and which failed, and it will not overwrite an existing PDF of the same name — it reports an error instead, so a partial earlier run leaves gaps you have to resolve by hand.

Can converted files still be edited, or only viewed?

Both are possible, with a quality trade-off. Converting to PDF preserves layout and is the right choice for anything that is finished — archived newsletters, printed forms, past programmes. If a document still needs editing, Microsoft's suggested route is to convert to PDF and then open that PDF in Word. Microsoft is candid about the result: "The converted Word document will be optimized for text editing. As a result, its layout may vary from the original PDF—particularly if the document includes many graphics." For anything heavily designed, plan on rebuilding rather than converting, and budget accordingly.

Does this affect Office 2021 or older perpetual installs?

Differently. Perpetual installs keep the application and keep access to the files; what ends on October 13, 2026 is support, alongside Office LTSC 2021 and Consumer Office 2021 reaching end of support. The application is not removed and the files remain readable. That is a supportability and security decision on the same footing as any other out-of-support Office component, not a data-access cliff. The urgent, dated work is on the Microsoft 365 subscription side.

Field notes · 5 min read · August 26, 2026

Microsoft Publisher retires October 1, 2026

Microsoft 365 subscribers lose access to Publisher after October 1, 2026, and Microsoft states plainly that they will no longer be able to open or edit their existing .pub files. This is a loss of access to your own documents, not merely an end of security updates. A separate date, October 13, 2026, ends support for the perpetual version alongside Office LTSC 2021 and Consumer Office 2021 — that one keeps working. Microsoft publishes a sample PowerShell script for bulk conversion, and it requires a licensed Publisher install to run, so it has to be used before the app goes away.

Most end-of-support dates are a risk decision. The software keeps running, the security updates stop, and somebody decides how long to carry that. Windows Server 2016 in January 2027 is that kind of date, and so is almost every other item on a lifecycle calendar.

Microsoft Publisher on the Microsoft 365 subscription channel is not that kind of date. On October 1, 2026 the application stops being available to subscribers, and Microsoft states plainly what follows: "Microsoft 365 subscribers will no longer be able to open or edit Publisher files in Publisher." The .pub files are still sitting on the file server. The only thing that reads them is gone.

That makes this a data-migration deadline with a fixed date, and it is five weeks away.

Two dates, and the one being quoted is usually the wrong one

Microsoft's support page carries both, and they apply to different populations:

Date	Who	What happens
October 1, 2026	Microsoft 365 subscribers	Access to Publisher ends. Existing `.pub` files can no longer be opened or edited in Publisher.
October 13, 2026	Perpetual / one-time-purchase	Support ends, alongside Office LTSC 2021 and Consumer Office 2021. The application keeps working and the files stay readable.

A good deal of the coverage quotes October 13 and applies it to everyone. For anyone on a Microsoft 365 subscription that is wrong, and it is wrong in the expensive direction — eleven days too generous, on the population that actually loses access. Microsoft's own wording for the subscription channel is "until October 1, 2026," and the action note on the same page says "convert your existing files to another format before 10/1/2026."

The first question is not "when" — it is "which". Subscription or perpetual decides whether this is a five-week data project or a routine supportability note. In a mid-market estate the answer is usually both, split across departments, and nobody has written down which machines are which.

The conversion script needs the app it is replacing

Microsoft publishes a sample PowerShell script, Convert-PubFileToPDF.ps1, on the retirement page. It takes a -Filter argument and an optional -Recurse switch, so it handles a single file, a folder, or a whole tree:

Convert-PubFileToPDF.ps1 -Filter "*.pub" -Recurse

The prerequisite is the part worth reading twice. Microsoft's instruction is to "ensure you have a working and licensed version of Publisher installed on your computer."

The remediation depends on the thing being removed. For a subscriber, the tool that fixes the problem disappears on the same date the problem arrives. This is not a deadline you can miss and then clean up afterwards at your own pace — the straightforward route closes with it. Miss it and you are into third-party converters, about which Microsoft says only that they "vary in quality and capabilities, and Microsoft does not provide support for them."

Two script behaviours will shape how you run it. It continues after errors and reports which files converted and which failed, so a large run is recoverable. But it will not overwrite an existing PDF of the same name — it reports an error instead. A half-finished earlier attempt therefore leaves silent gaps that the second run does not fill, and the only evidence is in the error list. Read that list; do not just check that the script exited.

Finding the files is the actual work

Converting .pub files is easy. Finding them is not, because Publisher is departmental software that rarely appears in an application inventory. It is used by the people who produce things rather than the people who run systems — marketing, HR, front-of-house, facilities, internal comms — and its output tends to live on shared drives, in personal OneDrive folders, and in SharePoint document libraries nobody has audited since they were created.

A defensible sweep covers four places, and the last one is where the count usually doubles:

File servers and shared drives — a recursive search for *.pub, run once and recorded with a date.
SharePoint and OneDrive — search by file extension across the tenant, not site by site.
Local profiles on endpoints — the machines belonging to the four or five people who actually use it.
Email archives. Publisher files circulate as attachments, and a template someone mailed around in 2019 is often the only surviving copy of a document still in use.

Then sort what you find into three piles, because they have different costs. Finished documents convert to PDF and are done. Living documents — the newsletter template, the price list, the induction pack — need a real destination in Word, PowerPoint or Designer, and that is a rebuild with a design decision in it. Dead documents need nothing but a decision to say so in writing.

The scoping question. Not how many .pub files do we have. Ask: which of these documents will somebody need to edit after October 1, who owns each one, and what is it becoming? The file count sets the conversion effort. The living-document count sets the real effort, and it is the one that surprises people in week three.

What to do with the five weeks that are left

Establish subscription versus perpetual, per machine, for everyone who uses Publisher. This decides whether you have a deadline at all.
Run the four-location sweep and record the count with a date. The dated record is what lets you show later that nothing was missed.
Convert the finished pile to PDF while a licensed Publisher still exists to do it with. This is the part that cannot be done later.
Triage the living documents with the people who own them, not for them. They know which template still matters; you do not.
Rebuild the ones that survive triage in Word, PowerPoint or Designer, on a schedule that does not end on September 30.
Write down what you decided to abandon. "We chose not to convert these" is a defensible position. "Nobody looked" is not.

The 30-second version

Microsoft 365 subscribers lose Publisher after October 1, 2026 — and lose the ability to open or edit their own .pub files in it.
Perpetual versions have a different date, October 13, 2026, and keep both the app and file access. Support ends; the software does not stop.
This is a data-migration deadline, not a patching risk. It cannot be accepted and monitored.
Microsoft's bulk-conversion script requires a licensed Publisher install, so it must be finished before the app goes away.
The work is finding the files, not converting them. Include email archives.

Sources and further reading

Microsoft Support — Microsoft Publisher will no longer be supported after October 2026 (both dates, the file-access wording, and the sample conversion script)
Microsoft Learn — Ending support in 2026 — lists Publisher 2021 and Publisher LTSC 2021 on October 13, 2026 alongside the rest of the Office 2021 and Office LTSC 2021 families. Note that this page carries only the perpetual date; the October 1 subscription date appears on the support page above and nowhere on the lifecycle list, which is one reason the two get conflated.

Questions we get asked

When exactly does Microsoft Publisher stop working?: There are two dates and they apply to different people. For Microsoft 365 subscribers, Microsoft's support page states: "You can continue to use Publisher with its current functionality until October 1, 2026" and "Microsoft 365 subscribers will not be able to access Publisher after October 1, 2026." For the perpetual, one-time-purchase versions, the same page states: "Support for the perpetual version of Publisher will end on October 13, 2026, when Office LTSC 2021 and Consumer Office 2021 reach end of support." Much of the third-party coverage quotes only October 13 and applies it to everyone, which is wrong for the subscription channel and eleven days too generous.
Will I lose access to my existing .pub files?: If you are a Microsoft 365 subscriber, yes — in Publisher. Microsoft's wording is explicit: "If you have a Microsoft 365 subscription, you will no longer be able to open or edit your Publisher files using Microsoft Publisher." The files themselves are not deleted from your storage, but the only application that reads them is being removed from the subscription. If you have a perpetual version, Microsoft states: "If you have the Perpetual version of Publisher, you will still be able to access and edit your files." That distinction is the single most important thing to establish about your own estate before planning anything.
Is this different from a normal end-of-support date?: Yes, and the difference matters for how you prioritise it. A normal end-of-support date means security updates stop and the software keeps running — you carry risk, but you retain access. Windows Server 2016 in January 2027 works that way. Publisher on the subscription channel does not: the application stops being available, so the documents stop being readable in it. Treat it as a data-migration deadline with a fixed date, not as a patching risk to be accepted and monitored.
How do I convert a large number of Publisher files at once?: Microsoft publishes a sample PowerShell script, Convert-PubFileToPDF.ps1, on the Publisher retirement support page. It accepts a -Filter argument and an optional -Recurse switch, so it can be pointed at a single file, all .pub files in a directory, or a directory tree. Microsoft's own guidance is that it is provided for instructional purposes and should be modified and tested for your environment. Two behaviours are worth knowing before you run it: it continues on error and reports which files converted and which failed, and it will not overwrite an existing PDF of the same name — it reports an error instead, so a partial earlier run leaves gaps you have to resolve by hand.
What is the catch with Microsoft's conversion script?: It needs Publisher. Microsoft's prerequisite is to "ensure you have a working and licensed version of Publisher installed on your computer." That means the remediation depends on the application being retired. For a Microsoft 365 subscriber, the tool for fixing the problem disappears on the same date the problem arrives — so the conversion has to be finished, not started, before October 1, 2026. If you discover a shared drive full of .pub files in November, the straightforward route is gone and you are into third-party converters, which Microsoft explicitly does not support.
Can converted files still be edited, or only viewed?: Both are possible, with a quality trade-off. Converting to PDF preserves layout and is the right choice for anything that is finished — archived newsletters, printed forms, past programmes. If a document still needs editing, Microsoft's suggested route is to convert to PDF and then open that PDF in Word. Microsoft is candid about the result: "The converted Word document will be optimized for text editing. As a result, its layout may vary from the original PDF—particularly if the document includes many graphics." For anything heavily designed, plan on rebuilding rather than converting, and budget accordingly.
Does this affect Office 2021 or older perpetual installs?: Differently. Perpetual installs keep the application and keep access to the files; what ends on October 13, 2026 is support, alongside Office LTSC 2021 and Consumer Office 2021 reaching end of support. The application is not removed and the files remain readable. That is a supportability and security decision on the same footing as any other out-of-support Office component, not a data-access cliff. The urgent, dated work is on the Microsoft 365 subscription side.

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Written by the team at Pro IT NW · Senior-led Microsoft project consultancy · Seattle / USA-wide.

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