Announcement - Microsoft Publisher to be discontinued after October 2026

Anonymous
2024-02-28T20:08:58+00:00

Updated and revised May 12, 2025

Dear fellow users,

Microsoft announced in late 2024 that it will discontinue and drop support for Microsoft Publisher after October 13, 2026. The announcement was posted on Microsoft's 365 admin center on February 15, 2024:

"In October 2026, Microsoft Publisher will reach its end of life. After that time, it will no longer be included in Microsoft 365 and existing on-premises suites will no longer be supported. Until then, support for Publisher will continue and users can expect the same experience as today."

Microsoft also stated that it will try to incorporate Publisher like features in other 365 apps:

"As we look ahead to the retirement of Microsoft Publisher, we are exploring modern ways to achieve other common Publisher scenarios across applications like Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Designer. We will update as we have more to share. "

Learn more on Microsoft's website

Publisher has been around since 1991 and has been used by millions for preparing newsletters/bulletins, brochures and cards for organizations, parishes, etc. Like you, many are wondering what to do. Your option is to either purchase other desktop publishing software (see below), or use Microsoft Word. I have used Word to create bulletins, although it involves more work and is some ways awkward to use. It is possible to print bulletins in booklet format and you can create text boxes and link them as in Publish. The only advantage is that Word offers better control and use of styles.

Can I still use Publisher on my computer?

Users who have the stand-alone edition can keep using the software and reinstall it forever. Publisher included with 365 will continue to run on your computer, except if you must reinstall or switch to a new computer. It's not clear yet whether Microsoft will automatically uninstall the software, or simply prevent the software from running after October 2026. For those using the 365 version of Publisher, Microsoft advises users to create PDF versions of their documents to preserve them.

Alternative Software

Unfortunately, Microsoft has already stopped selling licenses for the standalone version of Publisher. Other companies that sell Publisher licenses online have also stopped selling Publisher.

For a complete list of desktop publishing software available to users, visit these pages on Wikipedia:

Comparison of desktop publishing software:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_desktop_publishing_software

List of desktop publishing software:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_desktop_publishing_software

Be aware that publication software like Adobe InDesign and QuarkXPress are extremely expense and designed for the professional desktop publication industry, and involve a steeper learning curve. There are less expensive online-based or desktop-based publication desktop publication apps available.

What's the closest equivalent to Microsoft Publisher?

At this point, Microsoft 365 users who need a Publisher-like app should consider purchasing Affinity Publisher 2. It is easy to use and has more features than Microsoft Publisher (e.g., include footnotes, better text handling). You can purchase and download it directly from Affinity's website (or through Microsoft Store in Windows 10 or 11). For more information about Affinity Publisher, visit: https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/publisher/. Affinity Publisher has received generally favorable reviews and awards. A huge bonus is that the software is available for both the Windows AND macOS platforms (and lately an iPad version was released). Affinity Publisher is only available as a stand-alone desktop app. There is NO subscription. Cost is $86.99 CAD ($US cost will be less) and is one-time purchase. You will get updates, and you can always upgrade, when you need to. Affinity is a European-based software company that has been around for many years and continues to develop and update Affinity Publisher. Affinity also sells photo-editing software that works great with Affinity Publisher.

Ruperstland,

Canada

Screenshot of Microsoft Publisher:

Microsoft 365 and Office | Publisher | Other

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  1. Anonymous
    2025-03-07T00:05:57+00:00

    The linking of text boxes in Word does help. But not having the Continued On... and Continued From... hurts. Also, doing a true 2-page spread in Word is nearly impossible without having to make pages 2-3 (the inside pages of a 4-page booklet with one 2-page spread) an 11x17 Tabloid page and then having to align guides and do a LOT of manual work to get the layout just right. The front and back cover pages (1 and 4) become another issue since you have to basically lay them out "backwards" with page 4 on the left and page 1 on the right of the tabloid size paper. So yes, technically is "can" be done but it is way too much work in Word. I'll either buy the standalone version, which sucks since I'm already paying for Publisher with my annual 365 subscription. Or I'll leave Microsoft and go with something like Affinity Publisher 2. I'm already mad at Microsoft for raising the annual subscription from $99 to $129 and now they are taking away software so I'm getting LESS for having to pay MORE money... what a rip off !!!!!

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  2. Anonymous
    2024-04-16T20:26:49+00:00

    Publisher is great to use making Personalized Cards and Newsletters. I too feel very disappointed to hear that Microsoft wants to close Publisher.

    Word & PowerPoint don't have the same features.

    Microsoft don't disappoint your users of Publisher.

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  3. Anonymous
    2024-03-19T11:23:48+00:00

    I'm sorry to say this but Microsoft Publisher has always been the most awful, horrible piece of rubbish. Word is much better. Most people who actually know anything about design or publishing detest Publisher.

    Publisher was designed in the bad old days of Microsoft to try to lock people in to a format that nothing else understands (except recently Libre Office) in order to play monopolist and try to cut out the likes of Adobe InDesign and Quark Express while not actually offering anything decent in terms of real functionality.

    It has always just been an alternate interface to the Word "engine" and functions that Word already had, with a few very basic templates thrown in that could have easily been included in Word. Every single thing that Publisher does can be done in Word, in fact I would say much more can be done in Word.

    Don't believe me? Look at Microsoft's own brochure design templates online. Notice much love for Publisher? Not really...

    https://create.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/brochures

    Alternates?

    Word can do a lot more than you might think and its files can be opened by people without Publisher. It is commercial but cross platform.

    You can do a surprising amount in something like Libre Office, which is free and cross platform.

    Scribus is cross platform and free. It is an excellent and very capable piece of software that can go far and above Publisher, doing things such as full magazines, but is sadly just a bit too technical for the average person and with only a handful of developers (who are mainly interested in that technical functionality rather than simplicity or accessibility) it is unlikely that it will improve much in that regard in the near future.

    Affinity Publisher is commercial but affordable and not subscription based and on Mac and Windows and iPad. Affinity Publisher is a terrific piece of software, along with its sister apps Affinity Designer and Affinity Photo and they have rightly won awards. The Affinity apps have an active community and are recieving lots of developer love too. Affinity apps are quite accessible and there are videos and resources for the Affinity apps both from the developers and the community.

    If you want something simple that does a much better job than publisher in almost every area, then look at Canva. It is web based.

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  4. Anonymous
    2024-03-15T14:43:34+00:00

    Hi DavidF,

    As I mentioned to Don in my post yesterday, I still have an ancient copy of Microsoft Office 2000 (professional), and with that Publisher 2000. Perhaps it might possibly work on Windows 10?

    Thanks for making me aware the availability of a trial version of Affinity Publisher. That would make it easier to assess the software before dishing out the cash.

    Yes, I was aware LibreOffice Draw will open Pub files. The only downside to Draw is that it lacks much of Publisher's features and functionality.

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  5. Anonymous
    2024-03-14T21:46:48+00:00

    Hi Gwuinifer,

    One more thing, one can also post feedback on Microsoft's Feedback Hub. The application is available in Windows 10 or 11. Just sign-in.

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