Publisher alternative in 2026

Hello, Peter,

I am not a Techie so my answer is cautiously provided. I believe that if your Publisher program was purchased as a CD version it will continue to work on your current computer. However, any problems which might develop will not be supported by Microsoft. Also, when you finally replace your existing computer, say, after Windows 11, the program may not continue to work. Example: I have a CD version of Publisher 2016 and already some files created in that program will not convert to a PDF file in Windows 10.

If anyone knows I am wrong in my overall assumptions, please feel free to correct me.

I am disappointed by the fact that 'you pays your money' but eventually you have to pay again! I could accept limitations in version operation but not cancellation.

• Ray

Maybe MS will provide 5 new standalone versions free for the 5 seats of 365 I have....🤔

Yes, Jef4, I too downloaded LibreOffice and found that it did work ok although still not up to Publisher's standard. I will report on this more once I have delved into the matter further. I need to 'try out' a few more things before being totally convinced!

• Ray.

Not particularly helpful though, Dale!

I'm not a techie either but a while back two stand-alone Publisher CDs were purchased several years apart. The last few years the yearly upgrade has been a recurring purchase from Microsoft directly. Both of those old stand-alones still work; however, if it was read correctly no version of Publisher will work after the shutdown date of October 1, 2026. "After this date, you will no longer be able to open or edit these files with Microsoft Publisher." So if we don't save our files as PDFs and move them out of Publisher we will lose them. Period.  Someone asked if it might be possible to use Publisher on a device that is not hooked up to the internet. That way it wouldn't be a security risk. The finished piece might then be made into PDFs and transferred with a thumb drive to a 2nd device for online use.