Publisher alternative in 2026

Publisher has been a wonderful program for me. It is used for my card and art company of 12 years. Two 2 computers are owned and a 3rd just purchased which has not been used. All have MS365 on them. I'm trying to find/get a definite answer to the same question as well, but from what was read a while back, we will not be able to use Publisher (including if someone owns a stand alone version) or even to open up our files. We might be able to access a PDF of the file. Unfortunately that doesn't help. At this point I believe all of the previously completed jobs and files will have to recreated in another program. I hope I am wrong!!

It is discouraging and since I to date have done mostly invitations or cards on it, I will consider making a change now. I find that these large companies are too big or layered to really care about any of our concerns. For those of you who have invested years into Publisher, this is a difficult situation. What makes Publisher so good is the simplicity of the program.

I feel I have to comment that M/S Word is no match for the excellence of M/S Publisher, in spite of the fact that, perhaps, current users are declining! I have many thousands of files which will need attention or, I guess, lost! I really hope that a suitable conversion or new transfer application will appear before October, 2026! Or, I may have to go back to Pages and re-establish my much earlier association with Apple Mac!

That is a very helpful suggestion, David. Perhaps Microsoft could confirm that Windows 11 and versions to come will support a stand-alone Publisher program version such as that which many of us purchased, independently, in the 'earlier days'! The ending of Publisher will devalue the use of 365 in my opinion. It certainly will for me!

Ray Fowke.

Will the other programs like Word be able to open my current Publisher files so I can continue to update and utilize them?