How to install Publisher 2021 standalone and keep using my Microsoft 365 subscription

Hello Dana Gurnee

Thank you for sharing your experience with Publisher 2007, that’s actually very useful to know. Older Publisher versions use a different installation model

Which explains why they can still run side by side with Microsoft 365 in some cases, even though newer perpetual versions cannot. That insight may also help other users who are in a similar situation.

Regarding converting Publisher 2007 files to PDF, since that version doesn’t include built‑in PDF export, you should try looking for Microsoft Print to PDF function:

Open the file in Publisher 2007, Select File > Print. From the Printer list, choose Microsoft Print to PDF

If this function is available in Publisher 2007, it could be a practical way to convert file to pdf without converting to another program.

Because This creates a standard PDF that can be viewed, shared, or sent to a printer. It’s especially useful when direct PDF export or older add‑ons are no longer available.

I guess what would be most helpful to me is to know that once MS gets rid of publisher in 365, will it allow standalone copies to be installed? This seems like a completely obvious solution, but obviously, it must be asked…

Hello Liz Stefany

To answer your question: Yes, you are still allowed to install Publisher standalone version after end of support date.

If Publisher was purchased as part of a one‑time‑purchase Office suite (such as Office 2019 or Office 2021 Professional), the app can still be installed and will continue to run locally after October 2026.

However, it will still be unsupported, meaning no security updates, bug fixes, or compatibility guarantees going forward.

But Liz would NOT be able to have Office 365 on the same computer -- correct?

While it may be possible to "survive" with Office 2021, there may be times when it is not able to handle files that come from other people who made those files in the latest versions of Office 365.

And I wonder if my printer -- meaning the printing service that makes hundreds of copies of my newsletter, not my personal printer -- would have problems working with an "old" PDF.

Yes, that would be correct. Those 2 versions together on the same PC would inevitably be causing conflict for each other.

About working with files created in newer Microsoft 365 versions:

That concern is valid. Office 2021 can usually open files created in Microsoft 365, but because Microsoft 365 continues to evolve, there may be cases over time where:

Newer features are reduced or flattened when opened in Office 2021 or files open correctly but lose newer formatting or collaboration features

About your printer and printing old PDFs:

From a commercial printing standpoint, an “older” PDF is generally not a problem at all, as long as it’s a standard PDF generated with embedded fonts and proper print settings

A PDF produced from Publisher (even an older version) using proper print or export settings is typically accepted without issue. The age of the software that created the PDF is far less important than the quality of the PDF itself.

To clarify, I do not have publisher as part of the full 2021 office suite, it’s publisher as a standalone product. I would like to see Microsoft allow it to be installed alongside 365 once publisher is no longer part of 365. I can’t see how there would be any conflict of interest at that point. I understand it will be unsupported, but I am feeling extremely unsupported by Microsoft with them pulling publisher, so I’m more than willing to live with it as long as I can keep using the program I am accustomed to.

What a nice idea you have.

It certainly seems reasonable that Microsoft would allow Standalone Publisher 2021 to (a) be installed and (b) to persist as an application on your hard drive, along with Office 365, if (c) the installation is attempted after "365 Component Publisher" is extracted from Office 365.

What right could Microsoft possibly assert to disallow that? After all, it's the same operating system. I can forgive Microsoft by disallowing me from installing Office 2021 on a 2014 Windows 8.1 laptop, which I would like to do.

I guess I'm mansplaining. Anyway, if your strategy is to wait for the extraction day and to then install Standalone Publisher 2021, I think it's a good one.

In another comment I will describe trying to set up another user profile.

Above, Xavier D provided a discussion about having different user profiles as a way to have Office 365 and Publisher 2021 on the same computer.

I may have attempted this incorrectly or ineptly, but here is what happened to me.

1. Maybe not understanding what is meant by "different user profiles," I create another user on my computer. Let's call it User B, with User A being the user I already have.
2. Before embarking, I create a Restore Point.
3. Making a new user is fraught and fails to complete when I follow the first suggested procedure. Too complicated to recount.
4. I easily create a new user, User B, through Control Panel.
5. Setting up User B requires me to answer a few questions about how I want to set up Windows. Not may questions, though; far fewer questions than when I set up the first user years ago. However, I am unhappy that I need to restate things about, for example, privacy preferences.
6. User B has a new desktop scene. That makes sense.
7. However, User B has shortcuts on the desktop that point to apps "owned" by User A. These shortcuts are few and they make no logical sense. Some of them are to obscure apps that I haven't used for years. Similar shortcuts are not present under User A.
8. User B's program list shows Microsoft apps, such as Cortana, that I uninstalled years ago under User A.
9. User B Start Menu (!) offers access to dozens of folders owned by User A. Those folders are not offered by the Start Menu under User A.
10. User B has "program tiles" for Office 365 components, excluding (!) Publisher. (It does so without having "enrolled" with Microsoft.)
11. Given User B's "awareness" of Office 365, I deduce that installing Publisher 2021 will not be tolerated at this time.
12. User B's interface indicates that Microsoft Edge is the default browser, which is not what User A stipulates.
13. There are many more troublesome aspects to User B's setup. I do not delve into what User B can see on the hard drive or under User A in Explorer.
14. When I switch back to User A, I see that added to User A's program list are many apps that were not there before -- for example, Cortana, Solitaire, and various games. I regard this as a disaster for my peace of mind about how I've set up User A.
15. I decide to undo this. But my Restore Point is gone!
16. I delete User B through Control Panel.
17. I spend 30 minutes or more looking for damage done to User A. I don't see much, but I do delete Cortana and the games.

++++

So, my question is: Did I misunderstand what was meant by establishing a different "user profile"?

Hello Dana Gurnee

Thank you for laying all of that out so carefully.

Based on what you described and after testing this myself the solution from the thread I provided, I can confirm that you did not misunderstand or misconfigure anything.

The issue is that creating a second Windows user account does not create a separate Office installation environment. Even though User A and User B appear independent on the surface (different desktops, preferences, start menus), Office and Microsoft 365 are installed at the system level, not per user. All Windows users on the same machine share the same underlying Office components.

Because of that:

• Microsoft 365 is still present for User B, even if it hasn’t been signed into
• Publisher (from Microsoft 365) is still registered at the system level
• Installing Publisher 2021 remains blocked, regardless of which user is logged in

In short:

• Your setup attempt was valid
• The behavior you saw is expected Windows behavior
• Separate user accounts cannot bypass the Office installation conflict

I appreciate you documenting this so thoroughly. It helps clarify that this approach, while logical in theory, unfortunately doesn’t solve the underlying limitation.

You should also check out another answer in this thread provided by Tom van Stiphout, they suggest using virtual machine on the same pc to install another version of Office to be able to use 365 and 2021 side by side.

Could I download Pub 2021 to a flashdrive and then install on a different pc?

Thanks to all for the thoughts and processes. I think my current plan will be to install my standalone publisher on my old windows 10 laptop that I no longer use connected to the internet. I can uninstall windows 365, and then install Pub 2021. What a pain it will be to thumb-drive files back and forth, but at least I’ll have them available! Hopefully after publisher is removed form 365 I can then try to install on my current laptop. But….at least I’ll have backup. I would have liked to wipe and recycle my old laptop, but I guess there;’s something to be said for procrastination, because I do still have it available…

Hello Liz Stefany

That sounds like a sensible and practical approach.

Using the older Windows 10 laptop as a dedicated Publisher system avoids the installation conflict and ensures you’ll still have access to your files when you need them. While moving files by USB isn’t ideal, it does give you a reliable backup and a stable setup.

You’re right holding on to older hardware can sometimes turn out to be very useful in situations like this.

Hello LOUISE- 2

Yes, you can download the Publisher 2021 installer and copy it to a USB flash drive, then use that installer to set up Publisher on a different PC.

Publisher still installs onto the computer itself (it doesn’t run from the flash drive), and the license can be activated as usual.

Just keep in mind that if Microsoft 365 is already installed on that PC, it would need to be fully uninstalled first before installing Publisher 2021.

if I uninstall Microsoft 365, install standalone publisher, can I reinstall office 365