Convert publisher file to an editable word file

There are two main ways to convert Publisher (.pub) files into editable Word documents.

1. Save the publication directly as a Word document

Use this when access to Publisher is still available and the main goal is to keep editable text (layout and graphics will not be preserved).

1. Open the Publisher publication.
2. Select File > Save As.
3. Browse to the location where the Word document should be saved.
4. In File name, enter a name for the Word document.
5. In Save as type, choose the desired Word format (for current versions, choose Word Document).
6. Select Save.

Notes for this method:

• Only text and font formatting (font, size, style, underline, color, effects) are preserved.
• Design elements such as graphics and columns are not preserved.
• Headers, footers, and page numbers are kept as content, but Word’s header/footer functionality is not; adjust them in Word after saving.
• Page breaks from Publisher are ignored; insert page breaks in Word as needed.
• Graphics must be copied separately from Publisher and pasted into Word if needed.

2. Convert via PDF, then open in Word

Use this when a closer visual match to the original layout is needed and some reformatting is acceptable.

Step 1: Convert Publisher file to PDF

1. Open the Publisher file.
2. Go to File > Save As.
3. Choose a save location.
4. Select PDF as the file type.
5. Select Save.

Step 2: Open the PDF in Word as an editable document

1. Open Word.
2. Go to File > Open.
3. Browse to and open the PDF file.
4. When prompted that Word will convert the PDF to an editable document, select OK.

Notes for this method:

• The resulting Word document is optimized for text editing.
• Layout may differ from the original, especially if the publication contains many graphics.

Alternative: Copy content from Publisher into Word

If only parts of a publication are needed:

• To copy editable objects/text:
  1. In Publisher, select the objects or use Ctrl+A to select the whole page.
  2. Right-click and choose Copy.
  3. Open the Word document, right-click where content should appear, and choose Paste.
• To preserve a page as an image (not editable text):
  1. In Publisher, save the page or objects as a picture file (for example, PNG or JPEG) at high quality.
  2. Insert that picture into Word. This keeps appearance but not text editability.

For long-term access after Publisher retirement (October 2026), convert important .pub files to Word and/or PDF before that date.

References:

• Microsoft Publisher will no longer be supported after October 2026
• Save a publication as a Word document
• I have thousands of Publisher files; I'm not opening each one individually to convert them. What is this BS about retiring publisher and losing access to all those files? This is 20 years of work that my business is going to lose, we won't recover from th - Microsoft Q&A