Microsoft Publisher Is Being Discontinued: Convert All Your .pub Files to PDF (No PowerShell Needed)

Microsoft is discontinuing Publisher on October 1, 2026 — after that date, Microsoft 365 subscribers can no longer open or edit Publisher files inside Publisher, per Microsoft’s own retirement notice, and the app won’t be offered for new installs at all. If your business still has years of old invoices, flyers, brochures, or newsletters sitting in .pub format, this page gives you the fastest fix: one prompt to an AI agent that can operate your computer, and it runs Microsoft’s own official bulk-conversion script for you — every Publisher file you own becomes a PDF in minutes, without you touching PowerShell yourself.

What’s actually happening, and by when

Two separate deadlines, both from Microsoft’s own support page:

	Deadline	What happens
Microsoft 365 subscribers	October 1, 2026	Publisher becomes unusable in the subscription
Perpetual licenses (Office 2021 and earlier)	October 13, 2026	Lose official support when those Office versions themselves retire; may keep running afterward, but with no updates or help

Microsoft’s own recommendation is blunt: convert your existing files before the deadline. For viewing, they suggest exporting to PDF; for files you’ll need to edit later, PDF → Word. For bulk conversion, Microsoft themselves point to a PowerShell script — which is exactly what this guide walks you through running, the easy way.

One thing worth being precise about: you’ll sometimes see a specific number of “affected businesses” attached to this story elsewhere. We checked Microsoft’s own notice directly and it contains no user or business count — that figure isn’t sourced to Microsoft, so we’re not repeating it here. What’s verified: the dates, and what “no longer supported” means, both above.

The fastest way: hand it to an AI agent

This is a job an AI agent that can actually operate your computer is good at — not a chatbot, specifically something with real access to your files and the ability to run commands, like Claude Cowork (operates your desktop directly) or Claude Code (runs commands in a terminal). A cloud-based assistant that doesn’t touch your local machine — including most consumer chat apps’ built-in code tools — can’t reach your installed copy of Publisher, so this specific method won’t work with those.

Paste this to Claude Cowork or Claude Code:

I have Microsoft Publisher installed on this Windows PC and a folder of .pub files I need converted to PDF before Publisher loses support. Please: (1) download Microsoft’s official conversion script from https://download.microsoft.com/download/3e67cd40-2334-4c46-a0c9-30bd43eebb3c/Convert-PubFileToPDF.ps1, (2) verify its SHA256 hash equals 7be305f2772d7fd8d9bd16ce96caf9e58e377a00714dd0c0b1830afcfc0b8b49, (3) unblock the file so PowerShell will run it, (4) run it with -Filter "*.pub" -Recurse against [tell it your folder — e.g. my Documents folder], and (5) tell me how many files converted successfully and show me any errors.

What happens next: the agent downloads the script, checks the hash before running anything (so it won’t execute a tampered file), and runs it against your folder. The script itself reports progress as it goes and finishes with a summary line in exactly this format — straight from its own source code: Converted <N> files with <N> errors. A PDF appears next to each .pub file; your originals are untouched.

If you’d rather skip the download step, you can also point the agent at our mirrored copy — download it directly — see the verification section below for why that’s safe to do.

Don’t have an AI agent that can operate your computer? Do it manually

Two options, no agent required:

One file at a time: open the .pub file in Publisher, go to File → Export → Create PDF/XPS Document, and save. Fine for a handful of files, painful for a folder of fifty.

Bulk, via PowerShell yourself: open PowerShell in the folder with your .pub files and run:

.\Convert-PubFileToPDF.ps1 -Filter "*.pub" -Recurse

(You’ll need our mirrored copy of the script or Microsoft’s own download in that folder first, and Publisher already installed. Windows may block the script as “downloaded from the internet” — right-click the file, Properties, check “Unblock”, then run the command above.)

Is it actually safe to run? How we verified it

We read the entire script before doing anything with it — it’s short, and you should read it too before running anything against your files. Here’s exactly what it does: for each .pub file matching your filter, it opens the file using Publisher’s own COM automation interface, calls Publisher’s built-in ExportAsFixedFormat function to save a PDF next to it, then closes the file. That’s it — no network requests, no deletion or modification of your original files, nothing hidden.

More importantly, it isn’t a script we wrote: it’s the exact sample script Microsoft links from their own retirement notice, named Convert-PubFileToPDF.ps1. We downloaded it directly from Microsoft’s server and compared it byte-for-byte against the copy hosted here:

SHA256: 7be305f2772d7fd8d9bd16ce96caf9e58e377a00714dd0c0b1830afcfc0b8b49

Identical. If you want to verify it yourself rather than take our word for it, download Microsoft’s original and our mirror, then run Get-FileHash (Windows) or shasum -a 256 (Mac) on both and compare.

FAQ

When exactly does Microsoft Publisher stop working? October 1, 2026 for Microsoft 365 subscribers — Publisher becomes unusable in the subscription that day, per Microsoft’s own retirement notice. Perpetual-license versions (Office 2021 and earlier) lose official support on October 13, 2026 when those Office editions themselves reach end of support, though they may keep running past that date without updates or help from Microsoft.

Can I still open my old .pub files after the deadline? Not in Publisher — Microsoft’s notice states you won’t be able to open or edit Publisher files in Publisher once support ends, and the app won’t be available for new installs. That’s exactly why converting now, while your existing installation still works, is the move — not waiting until the file is already stuck.

Do I need to install anything to use the AI-agent method? You need Claude Cowork or Claude Code (something that can actually operate your computer or run commands on it), plus a working, licensed copy of Microsoft Publisher already installed — the conversion script drives Publisher itself, it doesn’t replace it. If you don’t have either, use the manual method further up instead.

Is this script actually from Microsoft, or some third-party tool? It’s Microsoft’s own official sample script, published on their support page for exactly this purpose. We downloaded it directly from Microsoft’s server and it is byte-for-byte identical (SHA256 match) to the copy hosted here.

What does the script actually do to my files? It opens each .pub file in your real, installed copy of Publisher, calls Publisher’s own PDF export function, saves a new .pdf next to the original, and closes the file. It never deletes, edits, or uploads your original .pub files, and it makes no network calls — the entire source is short enough to read in two minutes, and you should, before running anything that touches your files.

Turn this into income

If you’ve just done this for yourself, you’ve also just validated a real service: plenty of small businesses — real estate offices, restaurants, nonprofits, anyone who made flyers or newsletters in the 2010s — have a folder of old Publisher files and no interest in touching PowerShell themselves. See the Publisher file rescue idea for how to turn a 10-minute agent run into a paid batch-conversion service.

References

• Microsoft — “Microsoft Publisher will no longer be supported after October 2026” — the official retirement notice: exact dates, what “no longer supported” means, and the source of the conversion script.
• Microsoft’s official Convert-PubFileToPDF.ps1 download