Microsoft is ending their Publisher desktop publishing product completely. Here’s the vital details you need to know, including how to keep your Publisher software after the end date.
Publisher is Microsoft’s desktop publishing software that’s been available since 1991 mostly as part of some Microsoft Office bundles but also sold separately. It’s part of the desktop software (Windows only) in most Microsoft 365 plans.
Publisher is being stopped (Microsoft’s euphemism is ‘end-of-life’) on 13 October 2026 or about 1 year, 9 months from today
After October 2026, there’ll be no security or bug fixes for Publisher and it won’t be included with new Microsoft 365 installs. Sometime before then, the standalone Publisher product won’t be sold.
There are three ‘current’ versions of Microsoft Publisher, depending on how you purchased the software.
Publisher 2019 standalone
The latest standalone version of Publisher is the 2019 version.
It’s hard to find, even on the Microsoft site (try here) you might be able to buy it separately. The retail price is US$160
This version will keep working after October 2026, but without any security or bug fixes.
When will they stop selling Publisher 2019? Microsoft hasn’t said and they may not know themselves yet. For the moment most references to buying Publisher on their site point to Microsoft 365 plans or Office 2021.
Publisher 2019 and 2021
Publisher is included in the ‘Professional’ and ‘Professional Plus’ versions of both Office 2019 and Office 2021.
There’s little difference between Publisher 2021 and the 2019 release. Microsoft doesn’t list any changes at all.
These two versions will keep working after October 2026, but without any security or bug fixes.
Publisher 2019 as part of Office 2019 is already in ‘extended support’ with security patches only until 14 October 2025 or about 9 months from today
Office 2021’s end of support is the same day as Publisher’s end-of-life, 13 Oct 2026 or about 1 year, 9 months from today
Office 2024
Office 2024 does NOT include Publisher.
Publisher 365
This version is supplied with Microsoft 365 plans which include Windows desktop software.
It will continue to be installed with Microsoft 365 until it’s “end of life” in October 2026. After that date, installations of Microsoft 365 will not include Publisher.
Existing Publisher installations will remain in place after October 2026. Microsoft is NOT planning to remove it from computers. However, if you install or reinstall Microsoft 365 after Oct. 2026, Publisher won’t be included.
How to keep Publisher
To keep a copy of Publisher after October 2026, you’ll need to have either
- Publisher 2019 standalone
- Office 2021 ‘Pro’ version, which includes Publisher 2021
- Or Office 2019 Pro with Publisher 2019
These versions will continue to work after October 2026 and can be reinstalled on other computers (subject to the usual licence rules, in particular OEM products). The software won’t have security or other bug fixes.
Alternatives to Publisher
It’s early days to be considering a desktop publishing replacement for Publisher. Quite possibly some software makers will adapt their products to fill the upcoming gap.
At the moment the only practical choice is LibreOffice, its Writer word-processor can import Publisher .pub files.
It’s unlikely that Microsoft would sell off Publisher to another company, if only because the software has many links into functions that are shared with other Office apps.
Scribus is an open source alternative which will import Publisher .pub files. More expensive options include Canva, Adobe InDesign or QuarkXpress.
Microsoft says they are considering changes to Word, Powerpoint and Designer to provide some of the Publisher features. How much of that will happen is anyones guess.
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