.pub files
.pub file
Microsoft Publisher Document
A Publisher layout file — and Microsoft is retiring the app that makes them in October 2026.
What opens a .pub file
- Windows
- Microsoft Publisher (retiring October 2026), LibreOffice Draw, Scribus
- macOS
- LibreOffice Draw, Scribus
- Linux
- LibreOffice Draw, Scribus
What a .pub file is
PUB is the desktop publishing format from Microsoft Publisher, used for newsletters, flyers and church bulletins. Microsoft ends support on 1 October 2026 and removes Publisher from Microsoft 365 subscriptions on 13 October 2026, so existing files should be exported to PDF or Word now. Outside Publisher, LibreOffice Draw and Scribus both import .pub with reasonable but imperfect fidelity.
Converting it
A .pub file is commonly converted to .pdf, .docx, .jpg or .png. It is a binary format, so a text editor will show unreadable characters rather than its contents.
Details
- Extension
- .pub
- Full name
- Microsoft Publisher Document
- Category
- Documents
- Created by
- Microsoft
- Format
- Binary
Common questions
- How do I open a .pub file?
- On Windows use Microsoft Publisher (retiring October 2026); on macOS use LibreOffice Draw; on Linux use LibreOffice Draw. A Publisher layout file — and Microsoft is retiring the app that makes them in October 2026.
- What is a .pub file?
- Microsoft Publisher Document. PUB is the desktop publishing format from Microsoft Publisher, used for newsletters, flyers and church bulletins. Microsoft ends support on 1 October 2026 and removes Publisher from Microsoft 365 subscriptions on 13 October 2026, so existing files should be exported to PDF or Word now.
- Can I convert a .pub file?
- Yes. It is usually converted to .pdf, .docx, .jpg or .png, either by exporting from one of the programs listed above or with a format converter.
Related pages
- .pdf — Portable Document Format A fixed-layout document that looks identical everywhere — the format for anythin
- .docx — Word Document (Open XML) The standard Word document since Office 2007 — a zip archive of XML underneath.
- .xlsx — Excel Workbook (Open XML) The standard Excel spreadsheet since 2007, with a million-row limit per sheet.
- .pptx — PowerPoint Presentation (Open XML) The standard PowerPoint deck since 2007.
- .txt — Plain Text File Text with no formatting at all — the format that will still open in fifty years.
- .doc — Word Document (legacy binary) The pre-2007 Word format — still readable, but Microsoft would rather you conver
- .xls — Excel Workbook (legacy binary) The pre-2007 Excel format, limited to 65,536 rows.
- .ppt — PowerPoint Presentation (legacy binary) The pre-2007 PowerPoint format.
- .md — Markdown Document Plain text with a light formatting convention — headings with #, bold with **.
- .rtf — Rich Text Format A formatted document format readable by every word processor since 1987.
- .pages — Apple Pages Document Apple's word processor format — Apple devices and iCloud only.
- .odt — OpenDocument Text The open-standard word processor format, native to LibreOffice.
Sources
- Media Types Registry — IANA
- Official vendor product documentation — At One Place