Is Microsoft Office being discontinued too?

No. Only Publisher is being discontinued on October 13, 2026. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote and Teams are fully supported on Microsoft 365 and on the perpetual editions (Office 2021, Office LTSC 2024). Microsoft has committed to Word, Excel and PowerPoint updates through at least 2029. The retirement is Publisher-only.

When did Microsoft announce Publisher would no longer be supported?

Microsoft announced Publisher's retirement in 2024 on the official Microsoft 365 blog, confirming October 13, 2026 as the end date. The announcement clarifies that no successor is planned and users should migrate to PowerPoint or Word for future page-layout work.

Is Publisher still supported today?

Yes, until October 13, 2026. Publisher receives normal monthly updates on Microsoft 365 and standard security updates on perpetual Office 2021 through that date. After October 13, 2026 support ends everywhere.

Guide · updated 2026-09-06

Microsoft Publisher is being discontinued on October 13, 2026

Q: Is Microsoft Publisher really being discontinued?

Yes. Microsoft has confirmed Publisher will be removed from Microsoft 365 on October 13, 2026, and no new perpetual version will follow Office 2021.

Q: When is Publisher going away exactly?

October 13, 2026 for Microsoft 365 subscribers. Perpetual editions (Office 2021 and earlier) keep working after that date but stop receiving updates and security patches.

Q: Will my .pub files stop opening on October 13?

The files themselves do not change. What stops working is the Publisher app on Microsoft 365 machines. On perpetual-license PCs Publisher keeps opening .pub files, but with no updates the situation degrades over time.

Q: Is there a Microsoft Publisher replacement from Microsoft?

No direct replacement. Microsoft points users to Word for text documents and PowerPoint for free-form layouts. Neither reads .pub files natively.

Q: Does Microsoft still have Publisher?

Yes, for a few more weeks. Publisher is still part of Microsoft 365 on Windows and still ships inside Office 2021 perpetual until October 13, 2026. Microsoft has confirmed it will not be part of Office LTSC 2024 or any future edition, and no successor product is planned.

Q: Is Microsoft phasing out Publisher?

Not gradually: it is a single cut-off. There is no phase-out period with reduced features. Publisher works fully until October 13, 2026 and is removed from Microsoft 365 on that date. Perpetual editions keep launching but stop receiving updates the same day.

Yes, Publisher is being discontinued. Microsoft confirmed the date: October 13, 2026. This page tells you what that word means in practice, who really loses the app, what happens to your .pub files, and what you should do this week to be safe.

In three lines

Microsoft 365 users: on October 13 the Publisher app is disabled. It will not install anymore.
Perpetual license (Office 2021 or older): Publisher keeps working, but never gets another update.
Your .pub files: they stay on disk. The problem is what still opens them a year from now.

Publisher no longer supported: what changes on October 13, 2026

"Publisher no longer supported" is Microsoft's own phrasing in the retirement notice. It means two distinct things depending on which Office you own. On Microsoft 365, the app is removed from the catalog and disabled on your machine, so .pub files stop opening there. On Office 2021 and earlier perpetual editions, Publisher keeps launching and saving .pub files but Microsoft ends security updates, bug fixes, and compatibility patches. Nothing else on your Office install changes: Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook continue on their normal update schedule. Common confusion: Microsoft Office is not being discontinued, only Publisher is.

What "discontinued" actually means

Microsoft uses two different words that are easy to confuse. Discontinued means the product is removed from Microsoft 365, so subscribers can no longer install or run it. End of support means the perpetual (bought-once) editions no longer receive updates, but the app itself keeps launching. Both things happen on the same day, October 13, 2026, which is why the language around this is muddled.

To find out which one applies to you, open Publisher, go to File then Account. Under "Product Information" you will read either "Microsoft 365" (subscription, you lose the app) or "Office 2021", "Home & Business 2021", "Professional Plus 2021" (perpetual, the app keeps working with no updates).

Why is Microsoft Publisher being discontinued?

Publisher was launched in 1991 as a page-layout tool for small businesses, schools, and community groups. It never made it to Mac, it never made it to Office on the web, and it has not received a real new feature in more than a decade. Microsoft is redirecting the audience to Word for text-heavy documents and to PowerPoint for flyers, brochures, and any material that needs objects placed freely on the page.

Timeline: what is happening between now and October

August 2026: Microsoft 365 admin center starts showing the retirement banner to tenant administrators.
September 2026: last chance to bulk-export .pub archives while every Publisher install is still healthy.
October 13, 2026: Publisher is removed from Microsoft 365. On perpetual editions the app remains but the update pipeline shuts down.
After October 13: perpetual-Publisher machines keep working, but each Windows update, hardware refresh, or colleague turnover erodes the safety net.

What happens to your .pub files after October 13

The .pub file is a proprietary format. Once Publisher is gone from Microsoft 365, the only reliable way to open a .pub file is a machine that still has a perpetual Publisher install on it. LibreOffice Draw opens some files but strips or misplaces layout details. Third-party converters vary in fidelity and none of them match what Publisher itself produces. Anyone who leaves the archive untouched is betting on those aging perpetual installs surviving Windows upgrades and PC turnover for years, which is not a plan.

How to prepare in one weekend

Find every .pub file. On Windows Explorer, search *.pub in Documents, in Downloads, in every mapped drive, in OneDrive and SharePoint. Do not forget USB sticks and older colleagues' desktops.
Copy them all into one folder before touching anything. Naming: _pub-archive-2026. This is your safety copy.
Export every file to PDF. For a handful, do it by hand from Publisher's File then Export. For an archive of dozens or hundreds, a batch tool like PublisherRescue converts the whole folder in one operation and returns faithful PDFs plus the editable formats you choose.
Decide what still needs to be editable. Recurring documents (monthly newsletter, seasonal flyer, weekly bulletin) are worth rebuilding once in a Publisher alternative. Everything else is fine as a PDF forever.
Archive the final result. ZIP with originals, PDFs, and any extracted text and images. Put it on two disks. Then you can forget October 13.

Common misconceptions

"Word or PowerPoint will just open my .pub files." No. Neither reads the format. The migration is always open-in-Publisher, then export, then rebuild in the new tool.

"There will be a Publisher successor from Microsoft." Nothing announced, nothing in preview, nothing on the roadmap. Microsoft has been consistent: Word and PowerPoint are the recommended paths.

"I bought Publisher, so I keep it forever." You keep the perpetual license, yes. What you lose on October 13 is Microsoft's obligation to fix security bugs. A machine running an unpatched Office is not a machine you want handling documents in 2028.

"October 1 is the real date, not October 13." October 1 is the end of mainstream support for Office LTSC 2021. October 13 is the end of extended support and the retirement date on Microsoft 365. For almost every Publisher user, October 13 is the one that matters. See the full timeline in the end of life guide.

Do it once, in one operation.

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Frequently asked questions

Is Microsoft Publisher really being discontinued?

Yes. Publisher leaves Microsoft 365 on October 13, 2026 and no new perpetual version will follow Office 2021.

When is Publisher going away exactly?

October 13, 2026 for subscribers. Perpetual editions keep launching after that date, without updates or security patches.

Will my .pub files stop opening on October 13?

The files do not change. What stops working is the app on Microsoft 365 machines. On perpetual-license PCs Publisher keeps opening files, but the ecosystem around it decays.

Is there a Microsoft Publisher replacement from Microsoft?

No. Microsoft points to Word for text and PowerPoint for layouts. Neither opens .pub files natively.

What is the fastest thing I should do today?

Export every .pub file you care about to PDF while Publisher still works. Then decide what needs to stay editable.

Does Microsoft still have Publisher?

Yes, until October 13, 2026, on Microsoft 365 and in Office 2021 perpetual. Not in Office LTSC 2024, and no successor is planned.

Is Microsoft phasing out Publisher?

No gradual phase-out. Full app until October 13, 2026, then removed from Microsoft 365 and frozen on perpetual editions.