The short answer
Open stillpub.com/app in a desktop browser, click Open .pub file, and pick the file. It opens as an editable page layout in a few seconds. That is the whole procedure, and it works as a pub file reader you can use to view .pub online, no install, in the tab you already have open. The rest of this page explains what you get, what you do not, and what the other options are.
Nothing leaves your computer. The stillPUB page loads from the web like any website, but the .pub file is read and drawn entirely inside your browser. There is no upload step because there is no server to upload to. The privacy policy says the same thing in more words.
Option 1: open it in your browser with stillPUB
- Go to the app. stillpub.com/app works in Chrome, Edge and Firefox on a normal computer. Nothing installs, though you can add it to your desktop for offline use.
- Click Open .pub file on the start screen and choose the file. Publisher 2000 through Microsoft 365 files convert best. Publisher 95 and 98 files use an older format that converts poorly, and stillPUB will say so.
- Read the conversion report. Text boxes, pictures, shapes and page layout come across. Where Publisher used a feature that has no equivalent, the report lists it by name. Fonts that only ship with Microsoft Office (Calibri, Cambria, Arial, Times New Roman) are replaced with lookalikes that aim to preserve letter widths. Check line breaks after substitution.
- Do what you came to do. Print it, export a PDF, export the pages as JPG or PNG, or change the text and save the result as a .stillpub file that reopens with everything editable.
The time needed depends on the file and computer. Cost: nothing. Account: none.
What stillPUB cannot do with a .pub file
- It cannot save back to .pub. stillPUB does not include a .pub writer. Editable saves are .stillpub; sharing formats are PDF, JPG and PNG.
- It cannot recover things Publisher itself never wrote into the file in a readable way. Some WordArt, master page and linked text box details can be flattened or lost during import. Read the warnings and compare against a reference copy.
- It is a desktop-browser app. Phones and tablets are not the target, though the pages you export open anywhere.
Option 2: LibreOffice Draw (free, desktop)
LibreOffice includes a Publisher import filter. Download LibreOffice, open the .pub file in Draw, and inspect the pages before exporting PDF. Its results may differ from stillPUB even though both use libmspub.
Draw is a desktop drawing application with its own tools and save format. Compare your exported document with the original before replacing a workflow.
Option 3: ask for a PDF
If someone with Publisher made the file, ask them to send a PDF as well. Publisher exports PDF from File, Save As. You will be able to view and print it anywhere, but you will not be able to edit it as a layout. Microsoft's own retirement guidance recommends exactly this conversion, and it is the right move for files you only need to read.
If you already have the PDF and want to make a small change to it, stillPUB opens PDFs as pictures of their pages so you can lay new text over them and export again.
Things that do not work, so you can stop trying them
- Renaming the file to .docx or .pdf. The format is a binary container; the extension is not the problem.
- Opening it in Word. Word has never had a Publisher import filter. It will offer to recover text and produce something unrecognisable.
- Canva or Affinity. Neither imports .pub. Their workaround is a PDF first, then a rebuild.
- Google Drive preview. Drive does not understand the format either.
After October 2026
Publisher leaves Microsoft 365 on October 1, 2026 and support for bought copies ends October 13, 2026. Your .pub files are not deleted or changed by either date. Perpetual Publisher installations can continue to open them after support ends. Everything on this page still works after that, because none of it depends on Publisher being installed. Read what actually changes in October 2026 for the full timeline.