Publisher 2016/2019/2021 EOL reminder

spapakons · Aug 15, 2025

Is there a standalone Microsoft Publisher? I know you can install Word, Excel and other Office applications separately without installing the whole Office suite.

MisterEd · Aug 16, 2025

spapakons said:
Is there a standalone Microsoft Publisher? I know you can install Word, Excel and other Office applications separately without installing the whole Office suite.

I have seen Microsoft Office 2021 Publisher for sale by third party sellers. However, it is a lot cheaper to just buy Office 2021 Pro Plus which includes Publisher.

BTW, I have not heard of Microsoft selling individual components of Office in a long time. The only time I did that was in 1995 when I bought Word 95 by itself. To get the best price I had to buy Works 3.0 first.

Stigg · Apr 10, 2026

I received another email today reminding me about Publisher.

Important update to your Microsoft 365 subscription

Stigg · 2026-07-20T02:32:56-0400

They're ensuring I haven't forgotten.

spapakons · 2026-07-20T02:39:27-0400

Stigg said:
They're ensuring I haven't forgotten.

View attachment 177121

That, I hope, is for Office 365 subscriptions, not if you have the standalone Microsoft Publisher 2021 application or earlier version! Hopefully we will be able to use our standalone application, we don't care if it is supported or not. Anybody please confirm this.

XxXxX · 2026-07-20T02:44:59-0400

from this link

How to continue using MS publisher after end date - Microsoft Q&A

How do I keep MS Publisher on my laptop after end date support latter this year?

learn.microsoft.com

For perpetual (non‑subscription) versions of Publisher (for example, Publisher as part of Office LTSC 2021/Office 2021):

Support for the perpetual version of Publisher ends on October 1, 2026, when Office LTSC 2021/Office 2021 reaches end of support.

After that date, the perpetual version can still be installed and used, but it will no longer receive technical support, bug fixes, or security updates.

To continue using Publisher in this scenario:

Keep the perpetual Office/Publisher installation and understand it is out of support and may carry security risk over time.

best of luck Steve ..

Stigg · 2026-07-20T02:54:34-0400

XxXxX said:
from this link

How to continue using MS publisher after end date - Microsoft Q&A

How do I keep MS Publisher on my laptop after end date support latter this year?

learn.microsoft.com

best of luck Steve ..

It appears that Microsoft 365 subscribers are going to get the rough end of a pineapple.

PurSpyk!! · 2026-07-20T03:06:10-0400

Stigg said:
It appears that Microsoft 365 subscribers are going to get the rough end of a pineapple.

So true, pay more, get less

spapakons · 2026-07-20T03:48:47-0400

That's why I always prefer the full standalone Microsoft Office and don't like subscriptions. Also I don't trust Microsoft that the subscribed version has the same features as the standalone version. It might be missing some and charge extra for them. Or missing some to make us buy the full version.

Stigg · 2026-07-20T03:51:49-0400

Maybe a Publisher alternative will become available one day.

LeLibran · 2026-07-20T08:57:42-0400

It seems that the LibreOffice (or OpenOffice) Draw app can directly load/edit existing .pub files, but the 'quality' might depend on what advanced/propriatory Microsoft Publisher features have been employed when formatting the original file(s).

For anyone looking for a 'free' (non-compatible) alternative to Publisher, Scribus might be worth checking out - A portable version is available on the PortableApps website. There are instructions on the Scribus Wiki for 'converting/importing' .pub files, but it's not a direct import process:

Making sure you're not a bot!

spapakons · 2026-07-20T09:32:33-0400

My past experience with Open/Libre Office says that your document page layout will be screwed if it was created using Microsoft Word (or other Microsoft application) and you dare open it with Open/Libre Office. Wrong colors, images in wrong size and wrong place on the page, misaligned tables. Everything screwed. Even if you try to open it in Microsoft Word again to fix it, it is very difficult. You have to create it in Open/Libre Office and even then it is not guaranteed it won't be screwed if you open it in Microsoft Office. Not sure about latest versions, but I would not risk it, especially if I have spend a lot of time to create it. I would at least copy the document to another folder before opening, and if indeed is screwed, I will at least have a backup. If I am correct, you can still buy the standalone Microsoft Publisher 2021. In October will be out of support but still work to properly do your job. Much preferable than experimenting with third-party alternatives. I value my sanity more than a few money I will spend for the original stuff.

hsehestedt · 2026-07-20T13:05:01-0400

Looks like I need to get a permanent Publisher license. I have a LOT of docs that I have written in Publisher.

spapakons · 2026-07-20T13:52:58-0400

I wouldn't dare to open one of them in Microsoft Word just in case the layout is affected. Let alone open it in any other non-Microsoft application. So, I agree buy a licence for the standalone Microsoft Publisher 2021 and leave the experiments for other volunteers.

From Google AI:
Yes, opening a Publisher file in Word—or converting a Publisher file to a Word document—will severely affect and disrupt your layout. [1, 2]
Publisher is designed for desktop publishing and graphic-heavy layouts, while Word is a text-focused processor. When moved to Word, floating objects, custom margins, and complex graphics are frequently lost or rearranged. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
To retain your exact layout and visual presentation, your best alternative is to save the Publisher file as a PDF

hsehestedt · 2026-07-20T16:42:03-0400

spapakons said:
I wouldn't dare to open one of them in Microsoft Word just in case the layout is affected. Let alone open it in any other non-Microsoft application. So, I agree buy a licence for the standalone Microsoft Publisher 2021 and leave the experiments for other volunteers.

From Google AI:
Yes, opening a Publisher file in Word—or converting a Publisher file to a Word document—will severely affect and disrupt your layout. [1, 2]
Publisher is designed for desktop publishing and graphic-heavy layouts, while Word is a text-focused processor. When moved to Word, floating objects, custom margins, and complex graphics are frequently lost or rearranged. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
To retain your exact layout and visual presentation, your best alternative is to save the Publisher file as a PDF

First, opening a doument in another program will not cause any change to that doc unless you save changes. Second, if you are REALLY concerned about that as an issue, copy the original file and open the copy. Problem solved.

Stigg · 2026-07-21T01:17:20-0400

If Microsoft plan on dumping Publisher, they should release it free for anyone to use.

PurSpyk!! · 2026-07-21T01:44:07-0400

Stigg said:
If Microsoft plan on dumping Publisher, they should release it free for anyone to use.

What seems logical to most does not apply to MS

Stigg · 2026-07-21T02:04:39-0400

Is Microsoft going to provide a discount for Microsoft 365 users? After all, we paid for Publisher. They're quick to raise the price whenever they include something new. Surely, they should reduce the price if they remove something.

PurSpyk!! · 2026-07-21T02:08:19-0400

Stigg said:
Is Microsoft going to provide a discount for Microsoft 365 users? After all, we paid for Publisher. They're quick to raise the price whenever they include something new. Surely, they should reduce the price if they remove something.

I asked the same question to MS Support, radio silence

spapakons · 2026-07-21T02:32:38-0400

Stigg said:
If Microsoft plan on dumping Publisher, they should release it free for anyone to use.

No they won't. They want to puss everyone into Microsoft Word. I'm sure they will add some Publisher like functionality in some update to make old Word users upgrade to 2024.

Publisher 2016/2019/2021 EOL reminder

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