Microsoft to Permanently Shut Down Publisher Office App

One of Microsoft’s oldest office tools, Publisher, will be permanently shut down in October 2026. The app, released in 1991, lasted 34 years, but is now being discontinued.

“To focus on new benefits, we sometimes remove features and products,” the corporation noted. Therefore, Microsoft is closing the Publisher program for publishers and ending support for it. The company named the exact date for the closure of Publisher – October 1, 2025. The first version of the program appeared in 1991. The corporation reported that the program will be recognized as obsolete in early October – along with the end of support for the Office LTSC 2021 software package. “Microsoft 365 subscribers will not be able to access Publisher from this date,” Microsoft noted.

To save Publisher files, it is recommended to convert existing .pub files to other formats before support for the legacy application ends. The process involves saving files as PDFs, then opening them in Word or PowerPoint to convert them to those programs’ formats. The company warns that layouts may change slightly.