TL;DR: Microsoft has announced the end of life for Publisher. The classic desktop publishing program will be supported for two more years, then users will need to find alternatives for creating customized calendars and design templates.
Seeking some unspecified “new benefits” and opportunities for customers, Microsoft will retire its Publisher program in 2026. The company will still support the software until October 2026, the official announcement says, and users can expect the same experience they are enjoying today until then.
Microsoft Publisher started as a humble desktop publishing newcomer in 1991 when the program offered a “cheap” way to create personalized designs in the Windows 3.0 operating environment. The program began its transition to full 32-bit operating systems in 1995 (Publisher for Windows 95), and it became part of the Microsoft Office productivity suite soon after that (Microsoft Publisher 97).
Compared to a traditional word processor like Microsoft Word, Publisher puts the emphasis on the development of new page layouts and graphic designs. Microsoft highlights some common Publisher usage scenarios, which include the creation of “professionally branded” templates, envelope and label printing, customized calendars, business cards, and more.
These kinds of design jobs can now be managed in other applications and apps available in the Microsoft 365 package, Redmond says, stating that Publisher users should employ Word, PowerPoint or Designer to achieve similar results. Microsoft Create also offers a wide selection of customizable templates, the company states.
Publisher was indeed never conceived as a full replacement for desktop publishing heavyweights like Adobe InDesign, but the program achieved some popularity among amateur designers working on the Windows platform. Publisher saves projects in its proprietary .pub format, a fact that could provide some compatibility headaches after 2026.
Microsoft Publisher also provides support for additional formats such as the Enhanced Metafile Format (EMF). Meanwhile, third-party desktop publishing programs and productivity suites such as LibreOffice and Corel Draw have provided a .pub import feature for quite some time now.
Users could, however, still experience some significant compatibility issues, if an imported design project uses some obscure Publisher feature which is not yet supported by their desktop publishing program of choice. The latest stand-alone editions of Publisher were released in 2021 (Microsoft Publisher 2021, Version 2311), which are the same tools available as a part of the Microsoft 365 package.
