The Document Foundation has introduced new LibreOffice Publisher support, giving users a no-cost way to open and work with .pub files — just as Microsoft 365 and Office wind down their own Publisher capabilities. For years, .pub files were effectively locked to Microsoft’s ecosystem, and now the free, open-source alternative is opening that door.
Here’s what changed, who it affects, and how you can start using it.
Why Microsoft is stepping away from Publisher
Microsoft Publisher has occupied an awkward spot in the Office family for over three decades. First released in 1991, it was positioned as an accessible desktop-publishing tool for creating flyers, newsletters, brochures, and greeting cards without the complexity of professional design software. But demand steadily declined as web-based design tools and template services ate into its audience.
As a result, Microsoft has been quietly winding down Publisher for some time. The company has been retiring Publisher support across its current products, meaning Microsoft 365 subscribers and Office users will increasingly lose the ability to create and edit .pub files natively. That shift is what prompted The Document Foundation to move on the gap.
Note: The exact retirement timeline and which specific builds are affected were not detailed in the source announcement, so treat specifics around Microsoft’s schedule as unconfirmed beyond what’s reported here.
What LibreOffice Publisher support actually does
The headline change is that LibreOffice can now import Microsoft Publisher files. In practice, this means you can open a .pub document — one that previously required Publisher or a full Microsoft Office install — directly inside LibreOffice.
The import is handled through LibreOffice Draw, the vector-graphics and layout component of the suite. Draw is the natural home for page-layout files, since it already manages multi-element designs, text boxes, and positioned graphics. So when you open a .pub file, you’ll typically see it land in Draw rather than Writer or Calc.
It’s worth being clear about scope: this support is primarily about reading and importing Publisher files, not about creating brand-new .pub documents from scratch. If you’re migrating away from Publisher, the practical upshot is that your existing designs and templates won’t be stranded.
How it works in practice
For most users, the workflow is straightforward. Open LibreOffice, choose to open a file, and navigate to the .pub document — or simply double-click the file in your file explorer if LibreOffice is registered as the handler. The Publisher filter parses the file and renders it in Draw, preserving as much of the original layout, text, and imagery as the format allows.
Because .pub is a proprietary Microsoft format, the fidelity of the import can vary depending on how complex the original document is. Simple layouts with text and images tend to translate cleanly, while heavily designed pieces with unusual fonts or embedded objects may show minor differences. This is a known limitation of importing closed formats into open-source software.
If you need to keep working with the file long-term, a sensible move is to export it to a more open, widely supported format once it’s open in LibreOffice — such as PDF for sharing, or an ODF or DOCX file if you’ll continue editing.
What this means for you
For everyday Windows users, the takeaway is simple: you no longer need a Microsoft 365 subscription or a Publisher license just to view a .pub file. Whether you inherited a family recipe booklet, a small business flyer, or an old club newsletter in Publisher format, LibreOffice can now open it for free.
This also matters for organizations planning the transition away from Publisher. IT teams and small businesses that built materials on Publisher templates can now give staff a path to access those files without maintaining legacy Microsoft licenses or workarounds.
From a broader standpoint, this reflects a growing pattern: as Microsoft deprecates niche Office apps, the open-source community steps in to keep proprietary file formats livable. It’s a pragmatic safety net, though it does come with the caveat that open-source format support is usually read-focused rather than full create-and-edit parity.
How to get it
To use the new Publisher support, you’ll need a recent version of LibreOffice that includes the import filter. If you’re on an older release, head to the official LibreOffice website and download the latest version, or run the built-in updater if you already have it installed.
Once updated, try opening a .pub file directly. If LibreOffice doesn’t list the format in its file picker, you can also use File > Open and select the appropriate filter from the dropdown at the bottom of the dialog.
For those committed to staying off Microsoft’s platform entirely, this is one more reason the free LibreOffice suite has become a serious daily driver — it keeps your existing files accessible even as the paid ecosystem moves on.
Source: Neowin
Over to you: Will you switch to LibreOffice for your Publisher files, or keep hunting for a way to keep Microsoft Publisher alive?
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