Microsoft has begun emailing Microsoft 365 subscribers to inform them that Microsoft Publisher will be discontinued on 1st October 2026. This marks the end of support for the desktop‑publishing app after 35 years. In this post, we’ll look at why Microsoft is retiring Publisher, what will happen after the end‑of‑support date, and the best alternatives for anyone who still relies on Publisher today.
What is Microsoft Publisher?
Microsoft Publisher was first released back in 1991. Now, in October 2026, it will be discontinued after 35 years. Microsoft Publisher was first introduced as a program within the Microsoft Office family that allowed people to create projects such as flyers, brochures, newsletters, menus, labels and basic web pages.
Publisher had templates that allowed people to quickly make documents with ease without having to pay for expensive software to achieve the same job. This was beneficial for people who worked in small businesses, schools and community groups. It allowed anyone of any ability to create professional looking documents.
Why Microsoft is ending support for Publisher
Microsoft have since created tools such as Microsoft Designer and Clipchamp that allows people to create professional documents. These tools are cloud based and do more then what Publisher can do. Other Microsoft apps such as Word and PowerPoint allow people to do most of what they could do in Publisher. Microsoft Word allows you to create labels and leaflets and have templates available for people to use.
What will happen after October 2026
After October 2026, Microsoft Publisher will not be included in the Microsoft 365 download. This means you will not be able to download it onto your computer/device. If you have Microsoft Publisher as a standalone copy such as Microsoft Office 2021, then you should be able to install Publisher and continue using it even though it is not supported. However, Microsoft support may not be able to help you if you run into any problems with Publisher after it’s end of support date.
What can I do with my Publisher files
If you want to keep your Publisher files, Microsoft recommends you convert these files into .pdf files. Once you have done this, you can open them in Microsoft Word and Word will convert them from .pdf to .docx files. This way, you can keep those files and continue editing them when you need to make changes to them.
What are my alternatives to Publisher
Depending on what you are wanting to do will depend on what program/app is available to you. Most of what you can do in Publisher can be done in Microsoft Word or PowerPoint.
Microsoft alternatives
| Tool | Best For |
| Microsoft Designer | Flyers, posters, social media graphics |
| PowerPoint | Brochures, menus, newsletters |
| Word | Text heavy documents |
| Clipchamp | Video based content |
Web based alternatives (non-Microsoft products)
| Tool | Strengths |
| Canva | Huge template library, easy drag‑and‑drop, great for small businesses |
| Adobe Express | Clean templates, integrates with Adobe ecosystem |
| VistaCreate | Marketing‑focused templates and branding tools |
Microsoft Copilot and the use of AI
Microsoft is investing more into Copilot. The fact you can ask Copilot to create you a poster and it will create it for you is remarkable. Microsoft has Office Agent, which is a tool online, here: Office Agent, where you can ask it to create you a presentation, word documents and more. All you have to do is tell it what you are wanting to create, and it will create it for you.
The Microsoft Office page was redesigned last year. Now when you sign into your Microsoft account, you are landing straight into the M365 Copilot chat. You can then type what you are after in the box and Copilot will begin creating what you are looking for. You can try this out by signing into your Microsoft account here: Chat | M365 Copilot
Where can I find more information about this
Microsoft have a support article they have published explaining this here: Microsoft Publisher will no longer be supported after October 2026 – Microsoft Support