---
title: Publisher's Gone. Are Ten Years of Bulletins Gone Too?
description: Microsoft retired Publisher, but your files aren't gone. Here's how to rescue years of bulletins and flyers before you need them.
image: https://mooneyprojects.com/hubfs/featured-publisher-files.png
---

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# Publisher's Gone. Are Ten Years of Bulletins Gone Too?

by [Lynn](https://mooneyprojects.com/blog/author/lynn) on October 22, 2026

[Ask The Office](https://mooneyprojects.com/blog/tag/ask-the-office)

*"I've made our bulletin in Publisher every week for ten years. This month I opened it and it was just... gone. Are all those files gone too?"*

Take a breath. Your files are not gone. They're sitting right where you left them. What changed is the program that opens them.

Microsoft retired Publisher in October 2026. If your church has Office through a Microsoft 365 subscription, Publisher disappeared from your account around October 1. If your church bought Office the old-fashioned way, as a one-time purchase like Office 2021 or 2019, Publisher may still open on that computer. It just isn't getting updates or support anymore.

Either way, here's how to rescue your files.

## Step 1: Find a computer that still has Publisher

The simple work around. Check every computer in the building, and ask around. An older office PC, the pastor's laptop, or a volunteer's home computer with a one-time-purchase version of Office can still open .pub files. If you find one, that's your rescue station.

## Step 2: Save everything you'll need again as a PDF

Open each file, then go to **File \> Save As** and choose **PDF**. Start with the things you reuse: your bulletin template, letterhead, recurring flyers, and certificates. You don't need to convert ten years of old bulletins. Just the ones you'd actually use again.

If you have a lot of files, Microsoft offers a sample script that converts .pub files to PDF in bulk. It's a good job for your tech-savvy volunteer. ([Microsoft support article on converting](https://support.microsoft.com/en-US/publisher/microsoft-publisher-will-no-longer-be-supported-after-october-2026))

## No Publisher anywhere? You still have options

- **LibreOffice Draw** is free and can open many Publisher files. Layouts aren't always perfect, but it's a great way to get your text and images back out.
- **Ask a neighbor.** Another church or a member's home computer may still have an older version of Office installed.

## Step 3: Rebuild in something new

Once you have PDFs, you can keep going in a few ways:

- **Microsoft Word** can open a PDF and turn it back into an editable document. Expect some shifting, especially with lots of graphics.
- **Canva** can import a PDF so you can rebuild it as a template. Many former Publisher users are landing here, and eligible nonprofits may get Canva Pro free.

My advice: don't try to recreate every old file. Rebuild the five things you use every week, make them into templates, and let the rest live on as PDFs for reference. Ten years of bulletins are a beautiful archive. They don't all need to be editable.

More on making the move to Canva is coming soon. And if you're feeling stuck, hit reply. I'm happy to help you figure out your next step.

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