How Churches and Schools Can Convert Their Publisher Files

Churches, schools, and nonprofits have relied on Microsoft Publisher for decades — weekly bulletins, newsletters, event programmes, parent letters, and more. If your organization has been using Publisher, you almost certainly have years of .pub files sitting in shared drives, network folders, or someone's desktop.

Microsoft has retired Publisher: Microsoft 365 subscribers lost access on October 1, 2026, and perpetual versions stop receiving support on October 13, 2026. This guide is written for administrators, office managers, and volunteers who want a clear, no-jargon plan for what to do next — you don't need a technical background, and you don't have to figure it out alone.

Step 1: Find out how many .pub files you have

Before doing anything else, get a count. You might have more files than you think — or fewer.

Windows (File Explorer):

1. Navigate to the main folder where your files live (Documents, a shared drive, etc.)
2. Type *.pub into the search box at the top-right and press Enter
3. The status bar at the bottom of the window shows the total count

OneDrive or SharePoint:

Sync the library to your local machine first (click Sync in the browser), then search via File Explorer as above.

See our FAQ entry on counting .pub files for more detailed instructions including a Command Prompt method.

Step 2: Decide what to convert and what to archive

Not every .pub file needs to be converted to an editable format. Think about each file in terms of what you'll do with it:

IDML is the format that lets you open your layouts in Affinity Publisher 2 or Adobe InDesign and continue editing them. If you only need to read or print a file and never edit it again, PDF is sufficient.

Step 3: Choose a conversion method

Do it yourself (if Publisher is still installed)

If your organization still has Publisher and you have fewer than 20–30 files, manual export is viable:

1. Open each .pub file in Publisher
2. File → Export → Create PDF/XPS → Publish
3. Repeat for each file

Note: Publisher cannot export IDML natively. If you need editable output for Affinity Publisher or InDesign, you'll still need a conversion service for the IDML step.

Use a conversion service (recommended for batches)

For organizations with dozens or hundreds of files, a batch conversion service is far more practical. You upload all your files at once, pay once, and get an email with a download link for your PDF and IDML files when the job is done. Most files take 1–2 minutes each; jobs are processed one at a time, so a large batch takes longer and may wait in the queue before it starts.

Publisher Conversion costs $5/file at base rate, with volume discounts for larger batches ($4/file for 100+ files, $3/file for 1,000+). File size doesn't change the price. For a typical church or school with 50–200 files, the total cost is $250–$800 — far less than the staff time required to do it manually.

What about free tools?

Several free online converters accept .pub files. They're worth knowing about, but have real limitations:

• They don't use actual Publisher — they use parsers that guess at the format
• Text often reflows (wraps at different points)
• Fonts get substituted
• Content outside the page margin is often lost

For simple files — a one-page text flyer — free tools may be fine. For layouts with precise positioning, columns, and images, the output is usually not print-ready.

After conversion: choosing software to continue editing

Once your files are in IDML format, you'll need layout software to keep editing them. The most cost-effective option for organizations moving off Publisher:

• Affinity Publisher 2 — free (Canva relaunched it as a free app in October 2025, no subscription required). Opens IDML directly. Available at affinity.studio.
• Adobe InDesign — ~$22/month subscription. Industry standard but significantly more expensive for a church or school budget.

For most churches and schools, Affinity Publisher 2 is the clear choice on cost — it's now completely free, with no subscription at all. Adobe InDesign is the industry standard and also opens IDML directly, at approximately $22/month.

A practical timeline