Here’s Where Its Features Went

If you’ve used Microsoft Publisher for flyers, newsletters, business cards or that one perfect letterhead template, we’ve got a bit of news for you: Microsoft is officially retiring Publisher on 13 October 2026.

After that date it’ll be pulled from Microsoft 365 subscriptions entirely, and while older standalone versions might keep limping along, they won’t get security updates or support.

We know a few of our students and clients still reach for Publisher out of habit, so we wanted to put together a quick “bye bye Publisher, hello again Word and PowerPoint” guide, because the good news is Microsoft has been quietly building most of Publisher’s best bits into the apps you’re probably already using every day.

Why Is Publisher Being Retired?

Microsoft’s own explanation is pretty simple: rather than keep maintaining a 35-year-old, desktop-only, non-collaborative app, they’d rather put that energy into Word, PowerPoint and newer tools like Designer, apps that already work in the cloud, on mobile, and with real-time collaboration built in. Publisher was never really built for any of that.

Publisher Features That Are Already in Microsoft Word

A lot of what people used Publisher for, layout-heavy documents with text, images and structure, has quietly had a home in Word for years. If you’ve done our Office Support & Administration training, some of this will already look familiar:

• Letterhead and template creation – Word’s template tools let you build and save a professional letterhead once and reuse it forever, exactly the kind of task Publisher was popular for
• Text boxes and WordArt – for getting text exactly where you want it, with fill effects, colour gradients and shaping options
• Drawing tools and shapes – lines, arrows, callouts, banners and connectors, useful for flyers, instructions or simple diagrams
• Images and graphics formatting – cropping, watermarks, transparency, borders, shadows and text wrapping around images
• Tables for structured layouts – handy for price lists, schedules or anything that needs to line up neatly
• Envelopes and labels – built directly into Word’s Mailings tab, no separate app required
• Mail merge – for personalised newsletters or bulk print jobs, another classic Publisher-style task Word already handles

Publisher Features That Are Already in Microsoft PowerPoint

It surprises a lot of people, but PowerPoint is genuinely a strong option for the single-page, design-led documents Publisher was often used for, business cards, posters, social tiles, and one-page flyers:

• Templates and themes – a big library of pre-built designs you can adapt in minutes
• Free-form layout – unlike Word, PowerPoint’s slide canvas lets you drag, layer and position text and images anywhere, which is exactly how Publisher worked
• Design templates and formatting options – for building something that looks genuinely professional without starting from a blank page
• Chart and graphic tools – for adding data or visuals into a flyer, poster or one-pager

What Should You Do Before October 2026?

• If you’ve got existing .pub files, convert the important ones to PDF or Word format now, while Publisher can still open them
• Get familiar with Word and PowerPoint’s layout and design tools before you actually need them for something urgent
• If your business relies on regular flyers, brochures or newsletters, it’s worth building your go-to templates in Word or PowerPoint now, rather than scrambling in September 2026

Get Confident Across the Whole Microsoft Office Suite

Publisher retiring is honestly a good excuse to make sure your whole team is genuinely confident across Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, not just the basics, but the layout, design and template tools that make everyday tasks faster.

Our Ultimate Advanced Certificate in Office Administration Certificate Training Course Package takes you from beginner right through to advanced across the full Microsoft Office suite, including the exact Word layout tools, PowerPoint design skills and Excel spreadsheet skills that pick up right where Publisher leaves off.