Publisher replacement ideas

I have a different idea: why replace Publisher at all?

Microsoft could offer a Microsoft Publisher Legacy Edition for a small one-time fee, for example €9.99-€19.99.

It would not need new features or continuous development. It could simply be the final stable version of Publisher with:

- full opening and editing of existing .pub files
- a permanent one-time licence
- a complete offline installer
- permission to make a personal backup on DVD or USB
- limited or no technical support

Microsoft would have almost no physical distribution costs because users could download it themselves, while Microsoft could still receive revenue from an existing product.

Most importantly, people could continue using the thousands of Publisher files and layouts they have created over many years.

Even €9.99-€19.99 from a large number of existing Publisher users would be better than abandoning the product completely.

Download it, keep it, back it up and continue using Publisher.

I believe this could be a simple solution for both Microsoft and Publisher users.

Since I first posted, I’ve been using the Pro version of Canva. I decided It was time for me to quit whining and save my work. 

The positives: You can copy and paste from Publisher and it pretty much keeps your formatting, so that’s great. It’s easy to add text boxes and place them anywhere, so that’s also great. I’m finding it easy to add graphics of all kinds, so all in all, I don’t hate Canva. 

The negatives:  I find it very difficult to outline a text box. I hate having to google how to do things, and in my opinion, that alone means it’s not user friendly. The tool bar should have a lot more functionality. Also, when you copy and paste a text box from Publisher, you can’t add anything in the box without deleting all contents, and then adding contents back inside. However, if the contents are stationary, you’re good to go. 

Thank you all for this free therapy session. Microsoft still sucks and I’ll forever be angry about this 💩💩💩 decision. 

Come on Microsoft.  Help us fix this!  Don't you even care??????

Seemingly not................and for that I say shame on you.

I’m very disappointed that Microsoft is retiring Publisher.

For me, Publisher has never just been a tool for producing brochures or newsletters. I’ve found it uniquely useful as a visual workspace for developing ideas - pasting in sketches, photographs, screenshots and bits of text, moving them around freely, and gradually turning rough ideas into a finished layout.

Word is not a replacement for this, and PowerPoint is built around slides rather than pages and publications. Publisher sits in a very useful space between a simple document editor and a professional design application.

I also have important existing .pub files that I still need to open and edit. If Microsoft is going to retire Publisher, it should at least provide a proper migration path that preserves the layout and editability of existing Publisher files.

I would genuinely like Microsoft to reconsider retiring Publisher, or at minimum continue making it available for existing users who rely on it.

This issue IS NOT SOLVED

None of the above can easily replace the ability for me to design my business card 8.5cm x 5.5cm and print it 9 times on an A4 sheet of card.

I just looked for Affinity Publisher and see that it too has been discontinued and has been taken over by Canva

This issue is NOT solved. I am crushed that Publisher will no longer be available and I am not sure why it is being abandoned. At least Microsoft could sell a standalone version. I have many templates that I designed in Publisher and now I will be starting over. My colleagues feel the same way. There is no customer satisfaction here. 

I am submitting this complaint as a long-time Microsoft 365 customer responding to the recent announcement that Microsoft Publisher files will become inaccessible after October is unacceptable and represents a serious breach of trust with me, my small company and to the non-profit organizations for which I do work. 

.I have hundreds of active .pub files that are essential to my daily work routine, most notably: greeting cards, 12-page personalized calendars, brochures, signage, labels, and archival materials.

Eliminating access to existing files is not a minor inconvenience. It is a direct threat to business continuity and will force users like me to rebuild years of work from scratch. There is no equivalent tool within Microsoft 365 that replicates Publisher’s layout capabilities. Word, PowerPoint, and Designer are not substitutes for a true page‑layout program.

I am requesting the following:

1. Guarantee continued ability to open and edit existing .pub files, even if Publisher is no longer updated.
2. Provide a reliable migration path that preserves layout fidelity for complex documents.
3. Correct the messaging so customers understand exactly what will and will not be supported.

THANK YOU -- HOPE YOU CAN HELP ME ... ALLEN

I am so miffed. Do the Microsoft techies not know that MS Word is a word processing app not a publishing app?! Word is limited—limited on design and graphics. We pay a small fortune for 365, and the personally, it will not be worth it without Publisher. 

I started using MS Publisher in the late 90's. It was my go-to program for almost everything - client handouts, business proposals, flyers, booklets, etc. So easy to use. I have tons of content in MS Pub - hundreds of files. I even started my website design journey in Publisher, though that was NOT a good idea, LOL. It generated awful HTML.

InDesign, as others suggested above, is a STEEP learning curve, and rather complex. I used it to design an e-book at one point because it was better for designing epubs. IMHO, unless you live in the design world and create day-in and day-out, it's not worth the complexity. Think the complexity of Photoshop times 10... It's also quite expensive for occasional use.

I'm not a real fan of Canva, though that is probably what has driven MS to abandon Publisher. Much of the content I create is text-heavy: multi-page handouts, small books, etc. I find text management in Canva to be onerous if there is a lot of text on a page. Canva's sweet spot seems to me to be graphic-heavy design with a small percentage of text. 

Similarly, I find Powerpoint doesn't do what I want, and misses certain features, though there is at least the ability to push to the edge of the page. Word is a pain to lay out anything other than text formatting and an occasional image. You can't even create a simple graphic heading that spans the entire top of the page. If it could do that, Word might be adequate some of the time. 

I have heard that there is another, open source Office program (which apparently can not be named here) that might be an option, and that they offer the ability to import .pub files. I haven't tried it yet, but am hoping that is accurate. Otherwise, I have no idea what to do with all of these .pub files, many of which I still need info out of or are handouts I actively use with clients.