LibreOffice “comes to the rescue” after Microsoft retires its productivity tool
Using PUB files will remain possible.
Images by Microsoft and LibreOffice/Illustration by Cybernews
Follow us
- Microsoft retired Publisher from Microsoft 365 and stopped supporting the desktop publishing tool.
- LibreOffice Draw can open, view, edit, and manage Publisher PUB files.
- LibreOffice uses a reverse-engineered library also used by Scribus to import PUB files.
- Users can save files in OpenDocument Format, reducing dependence on Microsoft-controlled formats.
Key Takeaways by nexos.ai, reviewed by Cybernews staff.
After Microsoft Publisher reached its end of life in October 2026, the open-source productivity suite LibreOffice announced it would step in to allow users to continue working on PUB files.
As of October 1st, 2026, Microsoft 365 subscribers can no longer access Publisher, the productivity tool for creating visually rich publications such as newsletters, leaflets, and calendars.
The tool is no longer included in Microsoft 365 and existing on-premises suites, and is no longer supported, according to the company’s website.
LibreOffice, a free, open-source productivity suite developed by Germany-based non-profit Open Document Foundation, announced it will help ensure users continue working on Publisher’s PUB format files.
The organization says its developers reverse-engineered the PUB format and created the libmspub library, which is used by LibreOffice and Scribus, an open-source desktop publishing software, to import Publisher files.
“This is to enable MS Publisher users to continue reading their own documents regardless of Microsoft’s decisions,” its blog post reads.
Users can open, view, edit, and manage Publisher’s PUB files using LibreOffice Draw, its graphics drawing program.
The files can be saved in the OpenDocument Format (ODF), the standard, open format for office documents that aren’t dependent on any application or company.
According to LibreOffice, Microsoft’s suggestions to convert PUB files to PDF for viewing and printing, and to DOCX for editing after Publisher is shut down, don’t constitute “a solution to the problem.”
In both cases, users are asked to transfer content from one vendor-controlled proprietary format to another vendor-controlled proprietary format – which is, in fact, the same vendor. This is because documents are regarded as a by-product of the application, rather than as information belonging to those who created them.The Open Document Foundation
LibreOffice is considered one of the most complete and sovereign alternatives to Microsoft 365. The productivity suite is available on Windows, macOS, and Linux in 120 languages.
Its most recent major release, LibreOffice 26.8, which is deliberately free of AI, attracted unprecedented interest, with more than 2 million downloads in the first 2 weeks after its release.
