Three methods extract plain editable text from a PUB file. Method 1: convert PUB to DOCX using Univik PUB Converter (no Publisher needed) or Publisher’s own Save As if you still have a working copy. Then open it in Word and strip the remaining formatting. This gives editable text with the least effort. To read the document as it stands before extracting the text, the free Univik PUB File Viewer opens the PUB file offline. Method 2: export PUB to PDF then run OCR. This is reliable for scanned-style text but needs an OCR tool. Method 3: open the PUB in Publisher and copy the text directly. This is fastest for short documents but needs a working copy of Publisher. Publisher left Microsoft 365 on 1 October 2026, so the converter and OCR routes are now the ones most people can use. The full timeline is in our guide to Publisher’s October 2026 end of life.
Update, 1 October 2026: Publisher has left Microsoft 365
Publisher was removed from Microsoft 365, so subscribers cannot copy text out of it any more. That step now depends on owning a perpetual 2021, 2019 or 2016 version, or on a subscription copy that keeps working for a while. Your .pub files and the text inside them are not lost. Univik PUB File Converter turns them into Word or PDF files without Publisher, ready for the text steps below.
Who Needs Plain Text From a PUB File
Most PUB file conversion guides assume the reader wants to preserve the layout: the columns, the images and the visual design. Not everyone does.
A journalist who received a PUB file containing a press release needs the words, not the design. A lawyer extracting text from old Publisher-format contract templates needs the clauses in plain text to paste into a new document. An archivist cataloguing historical publications needs searchable text content, not a visual reproduction. A researcher extracting interview content from decade-old Publisher newsletters needs editable text to analyse.
For these use cases, the most important thing a PUB file can produce is clean, editable plain text with no text boxes, no positioning and no images competing for space. Only the words, in order, ready to use.
“Text extraction from Publisher is tested against files from every version because text boxes and formatting changed over the years. The check is reading the result next to the original, not counting words.”
Nick Rogers
|Founder, Univik, building file conversion tools since 2013
Method 1: PUB to DOCX, Then Strip Formatting
This is the most reliable method for extracting text from most Publisher documents. Convert the PUB to DOCX first, which moves the text into a Word-compatible format. Then use Word’s own tools to strip the layout down to plain editable text.
Convert PUB to DOCX. Use Univik PUB Converter for batch conversion without Publisher. Where Publisher still opens, File then Save As then Word Document also works for single files. The DOCX output carries the text content forward even if the layout is imperfect. See our PUB to Word guide for a full breakdown of what survives each conversion method.
Open the DOCX in Word and review text order. Publisher text boxes can produce text in unexpected reading order after conversion. Read through the document and check that paragraphs flow in the correct sequence. Reorder any sections that converted out of sequence before the next step.
Select all and clear formatting. In Word, press Ctrl+A to select all content. Then go to Home then Styles and click Clear All. This removes all paragraph styles, custom formatting and embedded layout elements, leaving plain text with minimal residual formatting. Alternatively, paste the entire document into Notepad (Ctrl+C then open Notepad then Ctrl+V). Notepad strips all formatting and leaves pure plain text.
Save as plain text or paste into your target document. If you need a .txt file, use File then Save As then Plain Text (.txt) in Word. If you need the text in another application (a case management system, a content management system or an email), select all and paste. Plain text pastes without bringing any Word formatting with it.
For batch extraction across many PUB files
For extracting text from dozens or hundreds of PUB files, run the entire batch through Univik PUB Converter to DOCX, then use a macro or script to open each DOCX, select all, clear formatting and save as .txt. This scales the process without requiring Publisher to be installed for any of the steps.
Method 2: PUB to PDF, Then OCR to Text
This method is particularly useful when the PUB file contains scanned text content (pages photographed or scanned rather than typed), or when Method 1 produces garbled text due to complex text box arrangements in the original Publisher document.
Convert PUB to PDF. Publisher owners can export the file themselves through File, Export, Create PDF/XPS. Everyone else can use Univik PUB Converter, which converts many files in one go. The PDF preserves the visual layout and all text in a form that OCR tools can process reliably.
Run OCR on the PDF. Several options are available depending on your tools:
- Adobe Acrobat: Tools then Recognize Text then In This File. Acrobat runs OCR and makes the PDF’s text searchable and selectable. Then select all text and copy to extract.
- Microsoft Word: Open the PDF in Word directly (File then Open then select the PDF). Word converts the PDF into an editable document. This works well when the PDF holds real text, as a PDF made from a PUB file does. Word is not an OCR tool, so results on scanned pages vary.
- Google Drive: Upload the PDF to Google Drive, right-click and select Open with then Google Docs. Google Docs runs OCR on the PDF and opens an editable text version alongside the original PDF.
- Tesseract (free, command-line): For developers or researchers processing large batches, Tesseract is a free open-source OCR engine that produces plain text output from PDF inputs.
Review and correct OCR output. OCR accuracy depends on the source document quality. Typed text in clean Publisher documents converts at very high accuracy. Unusual fonts, small text or decorative typefaces may introduce errors. Always review OCR output for accuracy before using the text in a legal, journalistic or archival context.
Method 3: Copy Paste From Publisher Directly
For a single Publisher document where you need the text from a few pages, opening the file in Publisher and copying text directly is the fastest approach.
Open the PUB file in Publisher. You can only do this with Publisher installed. Today that is Publisher 2021, 2019 or 2016 on a perpetual licence, or a subscription install that Microsoft has not removed yet. If you no longer have Publisher, the free Univik Online PUB Viewer lets you read the document in a browser (files from Publisher 2003 and newer).
Select and copy text from each text box. In Publisher, text lives in text boxes. Click inside each text box, press Ctrl+A to select all text in that box and then Ctrl+C to copy. Paste into Notepad or your target application. Repeat for each text box in the document.
Paste into Notepad to strip formatting. Paste the copied text into Notepad rather than directly into a Word document or email. Notepad strips all formatting. Copy from Notepad and paste wherever you need the clean plain text.
This method is impractical for documents with many text boxes. A multi-page newsletter may have 30 to 50 separate text boxes, each requiring individual selection and copying. For anything beyond a few pages, Method 1 or Method 2 is more efficient.
Which Method for Which Situation
| Situation | Best Method | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Single or few documents, working copy of Publisher available | Method 3: copy-paste | Fastest for small amounts of text |
| Multiple documents, need editable text in Word format | Method 1: PUB to DOCX | Batch-able, produces editable DOCX |
| Complex text box layouts that convert in wrong order | Method 2: PUB to PDF to OCR | OCR reads from the visual layout, respecting reading order |
| Scanned or photographed content in PUB | Method 2: PUB to PDF to OCR | Only OCR can extract text from image content |
| Large archive extraction, no Publisher installed | Method 1 via Univik PUB Converter | Batch converts to DOCX without Publisher |
| Legal discovery: text must be verifiably accurate | Method 2 with Adobe Acrobat OCR | Acrobat’s OCR is auditable and defensible |
After 1 October 2026: Which Methods Still Work
Method 3 and Publisher’s own Save As in Method 1 need a working copy of Publisher. Method 1 via Univik PUB Converter and Method 2 with a PDF made by the converter do not need Publisher. They work the same after 1 October 2026 as before.
If your organisation needs text from PUB files for legal discovery, historical research or content migration, look at how complex the layouts are. Text box order can cause problems in busy layouts, so you need a faithful view of the original to check the output against. If your Microsoft 365 copy of Publisher still opens today, treat that as borrowed time and do the extraction and checks now. Otherwise, owners of Publisher 2021, 2019 or 2016 can still open files. The free Univik PUB File Viewer also opens PUB files from any version for side-by-side checking.
Since 1 October 2026, Publisher no longer opens .pub files for Microsoft 365 users. Support for Publisher 2021 and Publisher LTSC 2021 ends on 13 October 2026, though those copies keep working without security fixes. For anything where text accuracy matters professionally (legal documents, published articles or archival records), check the extracted text against a faithful rendering of the original before you rely on it. See our PUB files October 2026 guide for the full timeline.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the fastest way to get text out of a PUB file?
With Publisher still installed: open the file, click in a text box, Ctrl+A to select all text in that box, Ctrl+C to copy, then paste into Notepad. Repeat for each text box. This takes a few minutes for a short document. If the document runs past five or six pages or you no longer have Publisher, convert the PUB to DOCX first using Univik PUB Converter and work from the DOCX. It is faster at scale.
Can I extract text from a PUB file without Publisher installed?
Yes. Univik PUB Converter converts PUB files to DOCX without Publisher installed. Open the resulting DOCX in Word and select all text. For the OCR path, export to PDF using Univik PUB Converter and then run OCR on the PDF using Word’s PDF open feature, Google Docs or Adobe Acrobat.
Is the text extracted from a PUB file accurate enough for legal use?
It depends on the method and the review process. For legal discovery or contract extraction, always verify extracted text against the original source. That can be the PUB file opened in a PUB viewer or in a working copy of Publisher. It can also be a high-fidelity PDF rendered from the PUB. OCR output in particular can introduce character-level errors that affect legal meaning. Review all extracted text before relying on it in a legal context. Consult your legal team about the appropriate standard for text extraction in your specific matter.
What is the best way to extract text from a large archive of PUB files?
Batch convert all PUB files to DOCX using Univik PUB Converter. This produces one DOCX per PUB file. Use a Word macro or Python script (with the python-docx library) to open each DOCX, extract the text content and write it to a .txt file or database. This approach scales to hundreds or thousands of files without manual intervention.
Can I search the text content of PUB files in Windows without converting them?
No. Windows Search cannot index the text content of PUB files. PUB files are binary and Windows has no IFilter (the component that enables content indexing) for the PUB format. To make the text content searchable, convert the PUB files to PDF or DOCX first. Both formats are indexed by Windows Search and by enterprise search tools like SharePoint and Elasticsearch.
The Short Version
When layout does not matter, getting text out of a PUB file is a practical task with three reliable methods. The DOCX path is the most scalable. The OCR path is the most reliable for complex layouts or scanned content. Direct copy-paste is the fastest for one or two documents.
Publisher left Microsoft 365 on 1 October 2026, so the methods that need Publisher now depend on having a working copy. If yours still opens, extract and verify now. If not, the converter and OCR routes do the same job without Publisher.
Is the text you are extracting from PUB files for a one-off project or ongoing archival work? If ongoing, the batch DOCX path with automated text extraction scales without Publisher access and handles future PUB files as they arise.