No direct PUB to PowerPoint converter exists. The conversion always involves two steps. Since 1 October 2026 Microsoft 365 no longer includes Publisher, so the Publisher export steps below are only for people who still have Publisher installed. Path 1: export the PUB to PDF in Publisher, then place each page in PowerPoint as a picture, one per slide. Images and layout stay as they look in Publisher. Path 2: convert PUB to DOCX first using Univik PUB Converter, then import the DOCX into PowerPoint as an outline or paste sections into slides. Before you recreate the design in PowerPoint, the free Univik PUB File Viewer shows the original PUB pages offline. If Google Slides is your target instead, you can convert a PUB to Google Slides. Path 1 produces a better visual result but creates an image-based presentation where text is not editable. Path 2 produces editable text but with significantly less layout fidelity.
Update, 1 October 2026: Publisher has left Microsoft 365
Subscribers lost Publisher when it left Microsoft 365, so the Publisher export steps in Path 1 and Path 2 need a copy that still runs: a perpetual licence, or a Microsoft 365 install that has not been removed yet. Without Publisher, create the PDF or DOCX with the Univik PUB File Converter first, then bring it into PowerPoint. PowerPoint is one of the apps Microsoft points former Publisher users to, so it is a sensible home for flyers and one-pagers.
There is No Direct PUB to PowerPoint Converter
You cannot open a PUB file in PowerPoint. You can, however, open PUB files online to view the layout before you rebuild it as slides. There is no File then Open path, no import filter and no conversion plugin that reliably converts PUB directly to PPTX. Any tool that claims direct PUB-to-PPTX conversion is routing through an intermediate format internally.
The two practical paths are PUB to PDF to PPTX and PUB to DOCX to PPTX. Each produces a different type of result and suits a different purpose.
“PowerPoint keeps pages as slides, so the comparison after a batch conversion is direct: one PUB page against one slide, graphics and text formatting both. That is how we check every Publisher build.”
Nick Rogers
|Founder, Univik, building file conversion tools since 2013
When PowerPoint is the Right Destination
Not all Publisher documents belong in PowerPoint. The format works well for some Publisher use cases and poorly for others.
Good fit for PowerPoint
- Single-page or two-page Publisher layouts that function as slides
- Posters and visual one-pagers being repurposed for presentation
- Flyers that need to be shown on a screen rather than printed
- Teams already living in Microsoft 365 who want to avoid a new tool
- Content that will be presented or screened rather than printed
Poor fit for PowerPoint
- Multi-page brochures with flowing text across pages
- Newsletters with complex column layouts
- Print-ready documents with bleed and crop marks
- Long-form publications (catalogues, magazines)
- Documents where typography precision matters
If the Publisher document is multi-page with flowing text, PowerPoint is likely not the right destination. Consider Word (see our PUB to Word guide) or Affinity for editable output.
Path 1: PUB to PDF, then PDF to PPTX
This path produces the best visual result. The PUB file renders to an exact PDF or to page pictures, and each page becomes a picture on its own slide. Images, layout and approximate positioning are preserved. The trade-off: text in the resulting slides is not directly editable as text, because it exists as part of an image layer.
Save the PUB as a PDF in Publisher. With the file open, choose File, then Export, then pick the Create PDF/XPS Document option. Press the Create PDF/XPS button, pick a folder and click Publish. The result is a high-fidelity PDF that matches the Publisher layout. This step relies on Publisher being installed and working. If you no longer have it, create the PDF with a PUB converter instead (see the box below).
Put each page on a slide. PowerPoint cannot open a PDF, so use pictures of the pages. Univik PUB Converter can write one PNG or JPG for each page. If you only have the PDF, save its pages as PNG with the PDF tool you already use. In PowerPoint go to Insert then Photo Album then New Photo Album, click File/Disk, select the pictures and click Create. Each picture lands on its own slide. For a single page you can also use Insert then Object then Create from File to embed the PDF.
Add editable text boxes over the slide if needed. Since each slide is a picture of the page, add new text boxes in PowerPoint for any text you need to edit or update. Delete the corresponding text from the image layer if possible, or overlay the new text box on top.
For batch conversion without Publisher installed
If Publisher no longer opens for you, which is now the case for most Microsoft 365 subscribers, convert the PUB files first using Univik PUB Converter. It needs no Publisher and can write a PDF or one PNG picture for each page. Then add the pictures to PowerPoint as described above.
Path 2: PUB to DOCX, then DOCX to PPTX
This path produces editable text in PowerPoint but with significantly less layout fidelity. It works best for text-heavy Publisher documents where the content matters more than the visual layout.
Convert the PUB to DOCX. Use Publisher’s Save As function if you still have a working copy, or Univik PUB Converter if you do not, to produce a DOCX file. See our PUB to Word guide for the full conversion options and what to expect from each.
Import the DOCX into PowerPoint as an outline. In PowerPoint go to Home then New Slide then Slides from Outline and select the DOCX. PowerPoint turns Heading 1 text into slide titles and Heading 2 text into bullets. Plain body text is left out, so apply heading styles in Word first. Results vary by document structure.
Rebuild the slide design. The DOCX conversion produces content without design. Apply a PowerPoint theme, adjust slide layouts and add design elements. The text is editable, but the visual presentation needs to be rebuilt from scratch in PowerPoint.
What Survives Each Path
| Element | Path 1: PUB → PDF → PPTX | Path 2: PUB → DOCX → PPTX |
|---|---|---|
| Visual layout | ✅ Preserved as image | ❌ Minimal fidelity |
| Images | ✅ Preserved in image layer | ⚠️ Often lost in DOCX step |
| Editable text | ❌ Text is part of image | ✅ Editable in PowerPoint |
| Fonts | ✅ Embedded in image | ⚠️ May substitute if not installed |
| One slide per page | ✅ Photo Album puts one picture on each slide | ⚠️ Depends on heading structure |
| Requires Publisher | ✅ Yes (for PDF step) or use batch converter | ✅ Yes (for DOCX step) or use batch converter |
Using PowerPoint as a Publisher Replacement
For organisations moving away from Publisher, which left Microsoft 365 on 1 October 2026, PowerPoint works as a replacement for specific use cases, particularly single-page visual content like flyers and posters. For new content created in PowerPoint instead of Publisher:
Use the Slide Size setting for print dimensions. Go to Design then Slide Size then Custom Slide Size. Set the dimensions to match your print format: A4, US Letter, DL flyer or custom. This makes sure the layout exports correctly to PDF for printing.
Use PowerPoint’s Guides for layout alignment. View then Guides enables a grid overlay for precise element positioning, similar to Publisher’s layout guides.
Export to PDF for print. File then Export then Create PDF/XPS produces a print-ready PDF from the PowerPoint layout. For simple print materials, the quality is adequate for most non-commercial printing purposes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a tool that converts PUB directly to PPTX?
No reliable direct PUB-to-PPTX converter exists. Any tool making this claim is routing through an intermediate format internally. The two reliable paths are PUB to PDF to PPTX (better visual fidelity, non-editable text) and PUB to DOCX to PPTX (editable text, minimal layout fidelity). For the best visual result, use Path 1.
Can PowerPoint open a PUB file?
No. PowerPoint has no PUB import filter. You cannot go to File then Open and select a PUB file in PowerPoint. The conversion always requires an intermediate step: either a PDF or a DOCX made from the PUB file first.
What is the best way to convert a Publisher poster to PowerPoint?
Use Path 1: export the PUB to PDF (from Publisher if you still have a working copy, or with a PUB converter if not), then place the page on a PowerPoint slide as a PNG picture. The slide dimensions should match the poster dimensions for correct display. For a poster that will only be shown on screen or projected, this produces a good visual result. For a poster that needs to remain fully editable in PowerPoint, you will need to rebuild the design from scratch in PowerPoint using the PDF as a reference.
Does PowerPoint make a good Publisher replacement?
For single-page visual content (flyers, posters and one-pagers), PowerPoint is a workable replacement with a low learning curve for existing Microsoft 365 users. For multi-page documents with flowing text, complex column layouts or professional print requirements, PowerPoint is not the right tool. Word or Affinity are more appropriate for those use cases.
The Short Version
Converting PUB to PowerPoint always takes two steps because no direct conversion path exists. Path 1 (via PDF) produces the better visual result but non-editable text. Path 2 (via DOCX) produces editable text but minimal layout fidelity. The right path depends on whether you need the visual layout or the editable content. Most use cases need one or the other, rarely both.
For ongoing content creation, PowerPoint is a reasonable Publisher replacement for slide-based and single-page visual work. For multi-page documents with flowing text, it is not the right tool.
Is the Publisher document you are converting primarily visual (poster, flyer, one-pager) or primarily text-based (newsletter, brochure with columns)? That distinction points directly to which conversion path and which final tool makes sense.