Univik PUB File Converter
Univik PUB Converter opens and converts PUB files without Microsoft Publisher installed. Layout, fonts and images are preserved in every output. Batch convert your entire Publisher archive, old backups included, before the October 2026 deadline.
Watch the 2-minute demo video to see how the converter works.
7 Output FormatsBatch ModeWorks OfflinePublisher Not Needed
*Free trial converts to PDF only, with a watermark on every page. The full version removes the watermark and unlocks all 7 formats. No registration required.
Trusted for Publisher Migration
IT teams and document managers use Univik PUB Converter to rescue decades of Publisher files before the October 2026 retirement deadline.
Publisher Document Elements Extracted
Text Frame
All Text
Image
Embedded Pics
Table
Full Tables
Shape
Vectors
Header
Page Header
Footer
Page Footer
Font
Embedded
Color
All Colours
Master Page
Backgrounds
WordArt
Styled Text
Hyperlink
All Links
Multi-page
All Pages
Key Facts
The numbers that matter, before you scroll any further.
7
Output Formats
Univik PUB Converter converts Microsoft Publisher PUB files to 7 formats: PDF, Word DOCX, HTML, TIFF, SVG, JPG and PNG.
1991–2026
Every Publisher Version
It opens PUB files from every Publisher release, 1991 through Microsoft 365, without Publisher installed.
1,500/hr
Batch Throughput
1,000 mixed-version PUB files converted in about 40 minutes on a 12th Gen Intel i7 with 8 GB RAM.
Oct 1, 2026
Publisher Retires
Microsoft retires Publisher from Microsoft 365 on October 1, 2026. Converted PDF and Word files stay readable after that date.
100%
Offline and GDPR-Compliant
The converter software runs everything on your Windows PC. No file is uploaded and document content never leaves the machine, which keeps processing GDPR-compliant.
$39
One-Time Licence
One-time $39 licence with unlimited conversions and a 30-day money-back guarantee. Free trial converts to watermarked PDF.
Output Formats
Univik PUB Converter exports Publisher files to seven formats, each built for a different destination. Most people want PDF, and the right answer depends on what happens to the file next.
What will you use the file for?
Pick the format by what you plan to do with the result. Most people want the first one.
Choose something else when you need to:
Nothing here is permanent. The same .pub file can be converted again to a different format whenever you need it, so this is not a decision you can get wrong. Keep the original .pub next to your output as the archival copy.
Looking for more formats? If you need to convert PUB files to ePub for digital distribution or e-readers, see our step-by-step guide: Converting Publisher Files to ePub →
How It Works
No technical knowledge required to convert a Publisher file. This Publisher converter turns a single PUB document or a folder of hundreds into the format you need in one operation.
Drag and drop a PUB or PUZ file, browse for a single file or point the converter at a folder for batch processing. A document preview shows page count, dimensions and detected Publisher version before you convert anything.
Select your output format. PDF, DOCX, JPG, PNG, HTML, SVG or TIFF are all one click away. Set DPI and quality for image outputs. Select a page range if you only need specific pages.
Click Convert. Single files finish in seconds. Batch jobs show a live progress log with the status of each file. Output files are saved to the folder you specify, named after the source PUB file, ready to use immediately.
Want the detailed walkthrough with quality settings and font-embedding tips? See our step-by-step guide on how to convert PUB to PDF →
Video Demo
Two minutes, no narration tricks: a real Publisher file goes in, a finished file comes out. What you see is what the software does on your own PC.
Key Features
Built for document managers, IT departments and businesses with Publisher archives to convert. As a dedicated Publisher file converter it reads pages, frames, images, shapes and embedded fonts straight out of the binary PUB file and exports them to formats that work everywhere.
The converter parses PUB files directly using an internal engine built for Publisher's binary format. No Microsoft Publisher installation, no Office 365 subscription and no internet connection are needed. There is no account to create and no sign-up. This is the essential capability for anyone whose Publisher licence has expired or whose version will not install on Windows 10 or 11.
Publisher files store page layout as absolute pixel coordinates for every text frame, image and shape. The converter reads those coordinates directly and reproduces the exact layout in the output. Embedded fonts are extracted and applied so headings, body text and decorative typography render correctly. PDF output is indistinguishable from printing from Publisher itself. For a detailed comparison of output fidelity per format, see our PUB to Word guide.
Point it at a folder on your PC or a shared network drive, choose the output format and run. Every PUB file in that folder and all its subfolders is picked up in one bulk run. Univik PUB Converter converted 1,000 mixed-version Publisher files in about 40 minutes, roughly 1,500 files per hour, in testing on a 12th Gen Intel i7 desktop with 8 GB RAM. The converter processes each file sequentially, naming the output after the source file. A progress log shows each conversion result. This is how organisations with hundreds of templates, brochures and newsletters convert everything before the Publisher retirement date. Bulk conversion of a whole archive is one run, not a project.
From Publisher 1.0 (1991) through Publisher 2021 LTSC and Microsoft 365 Publisher. The converter detects the PUB file version from the binary header and applies the correct parsing rules. PUB files from each era (early Microsoft, Office integration, Microsoft 365) differ in internal structure. The converter handles all variants without manual configuration.
Publisher documents often contain confidential business materials such as marketing collateral, internal newsletters, company directories and price lists. Univik PUB Converter processes every file locally on your Windows machine. No files are transmitted to any server, no cloud processing occurs and no internet connection is required. As a fully offline PUB converter it also runs on air-gapped machines that never touch a network, the setup that secure offices and restricted environments require. Your documents stay on your machine, so conversion is GDPR-compliant by design: no third-party processor touches your data, nothing crosses a border and there is no cloud transfer to document.
When converting to JPG, PNG or SVG, configure the output resolution from 72 DPI (screen) to 600 DPI (commercial print). Set JPEG quality from 1 to 100. Choose whether to export all pages or a specific page range. These controls let you produce output tuned for the exact destination, whether that is a web thumbnail, print-ready artwork or an archive copy.
Action Required Before October 2026
"Microsoft Publisher will no longer be supported after October 2026."
— Microsoft Support documentation
Microsoft has confirmed Publisher will be retired from Microsoft 365 on October 1, 2026. The Publisher 365 application will stop working, and Publisher was already dropped from the perpetual Office 2024 release. Every organisation with PUB files needs a conversion plan. Not after the deadline, but now. See what happens to PUB files in 2026. Once the application is discontinued, every legacy .pub file on your drives slowly becomes unreadable, and converting now is the way to avoid that data loss.
The official Microsoft method (export to PDF via Publisher, then open in Word) has been tested and found to produce poor results for complex layouts. Univik PUB Converter reads the PUB binary directly and produces accurate output without going through a failing intermediate step.
Schools, churches, clubs and small businesses hold decades of desktop publishing files like these:
Why the Official Method Fails
The Official Alternative
Microsoft publishes a free PowerShell script, Convert-PubFileToPDF.ps1, for batch-converting PUB files to PDF ahead of the retirement. It's a legitimate option, and here is an honest comparison so you can pick the right tool.
The script drives your installed copy of Publisher through automation to export each file as PDF. If you're comfortable in PowerShell, it batch-converts a folder tree with a couple of commands.
Reads the PUB binary itself with its own parser, so Publisher is not required. It works on machines that never had Publisher and keeps working after the retirement.
A fair summary. If you still have Publisher installed, only need PDF output and are comfortable in PowerShell, Microsoft's script does the job for free. Univik exists for every other case. Other formats, no Publisher, old files or converting after the retirement.
Version Coverage
35 years of PUB files from every Publisher release. One converter that reads them all.
Early Publisher
1991 to 1999
Office Integration
2000 to 2010
Modern Publisher
2010 to 2021
Microsoft 365 Era
2013 to October 2026
Real Situations
These are the questions being asked on Microsoft's own support forums as the retirement approaches. Here is where Univik fits, and where it does not.
"I no longer have Publisher. Where do I get a copy to convert my files?"
You do not need one. This is the single most common dead end right now: Microsoft's advice is to open each file in Publisher and export it, which is no help if your subscription already dropped Publisher or you inherited .pub files from someone else. Univik reads the file format itself, so a machine that has never had Publisher installed converts perfectly well.
"I have hundreds of files. Do I really have to open them one at a time?"
No. Point the converter at the folder, pick a format and start it. Output lands in the folder you choose, named after each source file, with a progress log as it goes. For an archive that spans nested folders, the command line adds one flag and walks the whole tree unattended. Your original .pub files are never modified or replaced.
"Can LibreOffice, Scribus or Inkscape do this instead?"
Sometimes. It costs nothing to try. LibreOffice Draw opens simpler publications through a reverse-engineered filter, and Scribus or Inkscape can tidy up a page afterwards. Where they struggle is complex layouts, embedded fonts, tables and files from the 1990s. None of them batch-converts an archive. Try the free route first; come here when it breaks.
"Why not use a free online converter?"
For one harmless flyer, go ahead. The trade-off is that every browser-based tool uploads your document to a third-party server, and most cap file size or the number of files per batch. If the publication holds client work, pricing, student records, member details or anything unreleased, that upload is the problem. Univik never sends a file anywhere and has no size or count limit.
"The printer wants press-ready files, not a PDF from my desktop."
Convert to TIFF at 300 or 600 DPI and the printer gets one high-resolution image per page, which is what most commercial print workflows ask for. If they want a folded booklet imposed two pages to a sheet, the converter lays that out the way Publisher would have printed it.
"Our newsletters go back twenty years. Will the old ones even open?"
That is the case older tools fail on. Publisher changed its internal format repeatedly, and a converter written for recent files often rejects a 1997 newsletter outright. Univik keeps parsing rules for every generation, so a folder mixing 1990s files with current ones converts in the same run without sorting them first.
Packed Publications
Packed .puz files from the Pack and Go wizard convert directly, with no manual unpacking first.
When someone used Publisher's Pack and Go wizard, typically to send a job to a commercial printer or move it between machines, the result is a .puz file. That file is the publication packed together with its linked images and fonts. Univik PUB Converter accepts these directly. Drop the .puz in, and the converter unpacks the bundle and converts the publication inside, using the packed assets it shipped with.
That packing is sometimes an advantage. A stray .pub whose linked pictures were never embedded can convert with gaps, while the matching .puz carries everything the document needs. If both exist, convert the .puz.
Wondering what a PUZ actually contains under the hood? The PUB format reference covers the packed format alongside the standard one. And note: Publisher's .puz has no connection to the crossword-puzzle file type of the same extension.
How PUZ conversion runs
About the Format
Converting a Publisher document means solving two separate problems. First, getting the content out of an undocumented binary. Then rebuilding the layout faithfully in a completely different format.
No public specification for the PUB format has ever existed. Microsoft kept it closed for the format's entire 35-year life. Each Publisher generation also changed the internal structure, so a parser that handles a 2016 file can choke on one from 1997. Most conversion tools give up here, which is why so many produce garbled output or reject older files outright.
Univik maintains its own parser covering every generation of the binary. Curious what's actually inside a .pub file? The PUB format reference walks through the container structure, signatures and version history.
Extraction alone isn't conversion. A Publisher document positions every text frame, image and shape at fixed points on the page. The output file must honour all of it, typography included, in a format with entirely different rules. This is where the workarounds break down.
Not sure what a .pub file actually is? The format guide explains from first principles.
For Power Users
The app window is the easy way. Prefer to automate? A built-in command line converts whole folders from a script with no app window needed. It handles hundreds of files as readily as one, at roughly 1,500 files per hour on a 12th Gen i7 desktop with 8 GB RAM.
PDF is the default, so you do not have to name it. The output saves next to the original.
Point it at a pattern or a folder. This converts every .pub in the current folder to Word and drops the output in one place.
Add -r to walk subfolders too, and -w to replace files instead of adding a number to the name.
| -f, --format | Choose the output type. Default is PDF. |
| -o, --out | Save all output in one folder. Default is next to each input file. |
| -w, --overwrite | Replace output files that already exist. |
| -r, --recurse | Search subfolders of any folder you give it. |
| -n, --no-publisher | Skip the optional Microsoft Publisher fallback engine and use only the built-in parser. |
| -s, --serial | Convert one file at a time instead of in parallel. |
| -b, --booklet | Lay out folded booklets, two pages per sheet, the way Publisher prints them. |
| -q, --quiet | Show only failures and the final summary. |
| --activate | Enter a licence key to unlock all formats on that computer. |
| -h, --help | Show the built-in help. |
Files convert in parallel, sized to your CPU and free memory. Each file prints a line when it finishes. If one file fails, the reason shows and the batch keeps going.
Without a licence key the command line writes watermarked PDFs only, and every other format needs a key. Activate once per computer.
0 All files converted
1 Some failed or were cancelled
2 Nothing converted
A quick way to open a prompt in the right place. Open the folder in File Explorer, click the address bar, type cmd and press Enter. For the full option list any time, run UnivikPubConverter.exe --help. In a batch file, wait for the run to finish with start "" /wait UnivikPubConverter.exe <files>.
Why Univik
Most tools that claim to open PUB files either require Publisher to be installed, produce badly broken layouts or fail entirely on files from older Publisher versions. Univik handles all three problems directly.
FAQs
Answers to what document managers and IT administrators ask most about converting PUB files.
Free trial. No Publisher required. No registration. Your files stay on your machine.
Windows 7, 8, 10, 11 | 100% offline | 30-day money-back guarantee
PUB Conversion Guides
The converter does the work in a few clicks. These guides walk through each destination format and platform in detail.
Only need to read a PUB file?
Use the free Univik PUB Viewer to open and view .pub files without Publisher installed. Come back here when you need to convert them to PDF, Word or images.
Written by Univik Research Team
The Univik Research Team has been building data conversion software since 2013. Our engineers work with proprietary Microsoft file formats including the PUB binary format across all Publisher versions from 1991 through Microsoft 365. Content here is re-checked against Microsoft's official guidance as the retirement date approaches. Read more on the Univik blog or contact our support team.
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Univik PUB File Converter
Publisher Document Elements Extracted
Key Facts
How It Works
Video Demo
The Official Alternative
Real Situations
