Convert PUB to Word, free and without uploading your file
To convert pub to Word, choose your .pub file below and press “Download as Word”. It runs in your browser, so the file is never uploaded, and it’s free. Several files at once come back as one zip with a Word file and a PDF for each.
Open your .pub files
or drag them here. You can choose several at once.
Your files never leave this device. They’re read here, in your browser, and nothing is uploaded. How you can check
What the Word file contains
- Each page of the publication becomes a section of the same page size.
- Text comes across as editable text, top to bottom, with its font, size, bold, italics, underline and colour.
- Tables come across as real Word tables, and a story that runs through several linked text boxes is written once.
- Pictures come across as pictures, in reading order, including old Windows clip art, which is converted.
- Shapes, borders and decorative text that Word can’t edit aren’t dropped: such a page also gets a picture of itself at the end of its section, so you can see what it looked like. The tool tells you how many.
A Publisher layout is free-form and a Word document flows, so text boxes become paragraphs in reading order. If you need the exact look, also download the PDF.
How your file stays private, and how you can check
The reader runs inside this page. Your file is opened by your own browser and the pages are drawn on your screen; the Word file, PDF or pictures are made on your device too. Nothing about the file, not even its name, is sent anywhere. The page shows no ads and has no advertising trackers.
You don’t have to take our word for it:
- Work offline. Once this page has finished loading, turn off Wi-Fi or unplug the network cable, then open your file. It still works, because nothing needs the internet.
- Watch the network. On a computer, open your browser’s developer tools (F12), choose the Network tab, and open a file: no request carries it.
What it can open
The reader is libmspub, the same open-source code that LibreOffice and Scribus use to import Publisher files, according to The Document Foundation. The Document Liberation Project, which maintains it, says it supports files from Publisher 2000 and later, and that very old files from Publisher 95–98 are only partly supported. A file it can’t open shows a message instead of a broken page.
We have fixed two problems in it ourselves. Russian and other non-Latin text in old Publisher 97–98 files no longer comes out garbled, and files whose document details (such as author or title) can’t be read now open instead of failing. Both fixes are published with the reader’s source notes.
It works the same on a Windows PC, a Mac, a Chromebook, an iPad or a phone: anywhere a current browser runs, with nothing to install. Fonts the file uses but your device doesn’t have are replaced with similar ones.
Where the reader comes from
libmspub and the libraries it needs are open source; their licences and where to get their source are listed in the reader’s notice file, with our small changes to them in the reader’s source notes; the website’s own libraries are in its notice file. PubFold is not affiliated with Microsoft, The Document Foundation or the Document Liberation Project.
Common questions
- How can I convert a Publisher file to Word for free?
- Choose the file above and press “Download as Word (.docx)”. There’s no account, no limit on the number of files and no upload.
- What should I convert my Publisher files to?
- Word if you want to keep editing the text, PDF to keep the exact look for reading and printing. The tool makes both, and keeping the original .pub files as well is wise.
Last checked: