Converting large Publisher files

Rebecca 0 Reputation points
2026-09-18T17:10:42.6733333+00:00

I only heard about Publisher ceasing to work on 1 October today and am really disappointed that I wasn't given more notice. I also can't find a way to convert by A1 size posters produced on Publisher.

I do not have editable pdf permissions.

I tried to convert to pdf then open in Word but this failed due to a message about exceeding the file size.

Is there a way of converting these Publisher files to Powerpoint?

Microsoft 365 and Office | Publisher | For business
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  1. Suresh Kumar 5 Reputation points
    2026-09-20T09:37:12.2433333+00:00

    While Publisher does not have a native "Save As PowerPoint" feature, you can convert your A1 posters and keep them editable using a direct copy-paste method, or by using a free online converter to bypass Word's file size limits.

    Here is the simplest method to transfer your work directly while you still have access to Publisher.

    1.**Prepare the PowerPoint Canvas:**1 min.

    Open PowerPoint, create a blank presentation, and go to Design > Slide Size > Custom Slide Size. Change the dimensions to match an A1 poster: Width 23.4 inches (59.4 cm) and Height 33.1 inches (84.1 cm), then click OK.

    2.**Copy Publisher Content:**1 min.

    Open your poster in Publisher. Press Ctrl+A on your keyboard to select all elements on the poster, then press Ctrl+C to copy them.

    3.**Paste into PowerPoint:**1 min.

    Go back to your blank A1 PowerPoint slide and press Ctrl+V to paste the content. You may need to manually drag some elements to realign them.

    You can verify this step was successful by clicking on the text and shapes in PowerPoint to ensure you can still edit them just like you did in Publisher.

    If the poster has too many complex layers and the copy-paste method distorts the formatting, you can use the PDF you already created. Since Word is rejecting the file size, you can convert the PDF directly to a PowerPoint file online without needing paid Adobe permissions.

    1.**Use a Free Online Converter:**2 mins.

    Open a web browser and go to a free, reputable converter like the Adobe Free PDF to PPT converter or ILovePDF.

    2.**Upload and Convert:**2 mins.

    Upload your A1 poster PDF to the website. The tool will automatically convert it into a PowerPoint format.

    3.**Download and Edit:**1 min.

    Download the resulting .pptx file and open it in PowerPoint.

    You can verify this was successful by opening the downloaded file and checking that the text is editable rather than just a flat image.

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  2. Stefan Blom 353.8K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2026-09-20T09:33:06.5+00:00

    The article at https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/publisher/microsoft-publisher-will-no-longer-be-supported-after-october-2026 provides suggestions on converting Publisher files to PDF.

    P.S. The discontinuation of Publisher was first announced in 2024.

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  3. Ivory 1,825 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2026-09-18T17:36:41.03+00:00

    Hi Rebecca,

    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 produced from the PUB file first.

    Open PowerPoint.

    Set the slide size to match the .pub page (Design then Slide Size then Custom Slide Size)

    Go to Insert then Photo Album (Windows) then File/Disk and select the PDF PowerPoint imports each page as an image slide.

    Alternatively, use the Insert then Object then Create from File method to embed the PDF.

    For simple single-page Publisher files, copy the PDF content and paste into a PowerPoint slide directly.

    Since the PDF content is an image layer, 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.

    If the answer is helpful, please click 'Yes' and kindly upvote it.

    Note: Please follow the steps in the forum documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread. 

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  4. AI answer

    2026-09-18T17:10:58.7266667+00:00

    There is no supported Microsoft-provided conversion path in the provided guidance for converting Publisher files directly to PowerPoint.

    Supported options in the guidance are:

    1. Convert Publisher to PDF
      • In Publisher, go to File > Save As and select PDF.
      • Or use File > Export > Create PDF/XPS Document > Create PDF/XPS.
      • For large print files, the available publish options include Minimum Size, Standard, High Quality Printing, and Commercial Press. For A1 posters, High Quality Printing or Commercial Press are the relevant options.
    2. Convert PDF to Word for editing
      • Open Word.
      • Go to File > Open.
      • Open the PDF and select OK.
      • The document opens as a Word file.
      • Microsoft notes that the converted Word document is optimized for text editing, so the layout can vary from the original, especially when the file contains many graphics.
    3. Use bulk export to PDF for many files
      • Microsoft provides a sample PowerShell script to export individual or multiple Publisher files to PDF.
      • This requires a working and licensed version of Publisher installed.
      • The script can convert one file, all .pub files in a folder, or recurse through subfolders.
      • If a target PDF already exists, the script will not overwrite it and will report an error.
    4. Use a third-party conversion tool
      • The guidance mentions third-party tools for direct conversion from Publisher to another file type.
      • Microsoft does not provide support for those services.

    Since converting PDF to Word already fails because of file size, the supported Microsoft guidance in the provided material is limited to:

    • exporting the Publisher file to PDF with an appropriate print-quality option, and
    • using the sample PowerShell automation if there are many files.

    No supported method to convert Publisher files to PowerPoint is described in the provided material.

    References:

    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

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