Publisher leaving how do I transfer hundreds of pages into Word?

Publisher cannot move an entire publication into Word in one step with full text, graphics, and layout preserved. The practical options are:

1. If the goal is editable text in Word
   • In Publisher, open the file.
   • Select File > Save As.
   • Choose a location.
   • In Save as type, select the Word version needed. For current Word versions, select Word Document.
   • Save the file.
   What is preserved:
   • Text
   • Font formatting such as font, size, style, underline, color, and effects
   • Headers, footers, and page numbers
   What is not preserved:
   • Graphics
   • Columns
   • Overall page design/layout
   • Page breaks from the publication
   For best results:
   • Make sure text box boundaries do not overlap before saving.
   • If graphics are needed, copy and paste them into Word separately.
   • Add page breaks again in Word after conversion if needed.
2. If the goal is to keep page appearance closer to Publisher Copy and paste page content or objects into Word.
   • In Publisher, select the objects to copy.
   • To select a whole page, click a blank area or the scratch area, then press Ctrl+A.
   • Right-click and select Copy.
   • Open the Word document.
   • Right-click where the content should go and select Paste.
   • Repeat for each page or group of objects.
   Notes:
   • This pastes into Word in HTML format, so formatting and text styles are preserved better than Save As for some page elements.
   • If text flows from one page to a text box on another page, that text will not paste correctly when copying the page. Copy only pages whose text does not flow to another page.
   • If several objects belong together, group them first before copying.
   • Entire publications still cannot be copied at once; only a page or two facing pages at a time.
3. If the goal is to preserve layout exactly Save each page or object as a picture, then insert it into Word.
   • In Publisher, use File > Save As for a full page, or right-click an object and choose Save as Picture.
   • Choose PNG Portable Network Graphics Format or JPEG File Interchange Format.
   • If available, click Change and choose High quality printing or commercial press (300 dpi).
   • In Word, go to Insert > Picture and insert the saved file.
   Important:
   • This preserves layout better, including tables.
   • The inserted content is not editable as normal Word text or objects.
4. For large numbers of files before Publisher retirement Another supported path is:
   • Convert Publisher files to PDF using File > Save As > PDF.
   • Open the PDF in Word using File > Open.
   • Select OK when prompted.
   Result:
   • Word opens the file as an editable document optimized for text editing.
   • Layout can vary from the original, especially when the file contains many graphics.

For several hundred papers, the least painful approach is usually:

• Use Save As > Word Document for text-heavy files.
• Use copy/paste for pages that need editable objects.
• Use save as picture for covers, flyers, calendars, and table-heavy pages where layout matters more than editing.
• Use PDF to Word when preparing for Publisher retirement and a direct Word result is acceptable even if layout shifts.

• Save a publication as a Word document
• Microsoft Publisher will no longer be supported after October 2026