PubKeep desktop for Windows, macOS, and Linux
Open .pub.
Keep publishing.
Here is the good news. Your Publisher files have a future. PubKeep is a desktop app that opens .pub files the way you remember, with the text boxes, master pages, and fold-over booklets you already use. Save to an open format, export a print-ready PDF, and buy it once.
Perpetual license. No subscription, ever. Refundable before release.
St. Bride's Parish
Easter Bulletin
Sunday, April 5
Text box
Font
Size
Fill
Line
Wrap
You can stop worrying
Publisher is leaving. Your work is not.
Microsoft removes Publisher from Microsoft 365 on October 1, 2026. That is the app going away, not your files. PubKeep keeps them open and editable.
Your files still open
PubKeep reads your .pub files directly. You do not need Publisher on the machine.
Your layouts still edit
Text boxes, columns, and pages stay live. Move a photo or fix a date, then export again.
Your tools still feel familiar
Master pages, guides, and booklets work the way you expect. The shapes you learned still apply.
You do not have to rebuild twenty years of layouts in Word. You do not have to learn Canva.
What PubKeep does
Everything you created in Publisher, carried forward.
One app for your Publisher files. Open them, edit them, and export print-ready PDF, on the computer you already have.
Opens .pub without Publisher installed
PubKeep reads the Publisher format on its own. You do not need a copy of Publisher, or even Windows.
Editable, not flattened
This is not a picture of your page. Text stays text, and every box stays movable.
Windows, macOS, and Linux
Publisher only ran on Windows for 35 years. PubKeep runs on all three, so you pick the computer.
An open save format
PubKeep saves to .pubk, a plain zip of JSON and your images. You can open it with any archive tool and see what is inside.
The layout tools you used
Master pages, fold-over booklets, guides, bleed, and crop marks. Mail merge comes later.
Buy it once
One payment, and the app is yours. No subscription, and no bill that shows up every month.
How we know it works
Built on an engine we already ship.
We did not start with the editor. We started with the hard part: matching Publisher exactly. Here is the order.
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1 Shipped
Converter
Our converter produces exact PDFs from your .pub files, page for page. It sets the reference every later step is measured against.
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2 In progress
Engine and .pubk
Our own engine opens .pub files and saves .pubk. We score it page by page against Publisher's own export. Early access opens when it clears our published gate.
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3 Next
Editor
The same engine draws the page you edit. What you see on screen is what the PDF export draws, so there are no surprises at print time.
Pricing
Buy it once. It's yours.
Microsoft removed Publisher from a subscription people were still paying for. PubKeep works the other way. You buy it one time. The version you buy runs forever. It updates for the window you paid for, and after that you keep the last version you got.
No subscription, ever.
Founder license
$99 $149 one time
Introductory price, ends at launch. $149 after.
- Perpetual license
- 3 years of updates
- Refundable in full before release
- For one computer
Need it on more than one computer? Email hello@pubkeep.com.
No charge until it ships. Cancel for a full refund any time before release.
Early access
Get on the early access list.
Tell us where to email you. You will hear first when early access opens, and again when the founder price is about to end.
You're on the list. We'll email you when early access opens, and nothing else.
In their words
You are not the only one.
These are public posts from the Microsoft Q&A community after the announcement.
We use Publisher for our church, too. It is ideal for formatting bulletins. I use the 8.5 by 11 fold-over booklet format. I'm not sure how I would accomplish this with any other software.
Word is much too clunky and ornery for any serious layout scenarios; it's a word processor.
I've heard it suggested that PowerPoint is a good alternative and I almost choked.
Canva/MS Designer type products just aren't good replacements, because they're so 'smart' that they're stupid. Everything auto-resizes and auto-crops.
I've been using Publisher to make all sorts of things, birthday cards, newsletters, leaflets, booklets, calendars, etc. I was gutted to hear that it will be discontinued. I genuinely don't know what I would do without it!
Questions
Common questions
We do not have a ship date yet. Early access opens when PubKeep opens .pub files as faithfully as Publisher does, measured against a public test we publish. The early access list hears first.
You pay nothing until it ships. If PubKeep cannot meet our fidelity gate, we do not charge you. Any pre-order is refundable in full at any time before release.
That is the goal, and it is what we test against every day. Publisher changed over 35 years, so some old files may need extra work. Early access opens once common files open cleanly, and we widen coverage from there.
No. PubKeep opens your Publisher files and covers the layout work you did in Publisher. It is not a copy of Microsoft's app, and it does not use Microsoft's menus or icons. It is built to feel familiar in shape.
No. PubKeep opens .pub files directly, so you do not have to convert them first. If you only need PDFs today, our converter can do that now. The desktop app is for people who want to keep editing.
No subscription, ever. You buy PubKeep one time and the version you buy runs forever. Updates come for the window you paid for. After that you keep the last version you got.
No. PubKeep saves to .pubk, an open format that anyone can read. The .pub format is closed and undocumented, so writing it safely is not something we can promise. You can still export a print-ready PDF any time.
PubKeep is a product of Saint Systems, a long-time Microsoft partner. We have built on Microsoft's platform for years. You can reach us at hello@pubkeep.com.
Keep your work
Keep publishing.
Your Publisher files have a home again, and the early access list hears first.