How to convert a whole folder of Microsoft Publisher files

Years of weekly bulletins can add up to hundreds of .pub files. Opening each one by hand is slow. The easiest way to convert them in one go is EditMyPub's bulk upload, which needs nothing installed. Below that are the other routes and what to expect from each.

Before you start

Work on a copy. Copy the folder first, and convert the copy. Keep the original .pub files.
Decide what you need. For most old files, a PDF you can read and print is enough. The templates you reuse are the ones that need to be editable.
Try one file first. Convert a typical file, look at it closely, then run the batch.

The easiest way: EditMyPub bulk upload

EditMyPub bulk upload works in any web browser, on Windows, Mac or a Chromebook. There is no software to install and no command line.

Upload one typical file at editmypub.com and check the free watermarked preview.
Buy a pack: $39 for 10 files or $99 for 50 files (USD, sales tax added where it applies). Pack codes are valid for 12 months.
Go to bulk upload and add up to 50 .pub files, or one .zip of the folder (up to 200 MB).
The files convert in the background. You get one email with a download link: a folder per file, plus a report.

Each file comes back as Word (.docx), PowerPoint (.pptx), LibreOffice Draw (.odg), a PDF and page images, with a README and a list of the fonts it uses. Linked newsletter stories are re-flowed through their boxes in reading order instead of piling up, and missing fonts are replaced with similar-width ones on our server. Files that fail don't use a credit, and you get a full refund within 30 days, no questions asked. Files are deleted 24 hours after upload.

Known limits: text wrapped around pictures follows the outline in small steps using extra text boxes, tables and WordArt may become plain shapes or text, and pictures arrive as picture-filled shapes.

Start a bulk upload

Other ways to convert a folder

You still have Publisher installed

Microsoft publishes a sample PowerShell script that converts one file, a folder, or a folder and all its subfolders to PDF. It needs a working, licensed copy of Publisher installed on the computer, so it is no help once Publisher is gone. If you have a perpetual copy of Publisher, Publisher itself makes the PDFs, so they look right. Do it soon.

The trade-off: you get PDFs only, you need to run a script, and the copy of Publisher gets no more security updates. EditMyPub gives you editable Word and PowerPoint files without Publisher.

LibreOffice from the command line (free)

LibreOffice can convert files without opening a window, using its command line. It uses the same .pub import as LibreOffice Draw.

On Windows:

Install LibreOffice from libreoffice.org and close any LibreOffice windows.
Open the Start menu, type cmd, and open Command Prompt.
Go to your folder, for example: cd "C:\Users\You\Documents\Bulletins"
Make an output folder: mkdir converted
Run this line (it assumes LibreOffice is installed in the usual place):
for %f in (*.pub) do "C:\Program Files\LibreOffice\program\soffice.exe" --headless --convert-to pdf --outdir converted "%f"

On a Mac: open Terminal, go to the folder with cd, and run:
/Applications/LibreOffice.app/Contents/MacOS/soffice --headless --convert-to pdf --outdir converted *.pub

Change pdf to odg if you want editable LibreOffice Draw files instead.

What to know about this route:

It is the same import as opening the file in Draw. So the same problems show up: different fonts if the originals are not installed, tables and effects that do not come through exactly, and multi-column newsletters where each linked text box gets the whole story. See why text overlaps in linked text boxes.
It cannot make PowerPoint files. LibreOffice opens .pub files as drawings, and its drawing formats are .odg, PDF and pictures. When we asked it for .pptx from a .pub file, it stopped with "no export filter".
Supported versions. LibreOffice's filter list names "Microsoft Publisher 98-2010". Files from newer versions often open too, but check them.
It does not save back to .pub.

Spot-check the results. Open a sample of the PDFs, especially newsletters and anything with lots of columns.

The trade-off: it is free and keeps files on your own computer, but you install LibreOffice, type commands, and get no Word or PowerPoint files. EditMyPub's bulk upload is a few clicks in a browser, and newsletters come back with stories in reading order.

Online converters

Online converters are fine for a few files, but they are not built for big batches on free plans. CloudConvert converts .pub to PDF and images, and its free plan gives a small daily allowance of conversion credits (10 per day when we checked). Zamzar converts .pub to PDF, DOC and other formats, with a file size limit on the free tier. Remember that uploading means sending your files to another company. For files with members' names and phone numbers, read the privacy terms first, or use the LibreOffice route to keep everything on your own computer.

The trade-off: a daily limit on free conversions, and mostly PDFs or images rather than editable layouts. EditMyPub takes up to 50 files in one upload and returns editable files for each.

Convert the folder in one upload

Be choosy: you may not need editable copies of every old bulletin, so pick the files you will actually reuse. Then try one file's free preview at editmypub.com, and when you are happy, start a bulk upload and get the whole batch back in one email, ready to open in Word and PowerPoint.