Fonts look wrong after converting a Publisher file? Here is why, and the fix

You open an old Publisher file in another program, and the headings look plain, lines break in odd places, or text spills out of its box. Very often, the cause is fonts. The easiest way to see which fonts you need, and get an editable copy, is EditMyPub. You can also track them down by hand.

Why fonts cause so much trouble

A Publisher file usually stores the name of each font, not the font itself. The font has to be installed on the computer that opens the file. If it is not, the program quietly swaps in a different font.

Every font has its own letter widths. A substitute that is a little wider pushes words onto the next line. A few extra lines in each column add up, and suddenly text runs off the bottom of a box or the page. That is why a missing font can change the whole layout, not just the look.

Publisher made this more likely. Microsoft notes that design programs such as Publisher often came with extra fonts. A newsletter made on the old office computer may use fonts that came with Publisher and are not on your new computer at all.

The easy route: EditMyPub lists your fonts for you

Upload your .pub file to EditMyPub and it tells you which fonts the file uses, labelled as fonts to install for an exact match. No program to install, no clicking through every heading to read font names. It works in any web browser.

Upload the .pub at editmypub.com.
The free watermarked preview shows the page layout and the list of fonts.
Download the full set for $12 (USD) per file, or $39 for 10 and $99 for 50. You get Word (.docx), PowerPoint (.pptx), LibreOffice Draw (.odg), a PDF and page images in one .zip. Full refund within 30 days, no questions asked.

Missing fonts are replaced with similar-width ones on our server, so the layout holds up even before you install anything. The converted files keep the original font names, so once you install the fonts, Word or PowerPoint picks them up and the text should look and wrap closer to the original. Because our previews are drawn on our server, line breaks in the preview can differ a little from what you see after installing the fonts.

The harder way: find and fix fonts yourself

If you want to do it by hand, these are the steps. Expect to install software and check each piece of text one at a time.

Step 1: Find out which fonts the file uses

In LibreOffice Draw (free): install LibreOffice, open the .pub file, click inside a heading or a paragraph, and read the font name shown in the font box on the toolbar. Do this for headings, body text, and any fancy titles.
From a PDF made on the original computer: if someone saved a PDF while Publisher still worked, open it in Adobe Acrobat Reader and choose File > Properties, then the Fonts tab. It lists the fonts used in the original document.
On the old computer: if it still exists, its installed fonts are in the Fonts settings (on Windows, the Fonts folder or Settings > Personalization > Fonts).

Step 2: Install the missing fonts

Fonts are installed into your operating system, not into one program. Once installed, Word, PowerPoint, LibreOffice and other programs can all use them. You will need this step whichever route you take.

Windows: find the font file (often .ttf or .otf, sometimes inside a .zip you need to open first), right-click it and choose Install.
Mac: double-click the font file in Finder and click Install, or add it in the Font Book app.

Where to get the font:

Many fonts are free, some are shareware, and some are sold. Search for the exact name.
If the font came with Microsoft software, it may be on another computer that still has that software. Check the font's licence before copying it between computers.
For web-based tools like Canva, you may need to upload the font there separately. Canva accepts OTF, TTF and WOFF uploads, subject to its own rules.

After installing, close and reopen the program, then reopen the file.

Step 3: If you cannot get the font, pick a close substitute

Sometimes a font is simply not available. Then choose a substitute with a similar width and style, so the text wraps nearly the same way.

In LibreOffice: Tools > Options > LibreOffice > Fonts has a replacement table. Enter the missing font and the font to use instead. LibreOffice says this changes only how the font is displayed or printed, not the font name saved in the document.
In any program: select the text and change the font by hand. Then fix any boxes that overflow by making the text slightly smaller, tightening the line spacing, or making the box a little bigger.

EditMyPub already picks a similar-width replacement for each missing font, so you skip this step and start from a layout that fits.

When it is not the font

If the font is installed and the text still piles up or repeats across columns, the cause is probably linked text boxes, not fonts. See why text overlaps in linked text boxes. EditMyPub fixes that too, by re-flowing each story through its boxes in reading order.

See your font list now

Upload your .pub at EditMyPub to see which fonts it uses and how the pages come out, free, before you pay anything. Many files? Use bulk upload.