Microsoft publisher has been around for a long time but it has never been able to run on Apple computers. If you’re like me you probably have friends who have Microsoft publisher files they occasionally email you. Sadly there is no way to open a Microsoft publisher file on a Mac, until now…
Here are two websites that can convert Microsoft publisher files to PDF.
Microsoft has never released Publisher on Mac, but we’ve taken a look at the best alternative Desktop Publishing Software for Mac in 2019. MS Publisher is different from Microsoft Word because it focuses more on Desktop Publishing (DTP) than traditional word processing software. The apps featured here are suitable for creating all types of print and online publications including newsletters.
You can then open, read and print the pdf file on your Mac. You can even edit them.
I have tested both of these conversion sites and they both work pretty well. They are both free.
Site one is easier, to use, just read the instructions below, but I’ve included two sites just in case one of them goes down or doesn’t work for you.
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How to print a PDF booklet.How to copy a fontHow to Share a Pages file with a Windows user.How to find things with SpotlightMake your own keyboard shortcuts« Older CommentsMaussays:August 21, 2019 at 10:44 pmSo grateful for this info. I used the second recommended site without problems. Thank you.
ReplyLaurensays:August 27, 2019 at 3:55 pmThanks so much! I don’t understand why Publisher isn’t Mac-compatible when most Office products are.
ReplyDarlenesays:September 16, 2019 at 8:07 pmOh, my goodness! I am so grateful for this! I have so many Publisher files that I haven’t been able to see since I bought my Mac in 2017; most of them being poems I’ve written. This will make it so easy to see them once again. Thank you, thank you!!!
ReplyGordonsays:September 29, 2019 at 5:11 pmLauren,
The office suite is molded to the Mac by the Mac Business Unit at MS. They do so because those tools have little competition in the marketplace. When it comes to design functions, most of those on the mac are far surpassed by the Adobe product line – InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator. So MS doesn’t bother porting Publisher to the mac because it can’t compete. Simple cost-benefit analysis.
ReplyMichaelsays:September 24, 2019 at 9:08 amThank you so much! Online2pdf worked like a charm.
ReplyGORDON
says:Microsoft Publisher For Mac Free Trial Download
September 29, 2019 at 8:24 pmIn looking at the two sites offered here, both seem to have file size limitations. One actually states it at 100MB while the other just fails to work (I was parsing a 142MB file to PDF from PUB).
A better working site, for me, has turned out to be https://www.zamzar.com/
It actually appears to be a better site all the way around as it easily parsed my larger files and offers several conversion file types.
Great tip thanks Gordon
ReplyBethsays:October 8, 2019 at 2:06 pm Question – Our Creative department works on Mac’s but one of our clients needs files in Publisher (they work on PC’s) Is there any Mac software that will let you save as a Publisher file?
ReplyWaynesays:October 16, 2019 at 9:19 pmNot that I know of.
Reply« Older CommentsLeave a Reply
Microsoft Publisher isn’t available for Mac (although there are many great alternatives) but it’s easy to open and edit Publisher files on Mac.
Here we show you 5 free and simple ways to open and edit an MS Publisher .PUB file on a Mac.
1. Export From Publisher PUB Format Into Another Format
Although it’s not an option for everyone, if you can contact the sender of the Publisher file (or know someone who has access to a PC with Microsoft Publisher installed), by far the easiest thing to do is export the file from Publisher in another format. To do this, you simply ask the sender or someone with Windows to open the file in Publisher and then export it to a different format that can be opened on Mac. They must then go to File – Export – Change File Type in Publisher and select any of the Export options such as “Create PDF/XPS Document”, “Publish HTML” (to view it as a web page) or “Change File Type”. You can also choose to export the file to a format that a Commercial Printer can read.
2. Convert Publisher Files Online Into Another Format
If you can’t contact the sender or simply don’t have access to Microsoft Publisher at all, an alternative option is to convert the PUB file for free online to another format such as Word or PDF. You can then edit this file using another application such as Microsoft Word or one of the many excellent alternatives to Word on Mac. To convert a Publisher file, there are many online file conversion services that will convert files for you instantly without having to download anything.
Here’s how to use online file converter Zamzar to convert a Publisher file to another format:
- Go to Zamzar. Click “Choose Files…” and upload the file you want to convert.
- Choose a format to convert it to (such as DOCX, PDF, PNG etc).
- Enter an email address to receive the converted file.
- Click “Convert”.
Within a few seconds, you should receive the converted file. If Zamzar doesn’t work for any reason, or you just want to convert to PDF, there are many other free conversion services such as online2pdf.com which converts documents to PDF online.
Microsoft Publisher Mac Free Download
Or you can also use PDFConvertOnline which converts directly from .PUB to PDF:Note that a disadvantage of converting Publisher files this way is that it doesn’t always preserve the original formatting of the document. You may find that images, tables and other elements do not appear properly in which case, you should try to use one of the other methods instead.
3. Open Publisher Files In LibreOffice
Download Publisher For Mac
LibreOffice is a free, open-source alternative to Microsoft Office for Mac and is based on the popular free Office suite OpenOffice. As of version 4.0, LibreOffice is the only program to both open and edit Microsoft Publisher files for free although you can’t export to Publisher format. Like Microsoft Office, LibreOffice consists of different apps but you can edit MS Publisher files on Mac using LibreOffice Draw which is LibreOffice’s graphical design and desktop publishing app. As you can see from the example Publisher file imported into LibreOffice below, the interface isn’t as user-friendly or as slick as Publisher but it does work. The formatting may also not be perfectly preserved but can usually be fixed with some manual adjustments.
Microsoft Publisher
Note that you can’t export files from LibreOffice in .PUB format – you can only save them in LibreDraw’s ODF format. You can watch how easy it is to open a Publisher file on Mac with LibreOffice below.
4. Open Publisher Files In Office 2011 For Mac
Microsoft Publisher For Mac Free Trial
Although many Mac users are now using Microsoft Office 2016, if you’re still using Office 2011 you’re in luck. One little known feature of Microsoft Word 2011 is that it can emulate the layout of a Microsoft Publisher document. You will need to convert the Publisher file first to RTF format using one of the online file converters covered in Option 2, but this workaround turns Word 2011 for Mac into a basic DTP software and is probably the closest thing you’ll get to Publisher on Mac. Just go to View and then Publishing Layout View to see a Microsoft Publisher style layout of the document.
Unfortunately, this method does not work in Office 2016 for Mac as Microsoft has removed the Publishing Layout View in Word 2016 For Mac.
5. Install Windows To Run Publisher On Mac
If all else fails, or if you regularly need to open Microsoft Publisher files on your Mac, you should consider installing Windows on your Mac which will allow you to install Microsoft Publisher on Mac. You can now install Windows 10 on Mac for free and although it’s the most time-consuming (and hard drive consuming) solution, it does allow you to run any Windows application on your Mac.
Ms Publisher For Mac Free
If you have any problems opening Publisher files on your Mac or with any of the solutions suggested here, let us know in the comments below.
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