PubRescueHow this .pub viewer works
A web browser can't display Publisher files directly, so PubRescue converts each file into a PDF on our servers and shows you a preview of its pages. That has two advantages over a classic "viewer" app:
- Nothing to install. It works the same on Windows, Mac, Chromebooks, iPads and phones.
- You keep the result. Instead of a document you can only look at inside one program, you get a PDF that opens anywhere and prints properly, plus a Word file if you want to edit the text.
Previews are free for every file you upload. The full PDF of the first 3 files and the Word file of the first file in each upload are free too.
Sorting through an archive of .pub files
Many people come here with a shared drive or an old backup full of .pub files named things like newsletter3_final2.pub, with no way of knowing what's in each. Upload the whole folder (or a ZIP of it) and you'll get a grid of thumbnails showing the first page of every document. That makes it easy to find the flyer you're looking for, or decide which files are worth keeping, before you spend anything.
Uploads can contain up to 5000 files and 500 MB. If you then want every document as a PDF and Word file, a one-time plan from $9 unlocks the whole upload. See pricing.
What the viewer shows accurately
We rebuild each page from the .pub file itself: text boxes, pictures, shapes, colors and multi-page layouts. A few things to know:
- Fonts. Publisher documents often use Microsoft fonts. We use metric-compatible substitutes, so letters can look slightly different while lines and columns stay where they were.
- Linked text boxes. Stories that continue across columns are split across those columns as in the original, not repeated.
- Hardest cases. WordArt effects and very old Publisher 98/2000 files may not match the original exactly. Such files are marked Check layout in the results.
Other ways to view .pub files
If you only need to look at a simple file occasionally, free desktop software such as LibreOffice Draw can open many .pub files after you install it. Results vary for more complex layouts. If you still have access to a computer with an older copy of Publisher, that's another way to view and export individual files. More options in how to open a .pub file without Publisher.
Privacy
Viewing a document means uploading it, so we keep the process simple and private: files are only used to produce your previews, PDFs and Word files, each upload has its own random link, and everything is deleted automatically after 24 hours (7 days for paid uploads). More in the privacy policy.