How to Open a .pub File From an Email Attachment

A .pub attachment in Outlook, Gmail, or Apple Mail is a Microsoft Publisher document. Your mail app can download it. It cannot preview it, and clicking the file usually fails unless Publisher is installed on that computer. After Microsoft retired Publisher in October 2026, that "unless" is uncommon.

You are not doing anything wrong. The sender used a format that only Publisher understood.

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What You Are Looking At

The attachment name often ends in .pub (Sunday Bulletin.pub, potluck-flyer.pub). Windows may show it as a Publisher icon or as a generic file. Mail on iPhone may show it as an unrecognized document.

It is not a Word file, not a PDF, and not a photo. Microsoft Word will not open it. Google Drive will not offer a useful preview if you save it there. OneDrive likewise has no Publisher web viewer.

If the file extension is missing, ask the sender. A file that will not open and was described as "the bulletin" is very often Publisher.

What to Do Immediately

Do not keep forwarding the .pub file to other people in hopes their computer will magically open it. You will multiply the problem.

Save the attachment to a folder you can find, then convert it. Saving is just Download in Gmail or Save as in Outlook. On a phone, save to Files or Drive, then finish conversion on a computer if you can. Opening Publisher files on iPhone and Android explains the mobile limits.

Only convert files from people you trust. A Publisher file is an Office document. Treat unexpected attachments the way you would treat an unexpected Word file: if the sender is unknown, do not upload it to a converter or open it in old software.

Convert, Then Open the Result

You need a PDF to read the bulletin or flyer, or a PowerPoint file if you must edit it.

Browser conversion

Bulletin Rescue is a website that accepts .pub uploads. The steps:

Download the attachment to your computer.
Open Bulletin Rescue and choose the file (or drop it on the page).
Wait for the free preview: a watermarked image of page one.
If the preview looks like the document you expected, sign in and unlock lifetime access ($29 once) to download PDF and PowerPoint and to edit in the browser.

Limits that matter for email attachments: 50 MB per file, up to 200 files, 500 MB total. Uploads are deleted after 24 hours; save the ZIP. Fonts and spacing can differ from the sender's original. Bulletin Rescue is not a Microsoft product.

Free desktop option

Install LibreOffice from the official site, open the saved .pub file in Draw, and export PDF. This costs nothing and stays on your computer. Layout may break. It is a fair first try for a simple flyer; it is often not enough for a dense church bulletin. See how to open a .pub file without Publisher.

If you still have Publisher

Open the saved attachment in Publisher and export PDF yourself. Then reply to the thread with that PDF so the next person is not stuck.

Why the Mail App Shows an Error

Outlook desktop. Windows looks for a program registered to .pub. If Publisher is absent, you get a prompt to look for an app in the Microsoft Store, or a message that the file cannot be opened. The Store will not give you a full Publisher replacement.

Outlook on the web and Gmail. The preview pane supports PDF, images, and some Office documents. Publisher is not in that list. You will see "no preview available" or a download-only chip.

Apple Mail. macOS has never included Publisher. The attachment is a download, not a Quick Look document.

Phone mail apps. Same situation, with fewer conversion options. Download, then convert in a browser if the tool works on mobile, or wait until you have a computer.

These errors are about file type association, not a corrupt message. A corrupt .pub file is a different problem; common Publisher open errors covers that case if conversion also fails.

Reply to the Sender

Once you can read the PDF, send a short note:

You received the file
.pub does not open without Publisher
Please send PDF next time (File → Export or Save As → PDF in Publisher, or export from whatever they use now)

If you are the church office receiving files from ministry leaders, put that request in the volunteer handbook. Event flyers especially tend to arrive as Publisher attachments from whoever designed them five years ago.

If you are the sender, stop attaching .pub. Convert once, attach PDF for readers, and keep PowerPoint for editors. Emailing a church bulletin without Publisher is written for that side of the conversation.

Outlook Security and Blocked Attachments

Some organizations block uncommon attachments. If the .pub never arrives, the church or school mail filter may have stripped it. Ask the sender to try PDF, or to share a cloud link to a PDF. A blocked attachment cannot be converted because you do not have the file.

If the file arrives as bulletin.pub.txt or is renamed by the filter, it may be damaged. Ask for a fresh PDF export rather than renaming it back and hoping.

After You Can Open It

Save two things:

The PDF you will actually read or print
The original .pub only if you need an archive copy

You do not need to keep Publisher attachments in your inbox as the official copy. Inboxes get purged; dated folders on a shared drive do not, if you maintain them. Backing up Publisher files is the longer-term version of that habit.