Microsoft Publisher 2021 | Windows

Microsoft Publisher 2021 for Windows – design your own print materials

Publisher 2021 is Microsoft’s easy layout program. With it you design flyers, brochures, business cards, newsletters, invitations and notices without having to learn a professional graphics program. Lots of ready-made templates get you started quickly.

Publisher is only available for Windows. Here you get it as a perpetual licence for one PC.

Typical uses

• club flyers, invitations and posters
• business cards and letterheads
• menus, price lists and notices
• newsletters and brochures for small businesses

What Publisher 2021 offers

• modern interface in the style of Office 2021
• access to royalty-free images and icons
• export as a high-quality PDF for the print shop
• mail merge with addresses from Excel or Outlook
• numerous templates for typical print materials

Tips for successful print materials

• Customise templates: set colours and fonts once in the colour scheme.
• Master pages: place the logo and header identically on all pages.
• High-resolution images: use at least 300 dpi for printing.
• Print-shop PDF: choose “Commercial Press” when exporting.
• Mail merge: create personalised invitations in a single pass.

Who is Publisher 2021 as a standalone program worth it for?

Buying Publisher 2021 on its own makes sense if you mainly use this one program at a workstation, for example at reception, in accounting or in the home office. It also works well as an addition: if you already own an older Office version, you can upgrade the program you use most often to a newer version.

Sharing files

Publisher saves its projects in PUB format. To share your work with others or with a print shop, you export it as a PDF or an image file. That way anyone can open the result, even without Publisher. You can easily bring in text from Word and tables from Excel.

Standalone program or Office suite?

If you mainly work with Publisher, with the standalone program you only pay for what you really use. If you later need more programs, a suite is usually cheaper than several standalone programs.

You will find further editions under Microsoft Office 2021.

Why Publisher 2021?

Publisher 2021 is the current perpetual-licence version of Publisher. Publisher is no longer included in the Office 2024 suites. If you want to keep designing your print materials with Publisher, Publisher 2021 is exactly right – as a standalone program or in Office 2021 Standard.

Buy once instead of subscribing

Microsoft 365 costs money every year and in return provides cloud storage and a steady stream of new features. You pay for Office 2021 once; the programs stay on your computer permanently and continue to receive security and quality updates via the Office update function. If you don’t need cloud extras and store your files on your own PC, on the network or with a cloud provider of your choice anyway, the perpetual licence saves you a considerable amount over the years.

System requirements

• Operating system: Windows 11 or Windows 10. For new computers we recommend Windows 11 Pro
• Processor: 1.1 GHz or faster, at least 2 cores
• Memory: 4 GB RAM
• Hard disk: 4 GB of free space
• Display: resolution of 1280 × 768 or higher
• Graphics: DirectX 9 or later, with WDDM 2.0 driver on Windows 10
• Internet: required for download, activation and updates
• Other: some features require .NET 3.5 or 4.6 or later

Installation and activation

1. Download the installation file using the link in our e-mail.
2. Start the setup and follow the installation. Uninstall older versions of the same program first.
3. Open the program and activate it online with the product key – without a Microsoft account.

Frequently asked questions

Is Publisher available for Mac?

No, Publisher is only available for Windows.

Do I need a Microsoft account?

No, Publisher 2021 is activated with the product key.

Is this a subscription?

No. You pay once and use Publisher 2021 permanently on one Windows PC.

Can I transfer the program to a new PC?

Yes. Uninstall it on the old device, install it on the new one and activate it with the same key. If you run into problems, our support team will help.

Can I bring in text from Word?

Yes, text from Word can be pasted or imported directly into text boxes.

Will I receive updates?

Yes. Security and quality updates are installed automatically.

Delivery, invoice and support

• Delivery by e-mail: you will usually receive the product key, download link and installation guide within 5 to 30 minutes of payment (daily 09:00–21:00 CET). More under Shipping & payment.
• Invoice: every order comes with a proper invoice, with your company address on request.
• Origin of the licence: we source our licences from distributors and wholesalers in Europe. We explain exactly how this works on the page Buying legal software.
• Support: if you have questions about installation or activation, we help by e-mail (Mon–Sun 09:00–21:00 CET), phone (Mon–Fri 09:00–14:00 CET), live chat or remote support with TeamViewer.

Our goodwill promise

Should the ordered Office version ever no longer be available, we will supply the next higher version at no extra charge. You never pay more than the price at which you ordered.