Chromebook
How to open a .pub file on a Chromebook
Chromebooks can’t run Publisher, and Google Docs and Drive can’t show a .pub file either. But Chrome can run a converter, so you can turn the file into a PDF without installing anything.
Step by step
- Open PubToPDF in Chrome.
- Press “Choose files”. The Files window opens. Your .pub file may be in Downloads, in Google Drive (listed on the left) or on a USB stick.
- Pick one file or several. Each one converts in a second or two, on the Chromebook itself.
- Press “Download PDF”. The PDF goes to your Downloads folder and opens in Chrome’s PDF viewer. To share it, drag it into Google Drive or attach it to an e-mail.
You can also drag files straight from the Files app onto the page.
Why this works well on a Chromebook
- No install, no admin rights. School and work Chromebooks often block apps; a web page is fine.
- Nothing is uploaded. The conversion runs inside Chrome on your Chromebook, which matters for school and church files with people’s names in them.
- Works offline. After your first visit, the page stores what it needs. Once it says “Ready to work offline”, it converts files with no connection at all.
If you need to edit it
Google Docs can’t open .pub files. On a Chromebook, the PDF is the safe choice. Our Word files are made for Word on Windows or Mac: we haven’t tested them in Word on the web or Google Docs yet, and a Chromebook lacks most of the fonts a .pub uses, so text in a Word file can run past its box or be cut off. For posters and flyers, importing the PDF into a design tool such as Canva is another route.
Other ways on a Chromebook
If your Chromebook has the Linux option switched on, you can install LibreOffice, which opens .pub files in its drawing program. It’s more setup and often mixes up newsletters (see our tests), but it’s free.
Questions
Can Google Drive open .pub files?
Drive can store them, but it can’t show or convert them. Pick the file from Google Drive in the converter’s file picker, then move the finished PDF from Downloads into Drive.
Is there an app to install?
No app is needed. PubToPDF is a web page that works like an app, and after the first visit it keeps working offline.
My Chromebook is old and slow. Will it cope?
Most newsletters and flyers convert in a few seconds. Very large files full of photos need a lot of memory and may be too much for small Chromebooks. Try those on a bigger computer.
Can a school roll this out to all its Chromebooks?
Yes, there is nothing to install: share the link. An organisation licence covers every member of staff in one school and unlocks Word files and whole folders. See PubToPDF for schools.