If you ever receive an email file attachment with the extension “.pub,” don’t waste your time trying to find a program that will open or convert it. It is a Microsoft Publisher file, and only Publisher will open it. Publisher is a basic designing program that helps people easily create files with graphics like flyers, newsletters and invitations. If you try to use another program like Microsoft Word to view the PUB file, it won’t be able to convert the file into a readable format.

To view the contents of the PUB file, you have two options. For either to work, you’ll need Adobe Reader installed on your computer, which is available from www.adobe.com.

Option 1: Ask the sender to resend the file in a readable format. PDF is a standard format, and anyone with Publisher 2010 can convert the file to PDF automatically from Publisher. All he needs to do is open the file in Publisher, select “Save As” from the File menu, and select “PDF” from the “Save as type” drop-down menu.

Option 2: Convert the file to PDF using an online PDF converter. Download the PUB file to your computer first, but don’t open it. Then use a free online converter such as www.conv2pdf.com or www.pdfonline.com. Go to one of these websites and follow their instructions for uploading and converting a file. Once it is converted, you will be able to view it using Adobe Reader.