The Document Foundation has unveiled LibreOffice 25.8, marking the latest stable iteration of this widely appreciated, open-source office suite. This release caters to a diverse range of operating systems, including GNU/Linux, Android, macOS, and Windows, reinforcing its commitment to accessibility and versatility.
“In a global context of growing concern about data privacy, cloud lock-in, and surveillance capitalism, LibreOffice 25.8 provides concrete solutions.”
Performance Enhancements and New Features
Among the notable enhancements in LibreOffice 25.8 are significant performance improvements, with file opening times in Writer and Calc now up to 30% faster. The suite also introduces support for exporting to PDF 2.0, optimized memory management for improved functionality on virtual desktops and thin clients, and enhanced scrolling capabilities for large documents. Additionally, word hyphenation and spacing have undergone a comprehensive overhaul, ensuring a more refined user experience.
The updated Welcome/What’s New dialog now provides users with access to the user interface picker and appearance options, enabling new users to customize their experience according to personal preferences. A new application-wide Viewer mode has been implemented, allowing all files to open in read-only mode with editing tools disabled, enhancing document security.
Innovative Functionalities
LibreOffice 25.8 also introduces several innovative functionalities, including:
- The ability to display background images in documents as bitmap thumbnails.
- Support for SHA384 with AES_192 encryption algorithms.
- Streamlined PDF signature timestamping, now requiring only a single cryptographic signature computation.
- Enhanced import capabilities for encrypted hybrid PDF files and autofilters from MS Excel XML files.
- Support for Bitcoin currency.
In LibreOffice Writer, a new Move Line hyphenation rule allows users to decide whether to hyphenate last line words or move entire lines to subsequent pages. Additional features include end zones for paragraphs, columns, pages, and spreads, along with customizable word spacing options.
Advanced Tools for Writers and Analysts
Writer now displays first and secondary keys in index field tooltips, while the navigator for headings shows tooltips with detailed outline word and character counts. A new command facilitates inserting paragraph breaks before tables, enhancing document organization.
Furthermore, Writer has improved text selection control during scrolling, introduced a dialog for copying content from read-only documents, and added a field to display page counts until the next numbering reset. The ability to convert fields into plain text has also been integrated.
In terms of collaborative features, Writer now supports per-window track changes recording, reinstating changes, and improved handling of interdependent tracked changes. Users can also redact images through the Auto-Redact dialog and set specific languages for punctuation characters.
Enhanced Spreadsheet and Presentation Capabilities
LibreOffice Calc has expanded its functionality with new functions such as CHOOSECOLS, CHOOSEROWS, and TEXTSPLIT, among others. Users can now customize conditional formatting operators in icon sets and utilize a new “Clear AutoFilter” option in the context menu.
Impress has seen enhancements in font management for better compatibility with PowerPoint (PPTX) files, allowing for embedded fonts and improved algorithms for font embedding during exports. Users can now adjust the number of slides displayed per row in Slide Sorter view using a simple keyboard shortcut.
LibreOffice Draw has also received updates, including the ability to visualize page margin boundaries and copy Master Pages. The suite now supports exporting to the PDF 2.0 format and boasts improved interoperability with MS Office files, reducing formatting discrepancies when opening DOCX, XLSX, and PPTX files in LibreOffice.
User Interface Improvements
The user interface has been refined, featuring the option to open the Edit Field dialog in read-only documents, a diacritic matching option in the Quick Find bar, and a toggle to reveal passwords in input dialogs. Users can also insert hyperlinks via the context menu, enhancing usability.
LibreOffice 25.8 is available for immediate download from the official website, offering ready-to-install binaries for 64-bit DEB and RPM-based distributions, including Fedora Linux, Debian GNU/Linux, and Ubuntu. Source tarballs are also accessible for other GNU/Linux distributions.
This version will receive support through seven maintenance updates until June 12, 2026, with the first maintenance release, LibreOffice 25.8.1, anticipated in early to mid-September, bringing additional bug fixes. Users are encouraged to monitor their Linux distribution’s stable software repositories for this latest version.
Image credits: The Document Foundation
