LibreOffice 25.2 Arrives With New Features

Linux
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The first major update of the year for LibreOffice, version 25.2, has landed, bringing a host of improvements to the open-source office suite available on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

This update includes UI refinements, enhanced accessibility, and better interoperability to streamline workflows across different office suites.

Remember, open-source software is the result of collaborative efforts by individuals, both paid and volunteer.

While we might have specific features we’d like to see added, it’s essential to appreciate the existing functionality and ongoing support.

LibreOffice 25.2 represents six months of development, with 47% of code contributions from developers at ecosystem companies, 31% from The Document Foundation, and the remainder from volunteers.

Let’s explore the new features in detail!

What’s New in LibreOffice 25.2?

LibreOffice 25.2 introduces the capability to read and write to OpenDocument Format (ODF) 1.4, ensuring compatibility with the latest version of the file format specification also used by Microsoft Office. This enhancement ensures seamless handling of ODT, ODP, and other files within LibreOffice.

Additionally, building upon the privacy enhancements introduced in LibreOffice 24.8, this update allows users to remove personal information associated with documents, including author names, timestamps, editing time, document templates, tracked changes, and more.

For users dealing with diverse document types, the File > Recent Documents menu now features a checkbox to display files solely for the active application.

A significant UI overhaul brings theming capabilities.

Setting Custom UI Colors

For customizing specific colors within the LibreOffice UI independently of the system theme, here’s the way to do it:

Step 1: Navigate to Tools > Options > LibreOffice > Appearance.

Step 2: In the theme picker, select custom.

Step 3: Use the color picker to adjust colors. The application will prompt a restart between changes.

Other methods to customize the UI are mentioned below:

Applying New Themes

Step 1: Download new themes in-app.

Step 2: Apply themes quickly. The number of available themes is expected to grow.

The customization allows changing the document page color, main application background image, toolbar color, and more.

LibreOffice 25.2 Writer includes the following enhancements:

  • Updated default items for unordered lists (bullet points).
  • Tracked changes manager tweaks, including focus highlighting and sorting.
  • Improved support for toplevel line shapes imported from DOCX.
  • Font fallback for DOCX files referring to unavailable fonts.
  • Set default zoom levels for documents (overriding level stored in file).
  • Option to promote a reply comment into a root comment.
  • Inline headings are now supported.
  • Delete all content of a specific type (excluding headings) from the Navigator.
  • Page Number Wizard option to fit numbers into existing margin.
  • Comments background color is now customizable.
  • Hover over a heading in Navigator to see word and character count in a tooltip.

LibreOffice 25.2 Calc brings these additions:

  • Support import and export of connections.xml in OOXML.
  • Status bar icon indicates if AutoCalculate is turned off.
  • New “Handle Duplicate Records” dialog to select/remove duplicate records.
  • Improved search in Function Wizard dialog and Functions Sidebar deck.
  • ‘Select all’ in a cell with neighboring data covers neighboring cells by default.
  • “Summary below data” option added to Subtotals dialog.
  • Solver models can be saved into spreadsheets.
  • Sheet protection options for Pivot Tables, Pivot Charts, and AutoFilters.

LibreOffice 25.2 Impress offers:

  • Improved Impress templates.
  • Objects can be centered on the Impress slide in one step.
  • Text frame objects now support Soft Edge and Glow effects.
  • Per-paragraph semi-transparent shape text in SVG export.
  • Auto-repeating slides can be activated in windowed mode.
  • Overflowing text in presenter notes no longer cut off when printing.

The official release notes for this release provide further details, including links to code commits, bug reports, and blog posts.

Other Improvements

macOS users benefit from integration with the built-in Quick Look file previewing feature.

  • Draw: Support for clipping stroke paths in imported PDFs.
  • Base: SQL dialog now retains user input during a session.
  • Math: Formulas can be stored in a user-defined category.
  • Interoperability tweaks with proprietary OOXML documents.
  • Hyphenation can be controlled from the Properties deck of the Sidebar.
  • Object boundaries now toggled independently of Formatting Marks.
  • Support for pasting HTML strikethrough formatted text.
  • libvisio updated to v0.1.8.
  • Accessibility improvements.

A new Ask LibreOffice website facilitates user feedback.

Obtaining LibreOffice 25.2

LibreOffice 25.2 represents the newest stable release, but there are other available versions. Consider sticking with the LibreOffice 24.8.x series for a well-tested base.

To get the latest features, download LibreOffice 25.2 for Windows, macOS, and Linux from the LibreOffice website.

This release delivers many new features and improvements. It will be available in Ubuntu 25.04 this April.