LibreOffice is a powerful and free office suite, a successor to OpenOffice, used by millions of people around the world. Its clean interface and feature-rich tools help you unleash your creativity and enhance your productivity.

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LibreOffice includes several applications that make it the most versatile Free and Open Source office suite on the market: Writer (word processing), Calc (spreadsheets), Impress (presentations), Draw (vector graphics and flowcharts), Base (databases), and Math (formula editing).

What are the differences between LibreOffice and Microsoft Office?

LibreOffice has been designed to compete directly with MS Office so both include similar productivity tools with similar functions. The equivalent for Excel is Calc, then you have Word and Writer for word processing, PowerPoint and Impress for presentations. LibreOffice also includes Draw which is a vector graphics application and Base which is a database management system.

Microsoft Office on the other hand has other utilities like Outlook which is an email client, Publisher which is a desktop publishing program, Access which is a database manager, Microsoft Teams for team communication and Skype for business, all of these seamlessly integrated.

In addition to LibreOffice being free and MS Office requiring users to purchase a license, there are other differences that can be highlighted such as cloud integration, team collaboration, autocorrect and templates that are found in the latter and not in the free office suite. Ultimately, Microsoft Office runs on Windows, macOS, iOS and Android while LibreOffice runs on Windows, macOS and Linux, which Office doesn't.

Can LibreOffice open Microsoft Office documents?

LibreOffice can both save and open files in all popular Microsoft Office formats such as ".doc" ".docx" ".xls" ".xlsx" and ".ppt" ".pptx" just to name a few. LibreOffice is also compatible with older formats of Microsoft Office including 6.0, 1995, 1997, 2000, 2003, and XP.

In addition to LibreOffice, are there other good (and free) MS Office alternatives?

In addition to LibreOffice, you can download FreeOffice, Apache OpenOffice, Polaris Office or try the online Google Docs suite, which are all free and direct substitutes for Microsoft Office.

What's is the difference between LibreOffice 7.x and LibreOffice 24.x?

LibreOffice 7.x is part of the Still Branch of the suite, what you might consider the stable version. The stable branch has less features but more fixes and stability. LibreOffice 24.x is part of the Fresh Branch, which is the development branch. The development branch is more rich in features and intended for technology enthusiasts, early adopters and power users.

Features

Great-looking, well-structured documents

Your documents will look professional and clean, regardless of their purpose: a letter, a master thesis, a brochure, financial reports, marketing presentations, technical drawings and diagrams. LibreOffice makes your work look great while you focus on the content, thanks to its powerful styles system and structuring tools.

Use documents of all kinds

LibreOffice is compatible with a wide range of document formats such as Microsoft® Word (.doc, .docx), Excel (.xls, .xlsx), PowerPoint (.ppt, .pptx) and Publisher. But LibreOffice goes much further with its native support for a modern and open standard, the Open Document Format (ODF). With LibreOffice, you have maximum control over your data and content - and you can export your work in many different formats including PDF.

Get more features with extensions

Beyond the many features shipped by default, LibreOffice is easily extensible through its powerful extensions mechanisms. Get even more features and document templates on our dedicated websites.

Free as in Freedom, now and forever

LibreOffice is Free and Open Source Software, available for everyone to use, share and modify, and produced by a worldwide community of hundreds of developers. Our software is tested and used daily by a large and devoted user community - we're open to new talent and new ideas, so get involved and influence its future.

Built on a strong heritage

LibreOffice is a successor to OpenOffice.org (commonly known as OpenOffice), which in turn was based on StarOffice. Many years of development have gone into the software, and it has been used in its various incarnations by millions. Today, LibreOffice is by far the most active continuation of the OpenOffice.org codebase, with releases every six months and hundreds of contributors. Also, LibreOffice uses libraries from the Document Liberation Project, handing control back to content creators.

  • Load and Save ODF documents in flat XML to make external XSLT processing easier
  • Make license information accessible via the Help menu
  • Made on-line Help available on-line, via the WikiHelp
  • Added "Experimental" mode, to allow users to test out as-yet-unfinished features
  • Bundled Linux "Libertine G" and Linux "Biolinum G" fonts
  • Added the LibreColors to the palette
  • Implement import of alpha channel for RGBA .tiffs
  • Show all appropiate formats by default on "Save As"
  • Use radio buttons widgets to clarify complex menu option intentions
  • Add option to enable saving of documents with non-visible changes
  • Added Quickstarter for Unix builds (enabled only in distro builds)
  • Fix synthetic small caps resizing factor to improve look and interoperability

What's New

Writer

  • Track Changes in Writer: Enhancement to identify a click on a tracked change in the document by highlighting the corresponding entry in the "Manage Changes" window and sidebar panel. This enhancement greatly improves the ability to manage a large number of changes in long documents. (Jim Raykowski) tdf#161717 tdf#162018
  • Fixed handling of line object transformations in the DOCX import of Writer. (blog post). (Miklos Vajna, Collabora)
  • Improved font fallback in the DOCX import of Writer (blog post). (Miklos Vajna, Collabora)
  • Added Group and Mono controls to the Asian Phonetic Guide dialog. By default, the Asian Phonetic Guide dialog decomposes a selection into words for annotation. The Group button allows annotating the entire selection. The Mono button allows annotating each character individually. (Jonathan Clark, TDF) tdf#107184 tdf#156543
  • Improved interactivity for LOK clients in Writer's layout (blog post). (Miklos Vajna, Collabora)
  • Added options to set a default zoom level for opening documents, overriding zoom level stored in documents (Oliver Specht, Allotropia) tdf#132274
  • Added option to promote a reply comment into a root comment (Jaume Pujantell, Collabora) 98cd8bac
  • Writer TextBoxes now handle page captures (blog post). (Miklos Vajna, Collabora)
  • Boundaries are now toggled independently of Formatting Marks, are controlled per Tools ▸ Options ▸ Writer ▸ Formatting Aids, and switched on/off with View ▸ Boundaries. (Heiko Tietze, TDF) tdf#74386, tdf#163856

LibreOffice 24.8.4 Release Notes:

LibreOffice 24.8.4, the fourth minor release of the LibreOffice 24.8 family of the free open source, volunteer-supported office suite for Windows (Intel, AMD and ARM), MacOS (Apple and Intel) and Linux, is available now.

The release includes over 55 bug and regression fixes over LibreOffice 24.8.3 [1] to improve the stability and robustness of the software, as well as interoperability with legacy and proprietary document formats.

LibreOffice is the only office suite that respects the privacy of the user, ensuring that the user is able to decide if and with whom to share the content they create. It even allows deleting user related info from documents. As such, LibreOffice is the best option for the privacy-conscious office suite user, while offering a feature set comparable to the leading product on the market.

Also, LibreOffice offers a range of interface options to suit different user habits, from traditional to modern, and makes the most of different screen sizes by using all the space available on the desktop to put the maximum number of features just a click or two away.

The biggest advantage over competing products is the LibreOffice Technology engine, the single software platform on which desktop, mobile and cloud versions of LibreOffice – including those from ecosystem companies – are based.

This allows LibreOffice to produce identical and fully interoperable documents based on two ISO standards: the open and neutral Open Document Format (ODT, ODS, ODP) and the closed and fully proprietary Microsoft OOXML (DOCX, XLSX, PPTX), which hides a large amount of artificial complexity, and can cause problems for users who are confident that they are using a true open standard.

Previous Release Notes:

The release includes over 80 bug and regression fixes over LibreOffice 24.8.2 to improve the stability and robustness of the software, as well as interoperability with legacy and proprietary document formats. In addition, support for Visio template format VSTX has been added.

LibreOffice is the only office suite that respects the privacy of the user, ensuring that the user is able to decide if and with whom to share the content they create. It even allows deleting user related info from documents. As such, LibreOffice is the best option for the privacy-conscious office suite user, while offering a feature set comparable to the leading product on the market.

Also, LibreOffice offers a range of interface options to suit different user habits, from traditional to modern, and makes the most of different screen sizes by using all the space available on the desktop to put the maximum number of features just a click or two away.

The biggest advantage over competing products is the LibreOffice Technology engine, the single software platform on which desktop, mobile and cloud versions of LibreOffice – including those from ecosystem companies – are based.

This allows LibreOffice to produce identical and fully interoperable documents based on the two ISO standards: the Open Document Format (ODT, ODS, ODP) and the fully proprietary Microsoft OOXML (DOCX, XLSX, PPTX), which hides a large amount of artificial complexity, and can cause problems for users who are confident that they are using a true open standard.

LibreOffice 24.8.3 Release Notes

Writer

  • Performance of rendering text in CJK writing systems with font fallback was improved. (Jonathan Clark, TDF) tdf#81272
  • The width of the Comment panel can now be adjusted. (Samuel Mehrbrodt, allotropia) tdf#73953 tdf#159145
  • Bullets used in the document can now be selected in the bullets dropdown. (Samuel Mehrbrodt, allotropia) tdf#161056
  • Improve support for multi-page floating tables. blog post. (Miklos Vajna, Collabora)
  • Legal numbering in Writer: DOC and RTF support blog post. (Miklos Vajna, Collabora)
  • Fixed an issue with shape positioning in DOCX import for RTL paragraphs. (Miklos Vajna, Collabora) tdf#160833
  • Improved continuous endnotes to be based on sections, now enabled by default for all DOCX, DOC and RTF documents. blog post (Miklos Vajna, Collabora) tdf#160984
  • Formatting characters are now treated independently from fields following toggle for non-printable characters (aka Pilcrow / Ctrlâ¯+â¯F10), keeping and respecting the settings under Tools, Options, Writer, Formatting Aids, and visualized all in blue. (Heiko Tietze, TDF) tdf#58434 tdf#161196

Navigator

  • Insert various types of cross-references by drag-and-dropping items from the Navigator to the document, which pops up a list of options that apply to the content type. This feature replaces the "Drag mode" button (which only offered "Insert as Hyperlink/Link/Copy"). (Note that for an unsaved document, this feature only supports Bookmarks and Sections.) (Jim Raykowski) tdf#36310
  • It is now possible to delete footnotes and endnotes using the Navigator. (Jim Raykowski) tdf#160598
  • Headings display flat in the Navigator when sorted alphabetically. (Jim Raykowski) tdf#160657
  • Navigator now has an indicator for images with broken links. (Jim Raykowski) tdf#158114

Calc

  • Define ranges when exporting sheets to PDF. (Nick Wingate, Collabora) 13bd849f
  • Improve localization for the status bar and the sidebar with multiple views. blog post. (Miklos Vajna, Collabora)
  • The sheet protection dialog is async. (Hubert Figuière, Collabora) e86c6423
  • Add FILTER, RANDARRAY, SEQUENCE, SORT, SORTBY, UNIQUE functions. (Balázs Varga, allotropia) tdf#126573 OASIS OFFICE-4156 OASIS OFFICE-4157 OASIS OFFICE-4158
  • Add LET function. (Balázs Varga, allotropia) tdf#137543
  • Add XLOOKUP function. (Winfried Donkers) (Balázs Varga, allotropia) tdf#127293 OASIS OFFICE-4154
  • Add XMATCH function. (Balázs Varga, allotropia) tdf#128425 OASIS OFFICE-4155
  • Improve copy and paste between Calc and Google Sheets. blog post. (Miklos Vajna, Collabora) tdf#159483
  • Improve threaded calculation performance. Lockless Number Formatting and optimized reference counting. (Caolán McNamara, Collabora) tdf#160056
  • Optimize redraw after a cell change by minimizing the area that needs to be refreshed. (Caolán McNamara, Collabora) 9bc2872d
  • In multi-window view of a spreadsheet, allow spell-checking enabled in one window while disabled in another. (Caolán McNamara, Collabora) 7ecf1c5a
  • Comments can now be deleted from the Navigator's right-click menu. (Rafael Lima) tdf#158704
  • AutoFill can now be called via UNO commands without needing to use the mouse. (Bayram Çiçek, Collabora) 35c93c5f
  • Improvements to the comment indicator in Calc. Use the expert setting NoteIndicator with values above 1 to have a fix size for the indicator. (Heiko Tietze, TDF) tdf#158958
  • Cell focus rectangle moved apart from cell content. (Rafael Lima) (Heiko Tietze; TDF) tdf#143733

LibreOffice 7.x Release Notes

LibreOffice 7.6.7 Community, the last minor release of the 7.6 line, is available for Windows, macOS, and Linux. This is the most thoroughly tested version, for deployments by individuals, small and medium businesses, and other organizations in productivity environments. This new minor release fixes bugs and regressions which can be looked up in the changelog.

Writer

  • Added page number wizard in Insert menu for easy one-step insertion of the page number in the header/footer tdf#86630 (Paris Oplopoios / Justin Luth, Collabora)
  • The Paragraph Style dropdown (in the Formatting toolbar) now gradually replaces the default list with styles used in the document rather than always showing the full list at the top. tdf#152666 (Heiko Tietze, TDF)
  • Character properties of the paragraph marker from DOCX are now also remembered in ODT. blog post (Miklos Vajna, Collabora)
  • Citation handling: added plumbing in Writer to build Zotero-like functionality blog post (Miklos Vajna, Collabora)
  • Table of Figures can be generated more flexibly based on a paragraph style, not only by categories or object names. tdf#153090 (Michael Stahl, allotropia)
  • Bibliography entries can now be edited directly from a bibliography table. tdf#72955 (VojtÄch Doležal)
  • Bibliography marks now (by default) hyperlink to matching row in a bibliography table. The click behaviour can be changed to open the "Display URL", open the newly introduced "Target URL", or "None". tdf#153396 (VojtÄch Doležal)
  • Start of multi-page floating tables in Writer commits, blog post 1, blog post 2, blog post 3 blog post 4 blog post 5 blog post 6 (Miklos Vajna, Collabora)
  • The Accessibility Check has been moved to the sidebar to allow easier usage while editing the document. tdf#142978 (Samuel Mehrbrodt, allotropia)
  • Now if you have a hidden section in your document and try (possibly accidentally) to delete it, then Writer will show a warning message tdf#130199 (Balazs Varga, allotropia)
  • DOI citation recognition in Tools/AutoCorrect: Create a hyperlink pointing to doi.org for DOI citation tdf#145925 (Baole Fang)
  • Added highlighting for used Paragraph and Character styles and highlighting for used Direct Formatting in text. tdf#38194, tdf#106556 (Jim Raykowski)
  • keyboard navigation through forms: tab key now circularly navigates through content controls/fieldmarks. The modern content controls have a tabIndex field, which allows for precise ordering of keyboard navigation. The tabIndex also allows a control to be skipped - which is useful to avoid getting stuck in rich text controls (since the tab key needs to insert a tab character in that case). Form developers can specify the tabIndex via the content control properties UI. tdf#151548 (Justin Luth, Collabora)
  • Tracked tables (László Németh, NISZ)
  • Track table columns (follow-up to tracked table rows) commits
  • Show tables with change tracking colors within a single text change tdf#155187
  • Fix lost change tracking of tables within a single text change at table editing tdf#147180 and DOCX export tdf#150824 tdf#155187
  • The position of the cursor within the page is now exposed via accessibility APIs, so screen readers like NVDA can announce it. tdf#136760 Related NVDA change (Michael Weghorn)

Spell checking

  • Phrase checking: multi-word dictionary items of Hunspell and custom dictionaries are accepted tdf#154499 (László Németh, FSF.hu)
  • New options for proofreading: optional disabling of recognition of possible hyphenated and closed compound words, i.e. rule-based compounding, which allowed to accept also typos in Danish, Dutch, German, Hungarian, Norwegian, Swedish etc., and in the case of hyphenated compound words, English and all the other languages tdf#136306 (László Németh, FSF.hu)