The Release Schedule for Ubuntu 26.04 LTS is Out

Last updated: November 2, 2025 — 2 Comments

Ubuntu team announced the release schedule for next Ubuntu 26.04 LTS few days ago!

Ubuntu 26.04, code-name Resolute Raccoon, is the next Long Term Support (LTS) release that will have 5-year standard support until 2031 and another 5 year Expanded Security Maintenance (ESM) support via Ubuntu Pro.

image by Alexas_Fotos from pixabay.com

If everything goes well, 26.04 will feature GNOME 50 and perhaps Kernel 6.20 (if not switch to version 7.x) according to the Linux Kernel release history.

Besides Kernel and default Desktop environment, the next LTS will probably use Python 3.14 as default, and include Golang 1.25, binutils 2.46, and GCC 16 and other toolkit updates.

And the official Ubuntu 26.04 release note in Ubuntu Discourse has been created. Where you may keep an eye for the latest changes.

Ubuntu 26.04 Release Schedule:

Ubuntu 26.04 is planned to be released on April 23, 2026. From now on, there will be following events according to the release schedule.

February 19, 2026 Feature Freeze,  Debian Import Freeze
March 12, 2026 User Interface Freeze
March 19, 2026 Kernel Feature Freeze, Documentation String Freeze
March 23, 2026 Beta Freeze, Hardware Enablement Freeze
March 26, 2026 Beta (mandatory)
April 09, 2026 Kernel Freeze
April 16, 2026 Final Freeze, Release Candidate
April 23, 2026 Final Release

As you may know, Ubuntu introduced monthly Snapshot releases when 25.10 was in development. It’s somehow NOT included in this release schedule.

NOTE: Ubuntu MAY change the schedule as time goes on. See this page for the official one.

GNOME, the default desktop environment, is developed by another team. It’s also has a release schedule for the next 50 version. See the table below:

January 03, 2026 Gnome 50 Alpha
January 31, 2026 Gnome 50 Beta
February 28, 2026 Gnome 50 RC
March 14, 2026 Gnome 50.0
April 11, 2026 Gnome 50.1

Also, the schedule may change as time goes on. See this page for the official calendar.

I'm a freelance blogger who started using Ubuntu in 2007 and wishes to share my experiences and some useful tips with Ubuntu beginners and lovers. Please comment to let me know if the tutorial is outdated! And, notify me if you find any typo/grammar/language mistakes. English is not my native language. Buy me a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/ubuntuhandbook1 |

2 responses to The Release Schedule for Ubuntu 26.04 LTS is Out

  1. For some reason, you accidentally wrote that the final release comes out in 2024 instead of 2026.

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