Ubuntu users can finally upgrade the default LibreOffice office suite to version 6.2 (6.2.2) via PPA, though the LibreOffice 6.2 snap package is available to install for many days.

LibreOffice 6.2 was released a months ago. New features include:

• LibreOffice NotebookBar UI in 3 styles: Tabbed, Groups, and Contextual.
• Improved icons for HiDPI displays.
• Context menus of each app has been reworked and tidied up.
• Better file compatibility with Microsoft Office

Install Libreoffice 6.2.2 via PPA in Ubuntu:

For Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 18.10, and Ubuntu 19.04, do following steps to install the office suite from Libreoffice Fresh PPA.

1. Open terminal either via Ctrl+Alt+T keyboard shortcuts, or by searching for “terminal” from application launcher. When it opens, run command to add the LibreOffice PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:libreoffice/ppa

Type user password (no asterisk feedback while typing) when it prompts, and read terminal output for PPA description and hit Enter to continue.

2. Then you’ll see the upgrade available in Software Updater after checking for updates.

Or run commands in terminal to install LibreOffice:

sudo apt update

sudo apt install libreoffice

For Ubuntu 18.04 and higher, you can skip sudo apt update as it’s done while adding PPA.

Uninstall:

You can restore to stock version of LibreOffice in Ubuntu main archive by running command in terminal:

sudo apt-get install ppa-purge && sudo ppa-purge ppa:libreoffice/ppa

For those who prefer upgrading LibreOffice office suite from PPA, LibreOffice 6.1 now is finally available to install in Ubuntu 18.04 and Ubuntu 18.10 via its official PPA

LibreOffice 6.1 is new major version released more than a month ago with following new features:

• Use the elementary icon set by default GNOME-based Linux distros
• New app icons that you can see in the application launcher.
• Reworked image handling using a new graphic manager
• The notebook bar is significantly improved in LibreOffice 6.1
• Use native GTK3 dialogs on Linux desktops.
• Improvements to Excel 2003 XML import
• DOCX export/import
• And many other new featurese and improvements

libreoffice new app icons

How to Install LibreOffice 6.1 in Ubuntu 18.04 via PPA:

Open terminal either via Ctrl+Alt+T keyboard shortcuts, or by searching for “terminal” from application launcher. When it opens, do:

1. Run command to add the LibreOffice PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:libreoffice/ppa

Input your password (no visual feedback while typing) when it prompts, and read terminal output for PPA description and hit Enter to continue.

2. Then you’ll see the upgrade available in Software Updater after checking for updates.

The LibreOffice upgrading process may be kept back. If so, run following commands instead in terminal after added the PPA:

sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

Uninstall:

You can restore to stock version of LibreOffice in Ubuntu main archive by running command in terminal:

sudo apt-get install ppa-purge && sudo ppa-purge ppa:libreoffice/ppa

The Document Foundation officially announced the release of LibreOffice 5.1 yesterday. PPA updated for Ubuntu 15.10, Ubuntu 14.04, and derivatives, e.g., Linux Mint 17.x, and Elementary OS Freya.

LibreOffice 5.1 offers a completely reorganized user interface, and several improved features targeted at enterprise deployments: better support for ODF 1.2, interoperability with proprietary document formats and file management on remote servers.

Read the announcement for more details.

How to upgrade to LibreOffice 5.1:

LibreOffice 5.1 has been made into Software Center for Ubuntu 16.04 LTS. For ubuntu 15.10 and Ubuntu 14.04, it’s available in the LibreOffice 5.1.x series PPA.

For Linux Mint users who are still running LibreOffice 4.x, you have to do below changes to be available to upgrade via PPA:

Launch terminal, and run command to create and edit a file:

gksudo gedit /etc/apt/preferences.d/libreoffice.pref

When the file opens, paste below lines and save it.

Package: *
Pin: release o=LP-PPA-libreoffice
Pin-Priority: 700

1. To add LibreOffice 5.1.x PPA.

Launch terminal from App Launcher or via Ctrl+Alt+T shortcut key. When it opens, paste below command and hit run:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:libreoffice/libreoffice-5-1

Type in password (no visual feedback when typing) when it asks and hit Enter to continue.

2. To upgrade LibreOffice

Launch Software Updater (or Update Manager for Mint), and install available updates after checking for updates.

3. (Optional) To revert the changes, install ppa-purge and purge the PPA:

sudo apt-get install ppa-purge

sudo ppa-purge ppa:libreoffice/libreoffice-5-1

For Linux Mint 17.x which is based on Ubuntu 14.04, use -d option to specify Ubuntu codename, so the last command should be:

sudo ppa-purge -d trusty ppa:libreoffice/libreoffice-5-1

The Document Foundation finally announced the release of LibreOffice 5.0 and updated its PPA for Ubuntu 15.10, Ubuntu 15.04, Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 12.04, and derivatives (e.g., Linux Mint 13/17, Elementary OS Freya/Luna).

What’s New in LibreOffice 5.0:

Below are the descriptions from its new features page. For more, see the release note.

LibreOffice 5.0 ships an impressive number of new features for its spreadsheet module, Calc: complex formulae image cropping, new functions, more powerful conditional formatting, table addressing and much more. Calc’s blend of performance and features makes it an enterprise-ready, heavy duty spreadsheet application capable of handling all kinds of workload for an impressive range of use cases.

New icons, major improvements to menus and sidebar: no other LibreOffice version has looked that good and helped you be creative and get things done the right way. In addition, style management is now more intuitive thanks to the visualization of styles right in the interface.

LibreOffice 5 ships with numerous improvements to document import and export filters for MS Office, PDF, RTF, and more. You can now timestamp PDF documents generated with LibreOffice and enjoy enhanced document conversion fidelity all around.

How to upgrade to LibreOffice:

For all current Ubuntu releases and based systems, the best way is to upgrade LibreOffice 5.0 through the official PPA.

1. Open terminal from the Dash, Launcher, or via Ctrl+Alt+T shortcut keys. When it opens, run command to add PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository -y ppa:libreoffice/ppa

2. After that, open Software Updater/Update Manager and install all updates for LibreOffice after checking for updates, though the new packages named with ~rc5:

As the PPA description says “This PPA might contain the release candidate that is assumed to become the final release even before it is declared so by the Document Foundation (e.g. usually release candidate 2 for minor updates).”

Or you can run below commands to do the upgrade process after adding the PPA:

sudo apt-get update; sudo apt-get install libreoffice