Collabora Online 26.04 adds optional AI assistant and smarter document comparison & review

Collabora Online 26.04 marks the office suite’s tenth anniversary with a major release, introducing features shaped by user demand. Integrated AI assistance is now available in Writer, Calc, and Impress, with privacy at the forefront. Organizations can selectively enable AI support for drafting, spreadsheet analysis, formula troubleshooting, or presentation work, keeping all settings off by default. Deployment options include connecting commercial providers or running a local, self-hosted LLM.

Building on these AI features, organizations working with contracts, policy documents, or high-value content benefit from upgraded document review workflows. The document comparison tool displays insertions, deletions, moved content, and formatting changes as clear, color-coded redlines with author and timestamp information. A newly introduced restricted review mode lets administrators grant reviewers permission to accept or reject tracked changes without exposing full editing capabilities. Writer now supports Markdown import and export, easing transitions between documentation workflows and richly formatted documents.

Accessibility updates affect all applications, providing improved screen reader support, keyboard navigation, and enhanced dialog labeling. Interoperability with Microsoft Office Open XML (OOXML) file formats benefits from significant enhancement. In addition to these core features, users will experience a variety of other productivity improvements throughout the suite.