🎉 The Getting Started Guide 25.2 is here! 🚀

The LibreOffice Documentation Team is excited to announce the release of the brand new Getting Started Guide 25.2, updated with all the latest features of LibreOffice 25.2!

Whether you’re brand new to LibreOffice or just want a fast track to mastering its tools, this guide is your perfect starting point. Inside, you’ll find easy-to-follow introductions to:

📝 Writer (word processing)
📊 Calc (spreadsheets)
📽️ Impress (presentations)
🎨 Draw (vector graphics)
🧮 Math (formula editor)
📚 Base (database management)

This guide is part of our growing collection of documentation — lovingly written, edited, and reviewed by a global team of dedicated volunteers who are passionate about open-source software and digital freedom.

👏 The 25.2 update was coordinated by Dione Maddern, with valuable contributions from Peter Schofield, Jean Weber, Ed Olson, Karen Burke, B. Antonio F., and Olivier Hallot. A huge thanks to everyone involved!

📥 Ready to dive in? Download the guide for free from the Documentation website or check it out on the Bookshelf Project.

LibreOffice Podcast, Episode #4 – Documentation in Free and Open Source Software

Good software needs good documentation. But how do we define “good” in this sense? And what does the future hold? Find out in episode 4 of the LibreOffice Podcast! (This episode is also available on PeerTube.)

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LibreOffice Documentation in 2024 – TDF’s Annual Report

LibreOffice Bookshelf

In 2024, the documentation community continued to update LibreOffice guidebooks, and the Help application

(This is part of The Document Foundation’s Annual Report for 2024 – we’ll post the full version here soon.)

New and translated guides

Throughout the year, the documentation project closed the gap between LibreOffice’s major releases, and the updates of the corresponding user guides. By the end of the year, all of the version 24.2 guides were updated to match the release of LibreOffice 24.8, and ready to continue for the forthcoming release – 25.2 – which arrived in February 2025. The goal of tracking the software releases closely was achieved, and the documentation team is now in a steady state of small updates between releases.

The updates and enhancements of the guides were an effort of all of the team, coordinated by Jean Weber (Writer and Getting Started Guide), Olivier Hallot (Calc Guide), Peter Schofield (Impress and Draw guides). A number of volunteers also worked in each guide by writing and reviewing contents and suggesting improvements. Special thanks to Jean Weber for making the guides available for sale in printed format via Lulu Inc.

LibreOffice 24.8 Getting Started Guide cover

LibreOffice Help updates

The documentation community also had a team of Help page bug fixes, closing Help documentation bugs, bridging gaps, fixing typos and improving quality, a must-have update to keep LibreOffice in-shape for its user base and documented reference of the application features. A total of 614 Help patches were merged in 2024. The Help pages, which are part of the LibreOffice codebase, were also refactored continuously for better maintenance and code readability. The localisation and translation team of volunteers was quick in flagging typos and English mistakes – while translating the Help content and the user interface.

ScriptForge libraries, and Wiki updates

The documentation community also had a nice contribution from Jean Pierre Ledure, Alain Romedenne and Rafael Lima, for the development of the ScriptForge macro library, in synchronization with the much-needed Help pages on the subject, a practice rarely followed by junior developers of LibreOffice. As we know, undocumented software is software that’s lacking; features that are unknown to the user can be a cause of costly calls to a help desk in corporate deployments. ScriptForge developments came together with their documentation, demonstrating the ScriptForge team’s professional maturity.

LibreOffice Bookshelf

In 2024, the documentation community also updated the LibreOffice Bookshelf – another download page for LibreOffice guides that is different from the current documentation page. The Bookshelf can be cloned and installed in organizations, libraries, colleges and schools, for immediate availability in controlled environments, as well as online reading of the guides. The Open Document Format chapters were transformed into static HTML pages, and are ready to display on computers, tablets and cell phones, bringing LibreOffice user guides closer to its public, anywhere, at any time.

Like what we do? Support the LibreOffice project and The Document Foundation – get involved and help our volunteers, or make a donation. Thank you!

Czech translation of LibreOffice Getting Started Guide 24.8

Czech LibreOffice Getting Started Guide cover

Zdeněk Crhonek (aka “raal”) from the Czech LibreOffice community writes:

The Czech team has finished its translation of the LibreOffice Getting Started Guide 24.8. As usual it was a team effort, with translations by Petr Kuběj, Zdeněk Crhonek and Radomír Strnad; localized pictures from Roman Toman; and technical support from Miloš Šrámek. Thanks to all the team for their work!

The Czech translation of the Getting Started Guide 24.8 is available for download here.

The team will continue working on a translation of the Math Guide 24.8. We always looking for new translators and correctors. Join us!

Stanislav Horáček cleaned up the bookshelf page and he added an online version of the Math Guide. More online versions are to come.

Great work everyone! 😊

Announcing the LibreOffice Calc Guide 24.8

Dione Maddern and The Documentation Team are proud to announce the immediate availability of the LibreOffice Calc Guide 24.8, an update of the existing Calc Guide 24.2 with enhancements taken from the current LibreOffice 24.8 Calc module.

Calc Guide 24.8

The book was reviewed for clarity, readability and content additions, notably the Calc database table referencing in formulas, removal of deprecated JavaScript debugger and refactoring of the Calc’s chart topic – in which the chapter on charts was split in two, one for the chart basics and the second for the chart types. Dione Maddern, Calc editor says:

I took on the challenge of compiling the Calc Guide because I wanted to learn about advanced editing and working with master documents. While I’ve previously worked on large documents in the engineering and insurance industries, documents were often compiled with clunky cut-and-paste techniques which created a lot of errors and labor-intensive rework. Working on the Calc Guide 24.8 was a great opportunity to expand my skills in LibreOffice and document production generally. It was also a wonderful opportunity to work with the LibreOffice Documentation Team. I had a great time working with such a fun and supportive team.

Special thanks to Ed Olson, Lisa Samy and Claire Wood for their review of the contents of the guide. And to B. Antonio F. for his throughout review of formatting the guide and by writing a set of macros, bundled in an LibreOffice extension that allows automatic and assisted fixing of images, tables , styles and more.


Dione Maddern

It was also a wonderful opportunity to work with the LibreOffice Documentation Team. I had a great time working with such a fun and supportive team. (Dione Maddern)


Ed Olson

It has been an honor to share my wordsmithing skills with the LibreOffice documentation team. Replacing verbose paragraphs in the Calc guides with simplified, minimalist text has been both challenging and rewarding. I look forward to continuing my work on other applications in the suite as new releases become available. (Ed Olson)


Lisa Samy

Joining the Calc Guide team marked my first time contributing to an open-source platform. My time working with other team members was both enriching, yet eye-opening to all the facets of document editing. As such, I thoroughly enjoyed my experience with the LibreOffice Community as a whole. (Lisa Samy)


B. Antonio F.

I accepted the challenge of creating mechanisms to harmonize he appearance of chapter text according to the chapter template established by the documentation team. It was an opportunity to delve deeper into macro programming and get to know the LibreOffice API better. SanityCheck macros allow you to correct formatting errors (based on styles), correctly adjust images, tables, and automatically apply descriptions for accessibility. With SanityCheck you can check documentation chapters in English, Spanish and Portuguese. (B. Antonio F.)


Claire Wood

I enjoyed working on the Calc Guide as it gave me the opportunity to work with a truly global team. The content also challenged my knowledge about spreadsheets. I was happy to develop my knowledge, getting new information and develop my strengths in LibreOffice. (Claire Wood)


You can download the LibreOffice Calc Guide 24.8 from the LibreOffice Bookshelf and the LibreOffice Documentation website.