LibreOffice: when to install it, and when not to
The only entry on this list that replaces an entire office suite. It reads and writes the formats you will be sent and works entirely offline, which makes…
The short version
LibreOffice: A complete office suite with no account, no telemetry and no ribbon. Opens and saves .docx and .xlsx reliably enough for everyday work. Install it even if you own Microsoft Office, as a second opinion on stubborn files.
| Licence / price | Free · Open source |
|---|---|
| Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| Category | Documents & Notes — 8 programs |
| Official download | https://www.libreoffice.org/download/download-libreoffice/ ↗ |
What it is for
The only entry on this list that replaces an entire office suite. It reads and writes the formats you will be sent and works entirely offline, which makes it the largest single gap-filler on a machine with no office software.
When to pick something else
Complex layouts can shift when they round-trip through a different suite. If a shared document keeps reflowing, ONLYOFFICE is worth trying, and for a document that must be byte-perfect, use the format it was authored in.
What independent reviewers found
We do not run lab tests or benchmarks. These summaries are written in our own words, with the publisher named and the original linked. Our citation policy explains what we will and will not reproduce.
TechRadar — 2025
What the source says. TechRadar picks LibreOffice as the best open-source office suite, highlighting Microsoft format compatibility, and names the lack of cloud-based collaboration as the main limitation.
What we take from it. Format handling is the deciding factor for anyone exchanging files with Word users. If real-time co-editing is the job, this is the wrong tool and no plugin fixes it.
Best open source software of 2025 ↗ (TechRadar · 2025 · Editorial product roundup)
How it compares in Documents & Notes
These are the alternatives we would consider for the same job. The notes are the same ones used on the main list, so there is no separate ranking hiding on this page.
| Program | Licence / price | Platforms | Why it is on the list |
|---|---|---|---|
| ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors Publisher's site ↗ | Free · Open source | Windows, macOS, Linux | Choose this over LibreOffice if you exchange files with Word users all day: its rendering of .docx formatting is noticeably closer to Microsoft's. Fewer features, better fidelity. |
| Sumatra PDF Publisher's site ↗ | Free · Open source | Windows | Opens PDFs in under a second, remembers where you stopped reading, and has exactly no upsell. It also reads epub, mobi and cbz. There is nothing to configure, which is the whole appeal. |
Practical notes
- Set the default save format deliberately once, rather than answering the format prompt on every save.
- Keep the original alongside the exported PDF for anything you send to someone else.
Questions people ask
Do I still need a separate PDF reader?
Yes, for speed. A small dedicated reader is also a smaller surface for untrusted files.
Where it appears in our guides
- Setting up a new Windows PC: the order that actually works
- Building a reliable remote-work machine
- When free software is enough, and when it is not
See the full Documents & Notes explainer for the other 7 programs in this category.
How to read this page. How to read this page. Platform, licence and publisher details come from our directory data. Where an independent review, audit or survey is mentioned, it is summarised in our own words with the source named and linked; our /sources page sets out that policy. The recommendation, the trade-offs and every 'skip it if' line are our editorial judgement. We do not run benchmarks, publish measured performance figures or host installers, and every download link goes to the publisher's own site. If a detail is out of date, our About page explains how to tell us.