The ONLYOFFICE project presented ONLYOFFICE Docs 9.4 — a new version of the server office suite for collaborative work with documents, spreadsheets, presentations, PDFs, and forms. The release has been published. May 19, 2026 and includes a notable change for the open Community edition: the previous limit of 20 simultaneous connections.
ONLYOFFICE Docs is used as a standalone Document Server or as part of integrations with external collaboration platforms, including ownCloud, Seafile, Moodle, Odoo, and other solutions. The project itself describes Docs as an online editor package for text, tables, presentations, forms, PDFs, and diagrams, with support for the OOXML formats .docx, .xlsx, and .pptx.
Key changes in ONLYOFFICE Docs 9.4
License terms have been updated.
ONLYOFFICE clarified the terms of distribution: the product is licensed under GNU Affero General Public License v3.0, but with additional conditions that must be preserved during copying and distribution. These conditions concern attribution, preservation of copyright notices, and clear marking of modified versions. However, the right to use ONLYOFFICE trademarks is regulated separately and is not transferred by the AGPLv3 license itself.The Community version is no longer limited to 20 simultaneous connections.
This is the major practical change in the release. Starting with version 9.4, the open source Community edition of ONLYOFFICE Docs no longer has a limit of 20 concurrent connections. Furthermore, code minification has been removed from the Community build, the architecture has been reduced to a single process, and dependencies on RabbitMQ and databases have been removed, which should reduce resource consumption and simplify deployment on less powerful servers.Dark mode for tables.
A new mode has appeared in the table editor Dark DocumentIf the dark theme is enabled in the interface, you can now switch the table canvas itself to a dark background. This should make working with large tables more comfortable in low light and reduce eye strain.Horizontal lines in documents.
The ability to insert horizontal dividers has been added to the text editor. This feature is designed for visually separating large documents, reports, instructions, and proposals. This feature is available via the Home tab and the Borders button.Improved form management.
The form filling process has been redesigned in the editors: you can now assign recipients and track the completion status directly within the editor. For scenarios involving contracts, applications, and internal forms, this reduces the number of external actions and makes the process more transparent.Remembering the signature.
The signature field now automatically suggests the most recently selected signature image. This is a small but useful change for users who sign multiple documents in a row and upload the same file each time.25 new presentation themes.
25 ready-made design themes have been added to the presentation editor. Accessible from the Design tab, they allow you to quickly prepare your presentation without having to create a design from scratch.20 new slide transitions.
Twenty new transition effects have also been added for presentations. These are located in the Transitions tab and are designed to allow for more flexible slide show customization.Separate Chart Design tab.
Chart settings have been moved to a separate tab Chart DesignThis makes it easier to change the appearance of graphs and charts, as related parameters are now collected in one place.Croatian interface support.
ONLYOFFICE Docs 9.4 now includes a localized interface for the Croatian language — hr-HR.Advanced Paste Options.
The content insertion options have been expanded in the desktop editors for documents, PDFs, and presentations. This should provide more precise control over the transfer of formatted text, tables, and mixed content from external sources. Updates for the desktop and mobile apps will be released later.Manual saving on mobile devices.
A dedicated save button has been added to the mobile apps and mobile web version. Users can disable auto-save and save documents manually, which is useful on unstable mobile connections.New opportunities for administrators and developers.
Docs Enterprise now features expanded WOPI settings for SharePoint, including synchronization with the required WOPI Zone and the ability to enable the Authorization header from the admin panel. Developers benefit from expanded APIs, including methods for working with forms, custom plugins, paragraph settings, and new Doc Builder classes and methods for formatted tables.
Open edition ONLYOFFICE Docs Community distributed under the license GNU AGPL v3.0. On the edition comparison page ONLYOFFICE specifically states that the Community version is free, available under the AGPLv3, and the source code is hosted on GitHub. The Enterprise and Developer editions use commercial licensing.
Thus, ONLYOFFICE Docs 9.4 looks more than just a functional update to the editors, but rather an important release specifically for the self-hosted community: the Community edition has become lighter, has a simpler architecture, and has lost its most noticeable limitation on the number of simultaneous connections.
Source: linux.org.ru
