Q&A session: all you need to know about ONLYOFFICE Docs v8.2

22 October 2024By Sergey

When we announced the ONLYOFFICE Docs v8.2 release in our blog, we invited everyone to join our free webinar on YouTube and ask their questions about the upcoming version of our office suite. In this article, you can find the answers to all questions about ONLYOFFICE Docs 8.2.

Version 8.2 webinar

We have received more than 50 questions from our users. If you have no time to read all of them, you can watch a quick summary of the most interesting questions in our webinar on YouTube below. Starting from 9:53, you will find out what other ONLYOFFICE users want to know about version 8.2 and our answers to their questions:

Detailed answers from the ONLYOFFICE team

The answers to all the questions about version 8.2 are given below. To make things easier, we divided the questions into several categories.

Improvements in ONLYOFFICE PDF Editor

Here is everything you might want to know about the updated ONLYOFFICE PDF Editor:

Question: Has the ONLYOFFICE PDF functionality improved enough that I can remove the Adobe software?

Answer: That’s a tricky question. Since its initial release, ONLYOFFICE PDF Editor has become more powerful and now it offers a vast array of editing tools allowing users to handle various tasks. You can try our editor on your own and find out if it can replace the Adobe software. After that, you can share your impressions and suggestions with us! We are always open to constructive comments and feedback.

Question: Can we allow PDFs to be saved online with other document types? At the moment only a copy can be saved.

Answer: Yes, we can. Version 8.2 brings some useful improvements for PDF files, and one of them is the ability to save changes to the original PDF file without having to create its copy. When editing a PDF file, the Strict co-editing mode is enabled by default so you need to click the Save button to sync the edits you make. If you switch to the Fast co-editing mode, all of your edits are saved automatically. In both modes, no copy is created as all changes are saved to the original file.

Question: How might AI and automation processes streamline and/or empower the new PDF collaboration features?

Answer: AI and automation processes can streamline the new PDF collaboration feature the same way as working with any other file formats. For example, you can generate new text in your PDFs using the AI assistant, summarize text paragraphs, extract keywords, fix grammar and spelling mistakes, generate images based on the selected text, send custom requests to the chatbot and look for new information. Also, there is an ability to recognise text, which is very useful because PDF files often have pictures instead of real text.

Q&A session: all you need to know about ONLYOFFICE Docs v8.2 — AI assistant in ONLYOFFICE PDF Editor

Question: Collaborative PDF editing sounds like a great addition. Will there be any loss in editing functionality when editing collaboratively?

Answer: Absolutely not! There is no loss in editing functionality when you co-edit PDF files in real time with other people. With version 8.2, you can edit text, add and modify visual objects, insert comments and callouts, draw and erase whatever you want and manage pages in your PDF files together with your co-authors. What’s more, all of your edits are saved to the original file without creating separate copies.

Question: Have you implemented PDF censoring options, when certain information on files needs to be redacted?

Answer: This feature hasn’t been implemented yet. We constantly improve the functionality of our PDF editor so this feature might be added in future releases. Stay tuned!

Question: Is all formatting of a PDF document completely adopted when it is converted into an MS Word DOCX document?

Answer: When you convert a PDF file to an editable DOCX document, the formatting usually remains the same, but some parts of the converted DOCX document might be difficult to edit after conversion. We always try to improve the conversion quality and keep working on making it better in future releases.

Question: How do I edit PDF?

Answer: Editing PDF is very simple with ONLYOFFICE PDF Editor. You just need to get the latest version of the suite, either the online editors integrated with one of more than 40 supported platforms or the desktop editors for Windows, Linux and macOS. After that, open a PDF file, turn on the Editing mode via the switcher on the top toolbar and start editing — edit text, leave annotations, insert comments and callouts, add objects and modify them, delete pages, add new pages, draw and more.

Question: Can PDF save annotations in this version?

Answer: Yes, sure. In version 8.2, the updated ONLYOFFICE PDF editor allows you to save all of your edits, including annotations, in the original PDF file.

Question: Does the new collaborative PDF editing feature cost extra? What are the system requirements?

Answer: There are no additional costs related to PDF editing features. In ONLYOFFICE PDF Editor, all editing features and tools, including the newly added collaborative PDF editing feature, are available for free.

Performance, usability and compatibility

Let’s find out what users want to know about the performance and compatibility of the ONLYOFFICE suite:

Question: Does ONLYOFFICE version 8.2 support more operating systems and devices, including mobile devices? Has it optimized the mobile office experience, such as touch controls and offline editing?

Answer: Apart from the online and desktop versions, version 8.2 also brings updates to ONLYOFFICE Documents, our free mobile app. The updated app will allow iOS user to create and edit tables of contents and activate the Dark mode, and Android users will be able to use the sharing option in the editors and use the quick action toolbar. Stay tuned and learn more about these updates in our blog later!

Question: What improvements have been made in terms of performance optimization in ONLYOFFICE version 8.2?

Answer: To speed up the performance of the ONLYOFFICE editors, we have optimized loading scripts. Here are some results in percentages in comparison with the previous version:

Opening documents – up to 21% faster;
Opening presentations – up to 17% faster.

Another improvement is the zero-downtime deployment option, which is available for ONLYOFFICE Docs delivered as Kubernetes Shards. With this improvement, you can upgrade the editors without having to take it offline.

Question: Hello! Will there even be support for touchscreen devices? I wish I could use ONLYOFFICE on my touchscreen laptop…

Answer: We have good news for you! Starting from version 8.2, the ONLYOFFICE suite allows you to work on documents on touch screens. Now the ONLYOFFICE app detects and responds to your touch inputs allowing you to work with the mouse at the same time. For more comfortable work on your touchscreen device, you can use the Magnifier tool to select text with precision and navigate faster.

Question: I wonder if version 8.2 of ONLYOFFICE Docs will include a contextual “Table” tab automatically activated when a table is inserted, and which clears itself to return to the “Home” tab when text is selected outside the table, like in Microsoft Word?

Answer: This mechanism is already available for pivot tables in the ONLYOFFICE spreadsheet editor with the latest release. However, we are planning to implement this feature in other editors too.

Question: Will ONLYOFFICE Docs 8.2 offer more keyboard shortcuts for macOS?

Answer: In this release, our team fixed the Command+W and Command+Q shortcuts allowing macOS users to quickly close documents and the ONLYOFFICE desktop application. If you need a specific keyboard shortcut to be added, you can let us know in the comments below or tweet as at @only_office.

Question: Does ONLYOFFICE version 8.2 support more file formats, especially those commonly used in professional fields? How does it handle compatibility and interoperability with other office software like Microsoft Office and Google Docs?

Answer: Currently, ONLYOFFICE Docs already provides compatibility with more than 50 popular formats. Word documents, Excel spreadsheets and PowerPoint presentations can be easily edited with ONLYOFFICE due to its native support for DOCX, XLSX and PPTX. Google Docs documents can be edited as well via conversion to OOXML formats.

General improvements

Here is some general information about version 8.2:

Question: When will version 8.2 be available for download?

Answer: ONLYOFFICE Docs v8.2 has been available for download since October 17. You can download it from our website and try all the new features yourself.

Question: What specific feature enhancements does ONLYOFFICE version 8.2 bring compared to previous versions in document processing, spreadsheets, and presentations? Does the new version introduce more advanced collaboration tools to improve team efficiency and workflow?

Answer: Version 8.2 brings plenty of new features to all editors. For example, field codes and text insertion from third-party sources in documents, iterative calculations and updated pivot tables in spreadsheets, and drawing on slides and random transitions in presentations, to name a few.

When it comes to collaboration, the newest version has some tricks up in its sleeve. First of all, the updated PDF editor makes it possible to collaborate on PDF files online allowing users to switch between real-time mode or paragraph-locking mode.
Another collaboration improvement is available in the ONLYOFFICE document editor. Starting from version 8.2, users can access the version history of their documents and see the removed sentences using the corresponding option.

To learn more about these and other updates, watch our free webinar or read our blog.

Question: What do you feel are the most important improvements in Version 8.2, in terms of both ease of use and security? Thank you.

Answer: In terms of usability, the latest version also offers a lot of improvements. The revamped interface gives users the freedom to choose the way the tabs are displayed in the editors. Apart from the familiar Fill tab style, they can enable the Line tab style, which underlines the tab titles.

Other usability improvements include the redesigned File tab with intuitive icons for more intuitive navigation and a brand-new grey interface theme.

What else makes the updated ONLYOFFICE editors easier to use is faster file opening. Now even larger files are opened faster in comparison with the previous version.

Finally, version 8.2 comes with an improved scroll behaviour in the spreadsheet editor following the requests of our users. Now it’s more comfortable to scroll in sheets, especially in large files which contain cells with multiple lines within.

When it comes to security, version 8.2 fixed 9 vulnerabilities in the conversion service and 1 bug in the Desktop Editors update service to make it impossible for users to install the app in an unprotected folder. Plenty of other minor bugs were fixed as well.

Note: we would like to invite hackers to improve the security of the ONLYOFFICE editors by joining our HackerOne bounty program. Report bugs and get rewards for your findings. More information in our blog.

Question: What are the improvements in the Chinese language support in the new version?

Answer: Our team constantly works on making our office suite more available to people from different countries, including China. For example, in the previous version we fixed the visualization of Chinese characters on macOS, and version 8.2 comes with an improved localization of the interface. We are also planning to add a lot of new local plugins till the end of 2025.

Question: Does version 8.2 offer a more robust API and plugin development platform to meet users’ personalized office needs?

Answer: ONLYOFFICE Docs comes with detailed API documentation allowing users to develop their own plugins for their specific needs. If you need a specific plugin to be available in our editors, please let us know in the comments below or tweet as at @only_office.

ONLYOFFICE spreadsheet editor

Find out what version 8.2 brings to spreadsheets:

Question: What do iterative calculations mean? Are they used in the spreadsheet?

Answer: Iterative calculations are designed to help you find the solution to mathematical problems by running calculations over and over based on previous results. With the iterative calculation option activated, you can specify how many times (iterations) the ONLYOFFICE spreadsheet editor runs through a formula chain to calculate a result, usually to converge on an outcome of acceptable precision.

Question: Hello! Will this version add an undo action for tables (to reverse your last action by pressing CTRL+Z)?

Answer: This feature is highly demanded by ONLYOFFICE users so we are eager to implement it as soon as possible. Hopefully, it will become available in version 8.3 next year.

Question: In my company, we use ONLYOFFICE Docs a lot. Especially with spreadsheets I experience connectivity problems (having to reload the page often) and usability difficulties (the cell I click is not the cell that is being selected, drag and drop not working, etc.). Are you releasing any fixes for these kind of issues?

Answer: The problems you describe might be connected with Chromium, and we fixed most of them in version 8.1.3. Version 8.2.0 fixes the remaining problems. We recommend you to upgrade to the latest version of ONLYOFFICE Docs and check if you face any of these problems.

Question: Hi, is there an improvement in the opening speed of spreadsheets?

Answer: One of the improvements of version 8.2 is faster file opening due to updated loading scripts. That’s why the ONLYOFFICE editors must open office files up to 21% faster, including spreadsheets.

ONLYOFFICE presentation editor

Some people want to know what the updated ONLYOFFICE presentation editor will bring to them:

Question: In presentations, I am not able to edit boxes/areas containing text or images as transparencies, I can do that in MS Office.

Answer: The ONLYOFFICE presentation editor supports image transparency but you can’t edit it via the interface. As for support for text transparency, this feature is on our roadmap. It might become available in version 8.3 or later.

Security

Let’s talk about security in ONLYOFFICE:

Question: Do you plan to have your source code audited at some point? That would really stop these rumours about ONLYOFFICE doing things under the hood (crypto, telemetries, etc.)…

Answer: The source code of all ONLYOFFICE solutions is publicly available on GitHub. Everyone is welcome to check our repositories if they have doubts. Anyway, thank you for the suggestion. It might be a good idea to perform an audit at some point in the future.

ONLYOFFICE integration and plugins

Find below our answers about ONLYOFFICE integrations:

Question: How to configure ONLYOFFICE in an enterprise NAS environment (for example, Synology OS)?

Answer: The idea of configuring ONLYOFFICE in an enterprise NAS environment is popular with many users, and we have received a lot of requests about this. That’s why we are considering the option to add support for NAS environments. Stay tuned and don’t miss further information!

Question: We use OO integrated into our HumHub. Is there a way to use OO in fullscreen when it is integrated as a module in HumHub?

Answer: Currently, there is no option allowing you to use the ONLYOFFICE editors in full-screen mode within the HumHub integration. It would be great if you could share your feedback and describe the way you would like to use ONLYOFFICE in HumHub so that we could think about how to implement this.

Question: Is it possible to install ONLYOFFICE locally but only keep the data in Nextcloud?

Answer: Yes, it’s possible. However, your ONLYOFFICE Docs instance must be resolvable and connectable both from Nextcloud and any end clients. ONLYOFFICE Docs must be able to POST to Nextcloud directly. More information in our Help Center.

If you install the latest version of the the ONLYOFFICE connector for Nextcloud, you will be able to collaboratively edit PDFs and get access to other new features brought by version 8.2.

Question: How can we incorporate ONLYOFFICE in my webpage by HTML5?

Answer: Please, read our API documentation to learn how to integrate the ONLYOFFICE editors into your website.

Question: OpenOffice/LibreOffice has a plugin called OOOLilypond, that adds support for embedding Lilypond excerpts (music notation) into a document. Is there a chance that we could use that plugin in ONLYOFFICE?

Answer: Thank you for your suggestion. We will consider the possibility to add this plugin to our editors.

Question: When Mendeley or Zotero will be added to the desktop version?

Answer: Our team is working on adding these plugins to the desktop applications. There is no time frame but it won’t take too long.

Artificial intelligence

If you are passionate about AI, read the answers below:

Question: Are we likely to see any copilot-like feature?

Answer: We are planning to significantly update the AI plugin in the ONLYOFFICE editors after the release of version 8.2. This upcoming update will include plenty of cool features and come out before the end of 2024. Stay tuned and don’t miss this update!

Question: Have you considered an integration of LLM?

Answer: Currently, the ONLYOFFICE suite has plugins for ChatGPT and ZhiPu Copilot allowing you to use these LLMs when working on documents. However, we are working on a big update for the ONLYOFFICE AI plugin. We are going to add the ability to connect any AI-based service to the ONLYOFFICE editors. Stay tuned and don’t miss anything!

Get version 8.2

Want to try the collaborative editing feature? Deploy the latest version of ONLYOFFICE Docs on your local Linux or Windows server or download the free desktop app for your OS:

SELF-HOSTED VERSION DESKTOP APPLICATION

If you have other questions, don’t hesitate to tweet us at @only_office or leave your comment below.