Nextcloud to Launch Euro-Office Desktop Clients for Windows, Linux and macOS

Euro-Office will release dedicated desktop clients within the coming weeks for Windows, Linux and macOS, filling the local-application gap that has existed since the project was launched. The office suite was officially introduced in early 2026, jointly developed by Nextcloud, IONOS, Open-Xchange, Office. eu and other European companies and organisations, and positioned as a European alternative to Microsoft Office. The project emphasises open source, data sovereignty and reducing European institutions' dependence on non-European software suppliers, offering localised office solutions for government departments, enterprises and individual users.

At its initial launch, Euro-Office ran mainly in the browser, with users accessing and editing documents through the web. Nextcloud subsequently integrated it into the Nextcloud Office platform, allowing users to work on documents, spreadsheets and presentations directly within a Nextcloud server, but the overall experience remained web-centric. With the desktop clients approaching, Euro-Office will for the first time take the form of a local application similar to traditional office software, letting users edit documents directly on their computers while maintaining a connection to the Nextcloud platform for file synchronisation and collaborative work.

According to information released so far, the new clients support word processing, spreadsheets and presentation editing, and can stay linked to Nextcloud instances. Even when offline, users can continue working on files locally; once the network is restored, content can be synchronised automatically and users can take part in multi-person collaboration. Beyond the desktop clients, Nextcloud has also optimised Euro-Office's overall performance, with the new version improving file filtering mechanisms and document thumbnail functions so that users can more easily find target files and open them quickly.

From a technical standpoint, Euro-Office is built on the OnlyOffice code base. When the project was launched in 2026, this approach sparked public controversy: the Document Foundation, which backs LibreOffice, argued that the project placed too much emphasis on compatibility with Microsoft's OOXML formats and did not adopt the Open Document Format (ODF) as the default standard. The development team maintained that support for Microsoft file formats such as DOCX, XLSX and PPTX is an important prerequisite for encouraging public institutions and enterprises to migrate.

Development continues to expand, with organisations including Tuta, a European email provider focused on privacy protection, having joined the work and contributing code and feature improvements. Several European countries are advancing digital sovereignty strategies to reduce reliance on overseas technology giants, and in Germany, France and some local government bodies, a growing number of institutions are beginning to evaluate open-source software and local technology solutions.