Remember the days of “Final_v2” and “Final_v2_Updated”? When collaboration meant distributing Word documents through email threads, hoping you’d track down the right version before the deadline passed?

That era is no longer relevant.

Real-time co-editing has transformed from an optional feature into a fundamental shift in how modern teams work together. It’s no longer just about multiple cursors blinking in the same document. Today, it’s about building meaningful work together, in the moment, without the friction that used to slow everything down.

Tools like ONLYOFFICE Docs are redefining what this looks like, and the impact goes far beyond convenience.

From a technical feature to a productivity strategy

The real shift isn’t technical. It’s strategic.

Live editing was once marketed as a feature. Now, it’s a game-changer for how teams operate. When you eliminate the noise, it accomplishes four critical things:

• Fewer context switches: People stay in one place instead of jumping between emails, messages, and separate documents.
• Minimized communication gaps: Decisions happen in the document, not in scattered threads or forgotten meetings.
• Clear ownership: Everyone is aware of who did what and why.
• Faster decision cycles: You move from planning to execution without waiting for handovers.

The question isn’t “Can we edit together?” anymore.
It’s “How do we use co-editing to move smarter as a team?”

Let’s explore the use cases that make this possible.

1. Live brainstorming that feels like a shared whiteboard

Remote brainstorming has a problem: momentum remains no more.

When ideas get filtered through one person typing, you lose the energy of real-time thinking. Someone is waiting for another person to finish. The conversation stalls. The best ideas get buried in half-formed notes.

Live editing changes that dynamic entirely:

• Multiple people contribute together.
• Raw and unfiltered ideas are captured easily.
• No single voice dominates the space.

With ONLYOFFICE Docs, a team brainstorming session doesn’t look like people sitting quietly while one person types. Instead, text documents and spreadsheets become dynamic idea boards. You might have one person drafting an outline, another adding data points, and a third organizing everything into themes, all simultaneously.

When this happens, something magical occurs: meetings stop being discussions and start being work sessions. You don’t wrap up with action items. You wrap up with most of the work already done.

Another factor that strengthens collaborative brainstorming is the flexibility offered by ONLYOFFICE plugins, available through the ONLYOFFICE App Directory. These plugins extend the document workspace beyond basic editing, allowing teams to add tools directly into their workflow without switching platforms.

For example:

• Teams can use the draw.io plugin to create diagrams and visual workflows during brainstorming sessions.
• Translation plugins like DeepL or Translator enable multilingual teams to collaborate smoothly across language barriers.
• Communication plugins such as Jitsi allow team members to launch video calls directly inside the document environment.
• Content-focused teams can also use tools like LanguageTool to refine grammar and clarity in real time.

Instead of jumping between multiple applications, plugins bring specialized tools into the same shared workspace. This reduces friction, shortens feedback loops, and makes brainstorming sessions more productive and visually collaborative.

2. Parallel drafting for content and reports

Traditional drafting follows a predictable pattern:
Person A writes → Person B reviews → Person C edits → Start over.

Each handover is a pause. Each pause is an opportunity for misalignment and delay.

Co-authoring flips this on its head. Instead of sequential steps, you get parallel contribution:

• One person drafts the introduction while another structures the data tables.
• A designer refines the formatting.
• A manager adds contextual comments and feedback.
• The team integrates everything as it happens.

For marketing teams racing against deadlines, research groups juggling complex data, and operational departments under pressure, this eliminates bottlenecks that define project timelines.

When you layer in version history and track changes, something even better happens: collaboration becomes a structured system rather than creative chaos. You know what changed, who changed it, and why.

3. Faster decision-making with contextual comments

How many important decisions got lost in message threads?
How many critical emails have been buried under new messages?
How many “quick meetings” were scheduled just to clarify one detail in a document?

Inline commenting within a shared document fundamentally changes how teams make decisions. Instead of scheduling a meeting to discuss one point, you simply mention your team and pose the question directly in context:

“@Team — Should we reposition this pricing model?”

Resolution happens in hours, not days.

ONLYOFFICE Docs enables this by letting teams:

• Add comments linked directly to the content they’re about.
• Mention colleagues right where the conversation matters.
• Resolve threads visibly so nothing gets lost.

Everything stays organized. Everything stays contextualized. The back-and-forth emails that dominated inboxes become a focused discussion.

4. Real-time financial and data collaboration

Spreadsheets are where collaborative work often falls apart.

One wrong formula.
One overwritten cell.
One outdated version is floating in someone’s downloads folder.

These aren’t small mistakes. They build up over time.

With advanced co-editing, spreadsheets become a space where accuracy and collaboration coexist:

• Finance teams update budgets together. They see changes happening in real-time.
• Managers monitor progress without waiting for updates.
• Analysts adjust formulas and data without locking the entire file.

Real-time visibility builds transparency. It surfaces errors before they compound. It lets you do scenario modeling during meetings instead of promising, “We’ll check and get back to you.”

The difference is subtle but powerful: spreadsheets stop being bottlenecks and start being collaborative canvases.

5. Legal and compliance review without delays

Contracts, policy documents, and compliance materials require careful review from multiple stakeholders. They also require moving fast.

The traditional approach? Circulate for days. Watch it get stuck in someone’s inbox. Schedule follow-ups.

Real-time co-editing compresses this timeline:

• Legal reviews clauses and flags concerns.
• HR adds policy clarifications.
• Leadership inserts strategic edits.
• Final approvals happen within the same workspace.

Track changes and comparison tools ensure accountability. Controlled editing modes secure sensitive documents. You’re not sacrificing precision for speed. You’re gaining both.

The result is a document that has been thoroughly vetted and is ready to move forward in a few days rather than weeks.

6. Education and training teams working in sync

Training manuals and onboarding guides rarely come from a single mind.

Instructional designers, subject matter experts, and editors each bring something essential to the table. When work happens in isolation, knowledge gets isolated. Content becomes fragmented. Updates happen slowly.

Co-authoring changes this:

• Instructional designers and subject matter experts build modules together.
• Editors improve clarity in real time.
• Visual designers add supporting materials.
• Assessments get refined as the content takes shape.

The document transforms from a static file into a living system. It evolves with the team. It stays current. Knowledge doesn’t sit in separate inboxes — it gets built collaboratively, from start to finish.

7. Distributed teams operate like they’re in the same room

For hybrid and remote organizations, the psychological distance between team members is real challenge.

Live editing bridges that distance in a way video calls don’t.

When you see cursors moving across the screen, or when you watch someone type in real time, in the same document you’re working on, something shifts. The work feels less like a series of handovers and more like a shared effort. You’re not waiting for an updated email. You’re watching the work evolve together.

This creates three things that matter:

• Psychological presence: People feel connected even when they’re physically apart.
• Reduced isolation: Work feels less lonely.
• Momentum: Shared progress is motivating.

These factors directly influence accountability and engagement, and drive real productivity.

8. Collaborative PDF editing with version history

Collaboration is no longer limited to text documents and spreadsheets. Modern teams frequently work with PDFs — contracts, reports, policy documents, and signed agreements.

ONLYOFFICE Docs enables collaborative PDF editing, allowing multiple users to comment, annotate, highlight, and review documents together in real time. This is valuable for legal teams reviewing contracts, HR teams updating policies, and finance teams validating reports before approval.

With the introduction of version history in ONLYOFFICE PDF Editor, teams can also:

• Track every change made to a PDF.
• Revert to previous versions if needed.
• Maintain a clear record of edits.

This brings the same transparency and control that teams expect from document collaboration into PDF workflows as well.

9. AI-powered collaboration inside documents

A major shift in collaborative editing is the AI integration directly inside the workspace. With AI assistants integrated into ONLYOFFICE Docs, teams can:

• Generate summaries.
• Rewrite sections for clarity.
• Translate content.
• Brainstorm ideas without leaving the document.

This integration becomes powerful during collaborative sessions.

For example:

A marketing team drafting a campaign brief can use AI to instantly summarize meeting notes while another teammate refines messaging.
A product team documenting a feature can ask the AI assistant to generate structured outlines or simplify technical explanations for non-technical stakeholders.

Instead of switching between separate AI tools and documents, the complete workflow stays inside the editor, making collaboration faster and more focused.

What makes modern co-editing powerful?

It’s tempting to think co-editing is just about being able to type at the same time. That’s not where the power lies.

The real strength is in the ecosystem around it:

• Permission controls that let you decide who can do what.
• Role-based access that keeps sensitive information secure.
• Version history so you can revert if something goes wrong.
• Document comparison tools to see exactly what changed.
• Deployment flexibility — cloud or self-hosted.
• Integration with existing tools and infrastructure.

ONLYOFFICE Docs stands out because it doesn’t compromise on any of these. It offers flexible deployment options, maintains strong format compatibility, and provides both Fast and Strict co-editing modes. This balance between openness and structure is exactly what modern organizations need: the ability to move fast without losing control.

Keeping pace with collaboration: what’s new in ONLYOFFICE Docs 9.3

Real-time collaboration tools continue to evolve, and the latest ONLYOFFICE Docs 9.3 release introduces several improvements designed to make teamwork smoother and more transparent.

The update brings:

• Enhanced commenting with clearer visual cues and unique user color identification, making it easier to follow conversations across complex documents.
• A newly introduced multipage view improves navigation during collaborative reviews, allowing teams to scan and validate layouts more efficiently.
• Expanded PDF collaboration capabilities, including improved version tracking and signature workflows, support faster approvals without moving documents between tools.

These improvements reflect an important shift: collaboration isn’t just about working at the same time; it’s about working with clarity, visibility, and confidence.

The bigger shift: work is becoming simultaneous

We’re witnessing a fundamental change in how work gets done:

• Sequential work is becoming parallel work.
• Reactive editing is becoming proactive building.
• Fragmented communication is becoming contextual collaboration.

Live editing isn’t just a productivity feature; it’s an operational philosophy.

Teams that use it strategically see measurable changes:

• Time-to-completion shrinks.
• Clarity improves across projects.
• Friction between departments decreases.
• Ownership becomes clearer and stronger.

And perhaps most importantly, they stay aligned while moving fast. They don’t have to choose between unity and velocity.

Final thoughts

Productivity isn’t about working more hours. It never was.

It’s about removing the invisible delays between people: the waiting, the back-and-forth, the confusion about what’s current and what’s not.

Real-time co-editing has evolved into one of the most powerful tools for eliminating those delays.

ONLYOFFICE Docs doesn’t just help teams edit together. It helps them think, decide, and execute together.

And that’s where real productivity begins.

Real-time co-editing has evolved — use cases that supercharge team productivity was originally published in ONLYOFFICE on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

How to Maximize Access Permissions and Audit Logs

Office documents are still where the most sensitive work happens. Contracts, financial reports, HR files, internal roadmaps, they all live in documents that are shared, edited, downloaded, and reviewed every day. While security discussions often focus on networks and endpoints, document-level security is where many real risks quietly surface. This usually happens because access grows faster than control and because teams do not revisit sharing decisions once the work is underway.

For organizations handling sensitive information, document security comes down to two questions: who can access what, and can you see what happens after access is granted. Access permissions and audit logs answer both, but only when they are set up deliberately and used as part of everyday operations.

Why document security breaks down in real environments

Most organizations already have security policies in place. The challenge is keeping permissions accurate as teams, projects, and external collaborators change, sometimes weekly. In practice, security drifts when access is granted quickly and then never reviewed again.

Documents get shared across departments, external partners are added for short-term work, and files are downloaded for convenience. When access is not revisited and activity is not visible, security slowly becomes implicit rather than intentional. That is why effective document security needs preventive controls and operational visibility, not just rules on paper.

Setting up access permissions that reflect real roles

Effective access control starts with aligning permissions to how people actually work. Most teams do not need everyone to be able to edit everything. They usually need a small number of people to manage the collaboration space, a defined group of contributors to create and edit files, reviewers and approvers to comment or validate changes, and stakeholders who only need visibility into the final version.

In ONLYOFFICE DocSpace, that structure can be reflected more precisely than with broad, one-size-fits-all sharing. At the DocSpace level, organizations can separate responsibilities across the following roles:

• Owner
• DocSpace admin
• Room manager
• Regular user
• Guest

Inside rooms, permissions can then be narrowed further depending on the room type and the work being done. In a Custom room, the available roles include:

• Room manager
• Content creator
• Editor
• Reviewer
• Commenter
• Viewer

In a Virtual Data Room, teams can also assign a Form filler role when controlled form completion is part of the process.

A practical example makes this clearer. In a legal or finance review workflow, the room manager might be the project lead responsible for access and structure, the content creator might be the operations lead uploading and organizing files, editors might be the people actively revising documents, reviewers or commenters might be approvers who need to leave feedback without rewriting the original, and viewers might be executives or external stakeholders who only need to read the final materials. That kind of setup keeps the room usable for collaboration while reducing unnecessary editing rights. ONLYOFFICE’s room model also distinguishes what each role can do with existing files, version history, uploads, and room management, which makes role-based access more practical in day-to-day use.

Managing external collaboration without expanding risk

External collaboration is unavoidable, but it does not have to mean giving up control. The goal is to collaborate without pulling external users into the wider internal environment.

ONLYOFFICE allows organizations to grant external users access to specific documents, folders, or rooms while keeping the rest of the workspace out of scope. Access can be shared through direct invitations or through links with clearly defined permissions. Depending on the use case, those links can also be limited to DocSpace users only, protected with a password, given an expiration period, or configured to restrict file copying, downloading, and printing. That makes external sharing more controlled from the start, instead of relying on trust after the fact.

Revoking access should be treated as a normal part of the workflow, not as an afterthought. In practice, teams can remove a user directly from a room, reduce a permission level before removing it entirely, delete or reconfigure a shared link, or let temporary access expire automatically.

What matters most is that external sharing stays explicit, limited, and reversible. If a team can invite a partner, constrain what they can do, and remove access as soon as the task is finished, external work stops being a constant security headache.

Using audit logs for visibility and control

Access permissions define what users are allowed to do. Audit logs show what they actually did.

In ONLYOFFICE DocSpace, audit logs record key actions related to documents, including access, edits, and other significant events. That visibility is critical for both day-to-day oversight and incident response. Without logs, teams are forced to reconstruct events from incomplete signals, which is exactly how small issues turn into time-consuming investigations.

From an operational standpoint, audit logs should be enabled at the system or workspace level, accessible to administrators and security teams, and retained according to internal or regulatory requirements. Once enabled, they become a reliable source of truth during internal reviews, compliance checks, and investigations.

Their value is not limited to incidents. In practice, ICT and IT managers use audit logs to review activity after permission changes, monitor access to sensitive documents, verify how files are used during external collaboration, and support internal audits and compliance reporting

In ONLYOFFICE DocSpace, the Audit Trail can be reviewed from the Security settings and the downloadable report includes details such as user IP address, browser and platform, date and time, user name, page, action type, and the specific action performed.

The data can also be sorted, filtered, and searched. That makes the logs useful not only for incident response, but also for regular control checks and audit preparation.

This becomes even more valuable in Virtual Data Rooms inside DocSpace. VDRs are designed for high-sensitivity workflows such as due diligence and other controlled exchanges of confidential information. Combined with room-level protections like watermarking, file lifetime settings, and copy or download restrictions, audit visibility gives teams both tighter control over access and a clearer record of how sensitive files were handled over time.

In practice, that combination is far more useful than relying on static permissions alone. Over time, logs also reveal patterns that are easy to miss otherwise. They show which documents are frequently downloaded, where access is broader than expected, and where collaboration habits drift away from policy.

Those patterns are actionable. Sometimes the right response is a permission adjustment. Other times it is moving a workflow away from attachments and downloads into controlled collaboration spaces where activity remains visible.

What effective enterprise document security looks like in practice

A common concern with strict access control is that it slows teams down. In practice, clarity usually improves efficiency because it reduces confusion and limits the need for workarounds.

When permissions are clearly defined and collaboration happens in a controlled environment, teams spend less time requesting access, resolving version conflicts, or tracking down missing context. Security becomes part of the workflow instead of a barrier to it. That balance is easier to maintain when organizations can validate a few basics consistently:

• Permissions are assigned by role, not ad hoc, and reflect how people actually work.
• Editing rights are limited to active contributors, while reviewers, commenters, and view-only stakeholders receive narrower access aligned to their role.
• External users are granted access only to the specific room, folder, or document they need, not to the wider internal environment.
• Shared links are protected with appropriate safeguards such as passwords, expiration dates, user scope, and restrictions on copying, downloading, or printing.
• High-sensitivity projects use tighter collaboration spaces such as Virtual Data Rooms, with features like watermarks, file lifetime rules, and restricted download or copy options.
• Audit logs are enabled and reviewed regularly so teams can see who accessed what, what changed, and when it happened.
• Access can be downgraded, revoked, or removed quickly when a project ends or risk changes.
• Documents stay in centralized collaboration spaces instead of being scattered across attachments and uncontrolled copies.

This approach supports both operational security and compliance requirements while remaining flexible enough for real-world collaboration. It also scales better than ad hoc sharing, because the same principles continue to work whether a team has five people or five hundred.

A simple way to keep document security under control

Over time, permissions and file copies tend to pile up, and that is usually where document security starts to break down. By setting up access permissions intentionally and using audit logs as an everyday operational tool, organizations can protect sensitive documents without slowing teams down. This is also what builds confidence for ICT managers, because control and visibility are part of the collaboration environment instead of being added later as a patch.

Data Security for Office Documents was originally published in ONLYOFFICE on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Version 9.3 introduces more than 30 functional updates alongside performance improvements and over 500 bug fixes aimed at making routine tasks faster and more predictable. Here’s a closer look at what has changed and how it affects day-to-day use.

More flexible ways to sign and manage PDFs

PDF workflows receive one of the most noticeable updates in this release, especially around signing and editing.

The signature field has been redesigned to support different scenarios:

• Typed signatures using a clean handwritten-style font when no image or stylus is available.
• Drawn signatures created with a mouse or touch input.

ONLYOFFICE Docs Enterprise users can now upload a signing certificate to the Admin Panel. This feature enables trusted digital signatures on submitted PDF forms, ensuring that important documents are protected from unauthorized access and modifications.

These changes are intended to make signing documents possible without relying on external tools.

Beyond signatures, the following changes improve day-to-day PDF handling:

• Editing password-protected files when access credentials are available.
• Managing internal and external links that remain active even in Comment mode.
• Viewing version history for PDFs.
• Editing built-in PDF fonts.
• Ability to redact text from the pop-up tool panel.
• Page print settings for PDFs.
• Support for macros in PDFs (adding/deleting/editing pages, forms, annotations, shapes, tables, images, and diagrams).
• Adding interactive form fields inside table cells to better structure complex forms.

Together, these updates move PDFs closer to being fully editable working documents rather than static exports.

A clearer view of your documents: multipage layout and smarter review tools

The new multipage view allows several pages to be displayed side by side, which is useful for layout checks and long-form editing.

Other updates in the Document Editor focus on visibility and collaboration.

• Improved commenting adds clearer visual distinction between contributors and more precise anchors in the text.
• A reorganized Header & Footer tab groups related settings into one place.
• Standard text-selection behavior has been refined, so double- and triple-click actions work more consistently for selecting words and paragraphs.

These are small changes individually, but they reduce the number of adjustments needed during review cycles.

Faster handling of large spreadsheets

Performance is a central theme in the Spreadsheet Editor. Files around 3 MB and larger now open faster, which helps when working with datasets that previously introduced delays.

The Spreadsheet Editor also introduces Solver support, allowing users to perform linear optimization without leaving the worksheet. This makes it possible to model scenarios such as cost minimization, resource allocation, or target value calculations directly in the spreadsheet, reducing the need for external analytical tools and keeping the entire workflow in one place.

Functional additions include:

• Solver support for linear optimization using the Simplex method.
• Dynamic arrays allow formulas to return multiple results that automatically populate neighboring cells.
• Expanded regular expression functions (REGEXTEST, REGEXREPLACE, REGEXEXTRACT) for text-heavy data processing.
• A new Format button that consolidates layout and styling tools into a single access point.

Presentation support for animated visuals

The Presentation Editor now supports GIF playback during slideshow mode. This enables lightweight demonstrations or visual explanations without embedding video files.

Updates that improve interoperability

• Hyperlinks can now be attached to images, shapes, and grouped objects in documents and spreadsheets.
• Enhanced macro recording: supports recording a wider range of operations with shapes.
• Files can be saved in Markdown (.md) format, which is useful for developer documentation workflows.
• TSV files open directly without conversion.
• The Admin Panel includes guided HTTPS configuration, final setup tools, and a one-click server shutdown option.

What this release means in practice

With version 9.3, the updates are mostly about reducing context switching — editing PDFs without extra software, analyzing data directly in spreadsheets, and managing collaboration in a more predictable way.

For teams, this translates into fewer external tools and less time spent adjusting files to fit different formats. For administrators, it means simpler configuration and more control over how documents are handled inside their own infrastructure.

How to get it

Docs 9.3 is available for self-hosted deployments, perfect for businesses and teams who want complete control over their data.

Download the latest version

The update will roll out soon for cloud users.

Discover our feature webinar to see the updates in action:

Better PDFs, smarter spreadsheets, and smoother collaboration: ONLYOFFICE Docs 9.3 released was originally published in ONLYOFFICE on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

In today’s evolving digital workplace, similar inefficient workflows are too common. Teams multitask with different platforms- cloud storage at one end, email attachments here, and editing tools elsewhere. This results in version confusion, lost edits, and wasted hours.

Adding another tool is not the solution. The answer to this confusion is integrating the right tools into the systems your team already uses.

This is where the magic of ONLYOFFICE Docs and Nextcloud comes together. When a powerful document editor is combined with secure cloud storage, this integration transforms collaboration into a seamless, efficient experience.

Why integration matters

Software is effective when it fits into your existing workflow. A stand-alone platform can create difficulties if it doesn’t integrate with your existing systems. Teams require workflows where files, edits, and comments are secure, synchronized, and easily accessible to people at the right time.

When businesses integrate ONLYOFFICE Docs with Nextcloud, they get the best of both worlds: advanced online document editing and secure centralized storage. Teams can adopt the platform quickly without extensive training or complex migrations, which makes collaboration simple from the beginning.

Benefits of ONLYOFFICE Docs

Key benefits include:

• An open-source office suite for creating and editing documents, spreadsheets, presentations, fillable forms, PDFs, and diagrams.
• Ideal compatibility with Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, along with support for all major file formats.
• An AI assistant plugin compatible with multiple AI models and providers, including ChatGPT, Mistral, DeepSeek, Together AI, Anthropic, Ollama, Groq AI, Google Gemini, and more.

• Seamless integration with 40+ popular business platforms through ready-to-use connectors.
• Flexible integration with any web-based platform using API and WOPI support.
• A comprehensive set of editing and formatting tools to create professional, business-ready documents.
• Advanced real-time collaboration and co-editing features for efficient teamwork.
• Free desktop and mobile applications for convenient access across devices.
• A free Community edition, with scalable Enterprise plans to support growing business needs

How ONLYOFFICE Docs + Nextcloud transforms collaboration

This integration removes common workplace friction and makes teamwork seamless:

• Real-time co-editing: Multiple users edit simultaneously with instant updates. Choose Fast mode (live changes) or Strict mode (paragraph locking for focused edits).
• Built-in version control: Track changes, view revision history, see who edited what, and restore earlier versions easily.
• Secure access & permissions: Share files with view, edit, comment, review, or form-fill access. Restrict copying, downloading, or printing when needed.
• Comments, mentions & chat: Discuss directly in documents using threaded comments, @mentions, and built-in chat. Optional audio/video via integrations keeps everything in one workspace.
• Document comparison & merging: Compare versions side-by-side and merge multiple drafts into one final file.
• Work from anywhere: Collaborate seamlessly across desktop, laptop, and mobile devices.
• Collaborative PDF editing: Co-edit PDFs in real time with comments, annotations, and edits — ideal for contracts and approvals.

The combination of these features turns collaboration from a stressful, disjointed process into a smooth, efficient workflow. Teams spend more time focusing on meaningful work instead of managing files.

Why ONLYOFFICE Docs is a strong fit for Nextcloud

ONLYOFFICE Docs works seamlessly with cloud-based and on-premise infrastructures, making it a match for Nextcloud’s flexible deployment model.

Cloud and on‑premises deployment options

Organizations can deploy ONLYOFFICE Docs in the cloud or install it locally on their servers. This flexibility is valuable for businesses with strict data residency, compliance, or legal requirements. Whether you or your team prefer a self-hosted setup or a hybrid environment, ONLYOFFICE Docs adapts without compromising performance or collaboration features.

Secure and controlled collaboration

Security is built into every stage of collaboration, with features designed to protect sensitive data and control access.

• ONLYOFFICE Docs supports JWT (JSON Web Token) for secure communication between services, ensuring authorized access and preventing data tampering.
• Password-protected documents ensure restricted opening or editing, adding an extra layer of security when sharing files.
• A dedicated set of protection tools for spreadsheets allows users to lock sheets, protect ranges, hide formulas, and control editing permissions, helping teams safeguard critical data while still collaborating efficiently.

Straightforward installation and configuration

Integration with Nextcloud is simple using the official ONLYOFFICE connector available in the Nextcloud App Store. If you want to understand the step-by-step installation, configuration instructions, and troubleshooting resources, they are available in the ONLYOFFICE Help Center, covering Docker-based installations, Linux servers, and cloud deployments.

Proven results from real organizations

Many organizations use ONLYOFFICE Docs with Nextcloud to improve collaboration and maintain complete control of their data:

• Educational institutions use integration, allowing students and faculty to co-edit documents securely within private cloud environments.
• IT teams and open-source communities rely on ONLYOFFICE Docs and Nextcloud to collaborate on technical documentation while maintaining control of data with a self-hosted deployment.
• Businesses across healthcare, legal, and public sectors benefit from secure collaboration that meets compliance and data protection requirements.

Easy adoption, minimal disruption

A barrier to adopting new software is understanding the difficulties.

ONLYOFFICE Docs + Nextcloud resolves this with a quick setup, neat design, and minimal learning curve. A client can start collaborating immediately, while IT teams can rest knowing the integration exists with the current infrastructure.

Whether your business is a small startup or you own a large enterprise, this integration ensures that document management is efficient, secure, and scalable.

Learn more and see it in action

When tools are combined, collaboration becomes effortless. Explore how ONLYOFFICE Docs integrates with Nexcloud here.

With ONLYOFFICE Docs + Nexcloud, document management is more than easy; it is seamless, secure, and smart, allowing teams to focus on creating, sharing, and achieving results effortlessly.

How ONLYOFFICE Docs + Nexcloud makes document management seamless was originally published in ONLYOFFICE on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Remote work didn’t create document sharing. It just made it nonstop.

A contract gets reviewed in a chat thread. A budget file gets forwarded “just for a second.” A customer list lives in a folder that used to be private… until it wasn’t. And here’s the uncomfortable part: most data leaks don’t happen through dramatic hacks.

They happen through everyday collaboration habits that quietly outgrow your security model. If your team shares files daily (and whose doesn’t?), these are five risks worth checking this week, not after an incident.

1) “Anyone with the link” is not access control

Link sharing is seductive because it’s fast. You click Share, you copy a URL, you’re done. But in remote work, links behave like confetti:

• pasted into tickets
• forwarded to partners
• stored in chat history
• resurfacing months later when someone searches an old thread

Even if the original intent was harmless, the link can outlive the context.

How leaks usually happen

• A link is shared in a team channel → later an external contractor joins the channel.
• Someone leaves the company → the link still works.
• A link is posted in a tool with broader access than you realized.

Fix it (without making sharing painful)

• Default to named access (specific users/groups), not public links.
• Turn on expiration dates for external links.
• Require sign-in for anything beyond non-sensitive materials.
• Audit “open links” monthly. You’ll be surprised what you find.

If your security depends on “nobody will forward it,” that’s not a policy, it’s hope.

2) Personal accounts quietly become your “shadow infrastructure”

This is the most common remote-work leak pattern because it’s rarely malicious. It’s friction. When the secure path is slow or blocked, people improvise:

• personal Google Drive
• private Dropbox
• personal email
• “temporary” device transfers that become permanent

Once a file enters a personal ecosystem, you’ve lost visibility and control, even if you still trust the person.

How leaks usually happen

• Someone downloads a file “to work offline,” and it syncs to a personal cloud backup.
• External sharing is restricted, so a teammate uses their private account “just to send it.”
• A contractor edits in their own tools, and your doc ends up stored where your policies don’t apply.

Fix it

• Provide a sanctioned sharing path that’s actually convenient.
• Use SSO and restrict access from unmanaged accounts where possible.
• Separate “internal docs” from “external delivery” workflows (different storage, different rules).
• Make “secure” the default, not the exception that requires a support ticket.

Security training helps. But workflow design helps more.

3) Attachments and downloads create “copies of truth” you can’t govern

The moment someone says: “I’ll download it, make edits, and send it back.” …you’ve created a parallel universe of versions. In remote teams, these “shadow copies” multiply fast:

• laptop downloads
• email attachments
• duplicated folders
• renamed files with vague instructions (“use_THIS_one_final2”)

Your primary storage might be well-controlled. Your copies usually aren’t.

How leaks usually happen

• A lost laptop contains downloaded HR or finance documents.
• A spreadsheet is emailed to one person, then forwarded to five.
• A former employee still has old attachments on a personal device.

Fix it

• Collaborate in the document, not through attachments.
• Use versioning and controlled storage where edits happen in-place.
• For sensitive docs: disable uncontrolled downloads where reasonable, or add watermarking/classification.
• Apply retention policies consistently, not just to your “main” repository.

A secure system isn’t just where files live. It’s where files don’t live anymore.

4) Permissions drift turns yesterday’s “reasonable” access into today’s risk

Remote work encourages “just add them” access.

Someone joins a project → they get access.
The project ends → access stays.
Someone changes roles → access expands.
A vendor finishes work → access remains “just in case.”

Over time, access becomes historical, not intentional.

How leaks usually happen

• Old external collaborators still have access to shared folders.
• People inherit access through groups no one reviews.
• A sensitive folder gets nested inside a broadly shared directory.

Fix it

• Use group-based permissions with clear owners (not “everyone”).
• Schedule access reviews (quarterly is a realistic starting point).
• Set external collaborator access to expire by default.
• Keep “external collaboration” spaces separate from core internal storage.

Most leaks aren’t caused by strangers. They’re caused by familiar people with outdated access.

5) Collaboration without auditability is security theater

Many teams focus on prevention and ignore the other half: proof. If a sensitive document surfaces outside the organization, can you answer:

• Who opened it?
• When?
• From where?
• Did they download it, export it, or share it onward?

If the honest answer is “not really,” then even small incidents become big ones because you can’t scope or respond confidently.

How leaks usually happen

• Files are shared through tools that don’t log meaningful events.
• Edits happen via exports, so activity never hits your audit trail.
• Access happens outside your identity system (no SSO, no centralized logs).

Fix it

• Centralize collaboration where audit logs are built-in.
• Tie access to identity (SSO + 2FA).
• Log key actions: sharing, link creation, downloads, edits, permission changes.
• Actually review logs (or alert on anomalies) instead of collecting them “just in case.”

If you can’t see what’s happening, you can’t secure it, you can only guess.

A quick self-audit (15 minutes, no tools required)

If you want a fast reality check, ask these internally:

1. Do we use “anyone with the link” for internal docs?
2. Do people ever share files via personal accounts when blocked?
3. Do we still email attachments for documents that change frequently?
4. When was our last access review for shared folders?
5. If a file leaked tomorrow, could we trace who accessed it?

If two or more answers make you uncomfortable, you don’t need panic. You need a collaboration environment designed for remote reality.

What “secure collaboration” looks like in 2026

Not “more rules.” Not “slower work.” A secure remote setup usually has these traits:

• Files stay in controlled storage (on-prem, private cloud, or a governed SaaS, but governed).
• Sharing is deliberate (named access, expiring links, authenticated access).
• Permissions are maintained (least privilege, regular reviews, external access expiry).
• Auditability is normal (not an expensive add-on you never check).
• Collaboration happens where policy applies (not in side channels and downloaded copies).

Remote work is here to stay. So the real question isn’t whether your team shares files. It’s whether your file sharing habits match your data risk.

If you’re building your 2026 security posture, start here — with the quiet leaks. They’re the ones that hurt the most because nobody notices… until it’s too late.

Is Your File Sharing Really Secure? 5 Overlooked Data Leakage Risks in Remote Work was originally published in ONLYOFFICE on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Most business challenges don’t happen overnight. They grow quietly in the background, often disguised as convenience.

Businesses don’t choose vendor lock-in; it happens gradually. It begins with a few tools, followed by non-stop subscriptions, and soon, essential workflows are locked into a closed ecosystem. Everything feels suitable at first. However, when pricing changes, features are removed, or compliance needs arise, that comfort can quickly become a serious operational risk.

This is where open-source software is the way forward for a smarter, more resilient workspace.

What is vendor lock-in?

Vendor lock-in occurs when an organization is dependent on a specific software to the extent that switching from it feels risky, costly, or operationally upsetting. This dependency rarely takes place overnight. It builds quietly through proprietary file formats, closed APIs, confined licensing models, or limited data portability.

Initially, everything is well and works seamlessly within an ecosystem, With time, the trade-offs surface:

• Subscription or licensing costs increase with little room for negotiation.
• Upgrades are forced, or customization is limited.
• More reliance on the vendor’s roadmap, timelines, and policies.
• Service disruptions are exposed, products are discontinued, or compliance difficulties arise.

When a vendor changes its path, either by increasing prices, removing features, or discontinuation of a service, businesses have no choice but to adapt quickly at a cost. At this point, business continuity becomes vulnerable.

Why vendor lock-in matters?

In today’s time, organizations rely on software to run daily operations, whether it is for document creation, collaboration, storage, communication, or project coordination. Along with boosting productivity, these tools introduce an often-overlooked dependency.

In due course, if an organization relies too heavily on a single proprietary vendor, it can limit flexibility, increase costs, and compromise long-term business continuity. As companies reassess sustainability, resilience, and control over their IT infrastructure, open-source software is gaining attention, not as a niche alternative, but as a strategic choice.

Consider open-source solutions like ONLYOFFICE Docs for your organization. Take the first step toward a more flexible, secure, and resilient technology future today.

Open source software as a strategic advantage

Open-source software takes a radical approach. Instead of locking users into a closed environment, it prioritizes transparency, flexibility, and freedom of choice. With the availability of public source code, organizations no longer rely on a single vendor for access, updates, or long-term feasibility.

As a business, open source is not just a technical choice, but a form of risk management.

Benefits of open source software

Some of its key benefits include the following:

• Choice: Freedom to choose deployment, hosting, and integration options.
• Full control: Complete data ownership without proprietary restrictions.
• Flexibility: Improved adaptability to organizational growth or regulatory changes.
• Future planning: Long-term costs and planning become predictable.

Gradually, unnecessary dependencies are removed, and open source gains control where it belongs.

Business continuity starts with control

Business continuity means more than having a recovery plan in place. It’s about ensuring that core systems remain stable, adaptable, and forward-looking, even when circumstances change.

Open-source solutions support this by minimizing single points of failure and increasing operational independence.

When an organization takes the open-source approach, the following happens:

• You are not locked into a single provider’s cloud, pricing model, or infrastructure.
• You can self-host, migrate, or expand without altering your workflow.
• You can continue using the software even if the original vendor goes on a different path.

This control is valuable for organizations with operations in regulated industries, hybrid work environments, or regions with strict data residency requirements.

How ONLYOFFICE Docs helps avoid vendor lock-in?

ONLYOFFICE Docs is a strong example of how open-source collaboration tools can support business continuity while remaining intuitive and enterprise-ready.

ONLYOFFICE Docs is designed around open formats and standards, enabling teams to create, edit, and collaborate on documents without being limited to a proprietary work environment. It provides a flexible architecture that supports various deployment options, including on-premise, private cloud, and cloud-hosted. This allows organizations to choose what best fits their goals and compliance needs.

Flexibility that grows with your business

Some ways in which ONLYOFFICE supports long-term flexibility include the following:

Open-source core that can be audited, customized, and extended

Organizations gain visibility into the software they use, which enables IT teams to review the code, tailor features to their internal workflows, and expand functionality as the business evolves, without relying on the vendor’s roadmap.

Compatibility with Microsoft formats

ONLYOFFICE Docs works seamlessly with Microsoft file formats. This eases collaboration across teams and partners. It also avoids lock-in or document conversion issues.

Self-hosting options

Businesses can deploy ONLYOFFICE Docs on their infrastructure or private cloud. This ensures data remains in the right place and meets policies and regulatory requirements.

Easy integrations with popular platforms

ONLYOFFICE Docs integrates smoothly with Nextcloud, ownCloud, and other collaboration platforms. With support for Open API and WOPI, it can be embedded into virtually any web-based business application, making document collaboration part of existing workflows. Developers can explore integration possibilities through the official API documentation.

ONLYOFFICE Docs is designed as a document collaboration environment that evolves alongside organizational needs, rather than forcing businesses into rigid workflows or disruptive migrations.

Sustainability beyond cost savings

Vendor lock-in is not only a financial worry but also a sustainability challenge. Certain platform changes are driven by vendor decisions that occupy time, resources, and employee energy. Open-source software allows long-term IT sustainability by reducing unwanted dependencies and encouraging adaptability.

When organizations invest in open technologies:

• The lifespan of their software system extends.
• Retraining caused by platform shifts is reduced.
• They build systems that expand naturally with the business.

This makes open source a practical and long-term choice for organizations seeking stability without giving up innovation.

A smarter way forward

Escaping vendor lock-in is not about abandoning modern tools; it is about choosing technologies that support your organization’s independence.

Open-source solutions like ONLYOFFICE Docs prove that collaboration, security, and flexibility can coexist without surrendering control.

In a business environment defined by constant change, the freedom of choice becomes resilient. When organizations embrace open-source software, they position themselves to respond confidently to future challenges on their own terms.

Escape vendor lock-in! How open source promotes business continuity was originally published in ONLYOFFICE on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

A different kind of comparison

Most comparisons between office suites follow the same pattern: long feature tables, endless checkmarks, and a final verdict that rarely reflects how people actually work.

In reality, organizations don’t choose a productivity platform because it has more features. They choose it because it fits into their everyday workflows without friction.

This article takes a different approach. Instead of asking “Which suite does more?”, it looks at questions teams actually deal with every day:

• Where do our documents really live?
• How do licensing models affect costs as we grow?
• What happens to files when multiple people edit them constantly?
• How easy is it to change direction later if our needs evolve?

When you look at office suites through this lens, the differences between Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, and ONLYOFFICE become much clearer.

When document control is the priority

For many organizations, document storage isn’t just a technical detail, it’s a legal, regulatory, or strategic requirement.

Think of law firms handling sensitive case files, hospitals managing patient records, financial institutions dealing with compliance audits, or NGOs operating under strict donor or government rules. In these environments, who controls the data matters as much as how documents are edited.

• Microsoft 365
  Microsoft offers cloud, hybrid, and on-premises options, but achieving full control often means complex infrastructure decisions, additional services, and carefully chosen licensing plans. It’s powerful, but not always simple.
• Google Workspace
  Google Workspace is fundamentally cloud-first. While secure and reliable, it offers limited flexibility for organizations that must keep data fully on-premises or in a private cloud environment.
• ONLYOFFICE
  ONLYOFFICE is built with self-hosting in mind. It can be deployed on-premises or in a private cloud and integrates smoothly with platforms like Nextcloud, ownCloud, and Seafile. Documents stay where the organization decides they should stay.

The key idea:
The “best” suite depends on how much control you need over your data and how much complexity you’re willing to accept to get it.

When independence from the vendor really matters

Another factor that’s often overlooked in comparisons is vendor lock-in.

Once documents, workflows, and users are tightly bound to a single ecosystem, changing direction later can be expensive, disruptive, or practically impossible.

• Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace
  Both ecosystems work best when you fully commit to their platforms, identity systems, file storage, formats, and additional services. Over time, organizations may find that moving away means migrating not just documents, but entire workflows and habits.
• ONLYOFFICE
  ONLYOFFICE is designed to fit into existing infrastructure rather than replace it. It supports 50+ document formats, including DOCX, XLSX, PPTX, ODT, RTF, TXT, CSV, and PDF, allowing teams to work with files regardless of where they originate.
  Support for PDF files and PDF forms is especially important for organizations that regularly exchange finalized documents with partners, clients, or regulators, without forcing those documents back into proprietary ecosystems. Combined with flexible deployment options and integration with multiple storage platforms, this approach helps organizations remain independent of any single vendor.

For organizations that value long-term flexibility, or simply want the freedom to change tools without starting from scratch, this independence can be a decisive advantage.

In short: avoiding vendor lock-in isn’t about distrust; it’s about keeping options open.

When the real issue is cost growth

Licensing costs rarely stay static. As teams grow, pricing models start to matter, a lot.

• Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace
  Both rely primarily on per-user subscriptions with monthly or annual billing. As headcount increases, so does the bill. On top of that, organizations may pay extra for storage, advanced security, compliance tools, or premium features.
• ONLYOFFICE Docs
  ONLYOFFICE uses a different approach: licensing based on simultaneous connections or editors. This often leads to more predictable costs, especially in organizations where many people view documents but only a smaller group edits them actively. There’s also a free Community Edition for smaller teams or internal use.

A few simple examples

• Small agency (10–15 people):
  Per-user pricing may feel manageable at first, but costs rise linearly as the team grows.
• Large company with a few power editors:
  Hundreds of employees access documents, but only a core team edits them daily. A connection-based model can significantly reduce long-term costs.
• Non-profit or educational organization:
  Budget predictability and open deployment options often matter more than feature overload.

Key takeaway:
Total cost of ownership depends less on how many people you have and more on how they actually work.

When formatting fidelity actually matters

One of the most common and underestimated frustrations in daily work is formatting.

It’s not about advanced features. It’s about opening a document five minutes before a meeting and realizing the layout has shifted, tables broke, or formulas don’t behave as expected.

• Microsoft 365
  The reference standard for Office file formats. If a document was created in Word, Excel, or PowerPoint, Microsoft 365 will display it exactly as intended.
• Google Workspace
  Excellent for real-time collaboration, but switching between Google formats and Office formats can sometimes affect layout, formulas, or complex elements.
• ONLYOFFICE
  Works natively with DOCX, XLSX, and PPTX. Its goal is high compatibility across web, desktop, and mobile, minimizing surprises when files move between systems.

Think of a contract with precise spacing, a spreadsheet full of formulas, or a presentation opened on another device right before a client call. In these moments, formatting consistency becomes more important than any feature list.

Matching each suite to the type of team

Instead of pros and cons, it’s often more helpful to think in terms of team profiles:

• Microsoft 365
  Organizations deeply embedded in the Microsoft ecosystem, with strong compliance requirements and a mix of online and offline workflows.
• Google Workspace
  Teams that prefer simplicity, browser-first work, fast collaboration, and minimal administration.
• ONLYOFFICE
  Organizations that want control over document storage, strong Office-format compatibility, flexible licensing, and independence from a single vendor.

The goal isn’t to crown a universal winner, it’s to help teams recognize themselves in the description.

A simple decision guide

Instead of scanning rows and columns, try answering a few practical questions:

• Do we need to keep documents under our direct control for legal, regulatory, or internal reasons?
• Do our costs grow mainly because of headcount, or because a smaller group edits documents heavily?
• How sensitive is our team to layout and formatting changes when exchanging files with partners or clients?
• How important is it for us to stay flexible and avoid being locked into a single vendor long-term?

Your answers often point naturally toward Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, ONLYOFFICE — or a combination of them.

Why hybrid setups often make sense

In practice, many organizations don’t choose just one platform and that’s perfectly fine.

A common setup might look like this:

• ONLYOFFICE deployed on-premises or in a private cloud for document editing and control
• Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace used for email, calendars, or specific departments

Hybrid environments allow teams to balance control, cost, and convenience without forcing everything into a single mold.

And that brings us back to the original point:
Once you look beyond feature checklists and focus on data control, licensing logic, compatibility, and independence, the right choice becomes much clearer and much better aligned with how an organization actually works.

No More Confusion: A Practical Comparison of ONLYOFFICE vs. Microsoft 365 / Google Workspace was originally published in ONLYOFFICE on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

With the increasing development of digitalization, it must be admitted that our way of life has changed, and this is certainly for the better. But its greatest impact, especially today, is on education, which has entered a phase of intense transition, including new but faster and more efficient ways of preparing, distributing and archiving learning materials. One of the most useful technologies in this regard is OCR, or Optical Character Recognition, which is precisely one of the most important technologies in this regard, since it facilitates and shortens the work of teachers with the possibility of converting text from printed documents, books or scans into digital text that can be edited and stored, which it offers.

This article contains a more detailed explanation of what OCR actually is, how it works, what are all its benefits for education, which tools are the simplest and best to use, and much, much more. So if you are interested in knowing more about OCR, I recommend you continue reading.

What is OCR and how does it work?

Optical Character Recognition, or OCR for short, is the newest technology that gives computers the ability to “read” text from a scanned image or document and convert it into digital text. Then, depending on your needs, this text can be edited, searched, translated or saved in different formats.

But of course, like any other process, the OCR process includes several technical and other steps.

1. Initially, the physical document must be scanned or photographed by you.

2. After this, it is visually processed to increase contrast and, of course, to remove unnecessary noise.

3. And immediately after this, the technology identifies the shapes of the letters and compares them with a database of characters.

4. Finally, the recognized text appears as content that can be copied, edited or saved to your device.

Why is OCR important for teachers?

It must be admitted that the practical benefits of OCR are numerous in many fields, but in this article we will focus more on them precisely in educational environments. Some of these benefits are:

• Saving time. OCR helps to shorten or save the time that teachers need to rewrite numerous and different materials from scratch, since it is now possible in just a few minutes.
• Content adaptation. OCR goes even further, by providing personalized content adaptation for every student out there, thus making it easier to work with children with special needs or different levels of understanding.
• Digital distribution of materials is another benefit that comes from OCR. This benefit makes it possible for processed texts to be uploaded to platforms like Google Classroom, sent by email or saved in different formats.
• Fast content search is the final advantage, which allows teachers to immediately find the information they need, and this is only by searching for a keyword in the document.
• Secure storage, better organization and minimal updates for your documents and materials.

Of course, as we said above, the benefits of OCR are not only those that we listed, but they are numerous.

Tools that offer OCR

As an OCR functionality, of course, in the days we are talking about, many tools offer it, which are certainly different and suitable for different needs.

One of them is Google Drive, which offers integrated OCR for scanned documents, opening them with Google Docs. The process is actually quite intuitive: all you have to do is simply upload a scanned document or a photo containing text to your Google Drive account, right-click on it and select the option “Open with → Google Docs”. Then the platform will analyze the image well and automatically extract the text into a new Google Docs document, different from the first one. But what is most important is the fact that it is free, and that it is extremely suitable for teachers who use Google Classrooms or Google Suite.

Adobe Scan is another tool that is relatively easy to use, not only for but for all mobile users, which allows scanning or automatic OCR directly from the phone. What you need is to have a smartphone equipped with a camera, which you will need to use to capture a book page or image, and the application automatically applies OCR to the image, and saves it for you in PDF format. But it is worth mentioning that this application comes with various paid options, but for those who need to scan books or various notebooks, Adobe Scan is the best solution.

Microsoft OneNote and Office Lens is the bombastic duo that all Microsoft Office users and fanatics know. Office Lens allows OCR directly from the phone’s camera, while OneNote is equipped with the Copy text from picture function, through which you will be able to extract the text from the images you want, with just two clicks, Copy and Paste. Teachers who are Microsoft Office users will have the opportunity to turn various scanned documents into easily editable documents through Microsoft OneNote and Office Lens.

Of course, we cannot leave out mentioning Tesseract, which is also one of the most powerful and well-known OCR engines in the world, which is offered as an open-source project. This engine is extremely flexible and highly accurate, making it a great solution for many teachers who teach in schools that have active technical support or IT departments. But what many other teachers avoid using this OCR engine is precisely the fact that it requires some good technical knowledge to use, since it does not have a simple graphical interface for ordinary users.

ABBYY FineReader is listed as one of the most powerful and professional tools you have ever known for OCR. Although it is paid, it offers exceptional accuracy in text recognition, even when the material is damaged, old or of low quality. It is worth mentioning that FineReader can export content to various formats such as Word, Excel, PDF, HTML and more. It is a great solution and extremely useful for educational institutions that specifically want to archive documents, prepare official publications or process large amounts of material.

But one of the most intuitive and advanced solutions for teachers and not only is undoubtedly ONLYOFFICE Docs, an open-source office suite for documents, spreadsheets, presentations, PDFs, and diagrams, which comes with an extremely advanced AI plugin perfectly combining the power of OCR with artificial intelligence and editing directly within documents.

OCR in ONLYOFFICE Docs

ONLYOFFICE AI Plugin is a very powerful tool that the ONLYOFFICE suite possesses. It is listed on our list today since this plugin offers a wide range of AI-assisted functions, including text summarization, translation, content creation, but most importantly it offers the OCR function, as it is compatible with all major artificial intelligence providers such as ChatGPT, Mistral, Anthropic, DeepSeek and Google Gemini. This plugin is worth noting that it is installed on the ONLYOFFICE suite extremely simply, whether in the desktop version or in the online one. But I also thought about this for you, because below I have shown you in more detail how to install ONLYOFFICE AI Plugin.

Installation of the plugin

The installation process is very short and consists of only 2 simple steps:

1. Fist you need to open your document in ONLYOFFICE Docs. There you will have access to ONLYOFFICE plugin marketplace from Plugin Manager, which you can find in Plugins tab.

2. There you will find AI plugin and select it by pressing the corresponding button.

Setup and configuration of the AI assistant

After installation, you need to configure this plugin which is also a very easy process:

1. The only thing you need to do is activate AI plugin by turning on its slider in the Background plugins section located next to Plugin Manager. In this way, a new tab, AI, will appear in the toolbar.

2. Then you need to go to the new AI tab and click the Settings icon. At that moment, the AI configuration menu will appear in front of you, from where you can add or select different AI models from different tasks. With a click on Edit AI models you can add an AI model from your list, simply press the + button and select one of the providers from the list in the Name field. In my example it is Mistral, but of course you feel free to choose whichever one you like or feel more comfortable using.

3. Then in the Key field you need to enter an API key which must be valid, but where can you find a valid API key? It is very easy, you can get it on the official website of your provider, or you can buy one because not all of them offer free API keys.

4. And now the only thing left for you is to select your preferred model from the list that appears. It may happen that you are not able to see this list, so I would advise you not to panic, but click on Refresh list models and in a few seconds you will be able to explore among the many options of AI models that ONLYOFFICE offers, but do not forget that you need to choose a model which is designed for OCR work.

5. Finally, you need to restore the model name in the Model name field. Here you need to be careful and check carefully in the Use model for section, that your model has the Visual Analysis model selected. This is very important because, if it is not selected, you will not be able to use OCR. to close, press OK you are done.

How to recognise an image in ONLYOFFICE

What differentiates ONLYOFFICE AI Plugin from other OCR tools is precisely the fact that it offers the OCR function in a very simplified way, making it possible for any teacher, but not only, to use it without any difficulty. The process involves only a few steps:

1. Open a document containing an image or a scanned page.

2. Then, select the part of the document or image from which you want to extract the text. And everything is ready. In just a few seconds, the Plugin displays the editable text, which can be copied, modified or saved in the desired format.

Also, there is a very special option for PDF files, located right in the AI ​​tab, that allows you to apply OCR in a very easy way, and directly on the open document.

Below you will find a video that explains more clearly and concisely how to use OCR in ONLYOFFICE Docs.

The most important point of this functionality is the full power over documents without having to switch to other platforms, which it offers to its users, including teachers. So the text extracted with OCR can be processed directly in ONLYOFFICE. Teachers can translate it into another language, summarize it with AI, format it for students or save it for archiving. And all this, teachers will be able to make a single working environment, without having to switch between different programs.

Example: Imagine a high school geography teacher who has a very old map saved in printed form and wants to make some changes and then distribute it to all the classes. He simply scans the document, opens it in ONLYOFFICE and uses the AI ​​Plugin to extract the text with OCR. In less than a minute, the test is turned into an editable Word document, ready for updating and customization. He edits it and then distributes it via email or an online learning platform.

For more information about ONLYOFFICE AI plugin (and other features), please visit the official ONLYOFFICE website.

Conclusion

Teaching these days is becoming increasingly difficult, which is why OCR technology has become an indispensable tool for teachers who are constantly looking for different ways to save time, improve the teaching experience, and much more. The tools that offer this technology are numerous, but the integration of ONLYOFFICE AI Plugin brings innovation and a completely different experience in the way documents should actually be treated in education, as ONLYOFFICE gives teachers the best tools to be as efficient, as creative, and as prepared for the teaching of the future.

From paper to digital: How OCR saves hours in digitizing teaching materials was originally published in ONLYOFFICE on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

As we all know, we live in a time when remote collaboration and, therefore, efficient document management have become priorities for every organization. That’s why ONLYOFFICE DocSpace presents itself as a highly efficient, modern, and innovative solution, as it successfully combines functionality, security, and flexibility in a single platform.

It’s worth mentioning that DocSpace is part of the broader suite of ONLYOFFICE solutions, and as a component of this ecosystem, it benefits from tight integration with desktop and mobile applications, thus offering a very centralized and synchronized work experience.

In short, ONLYOFFICE DocSpace is a dream come true for many users out there, as it aims to simplify communication and collaboration at every stage of working with documents as much as possible, together with high level of data security. For this reason, it follows an approach together with a wide range of advanced features.

What is DocSpace?

ONLYOFFICE DocSpace is a platform designed for document collaboration, built on the concept of “rooms.” This means that every document, project, or process can be organized in a completely separate and distinct space. This allows you to customize each room as you wish in terms of user management, roles, or access permissions. This gives teams exactly what they’ve always wanted: the ability to work in a focused, secure, and controlled way, regardless of the size or structure of the organization.

Also, the integrated ONLYOFFICE Docs suite makes it an unrivaled suite for online editing and collaboration, and as such, it supports a wide range of document formats, including:

• PDF files & fillable forms (with advanced editing and annotation functions)
• Text documents (.docx, .doc, .odt, .rtf, .txt and more)
• Spreadsheets (.xlsx, .xls, .ods, .csv and more)
• Presentations (.pptx, .ppt, .odp and more)
• Diagrams ( .vsdx )

Below, you can read more about the advantages and key features of the ONLYOFFICE DocSpace platform.

Simplified and customizable collaboration

One of DocSpace’s key advantages is its flexibility in collaboration. Users on this platform are free to create different types of rooms tailored to their specific needs, such as:

• Collaboration room, which is designed for real-time co-editing of all the documents you need. Working on documents with other people in your rooms, you can use the integrated chat, plugins for audio/video calls, and more.
• Public room, which aims to simplify sharing your documents via a public link with external people who are not registered or do not have an ONLYOFFICE DocSpace account.
• Form-filling room is the space where you can enjoy automatic data collection through PDF forms without any hassle.
• Virtual data room (VDR) allows smooth and uninterrupted collaboration on highly confidential documents.
• Custom room is the room where you can enjoy and explore a wide range of customization options, making it the most flexible space, used for various purposes such as document improvement, commenting, or form filling.
• Meeting room is the last but by no means least important. In this room, you will be able to find DocSpace’s integration with Zoom, through which online meetings will now be very easy and productive for all of you.

Each room is managed individually, giving users only the permissions they need, no more, no less.

But it doesn’t stop there. It’s also worth mentioning that DocSpace also has room templates available, which help you simplify your workflow, and you can create and save such a room with just a few clicks.

Flexible user roles and access permissions

And to wrap it up, I couldn’t leave out one of the most important advantages of ONLYOFFICE Docs. It offers you different user types and flexible access permissions:

1. DocSpace owner (paid) — since he is the owner of the account, he has the right to full control of DocSpace, including the management of administrators. So, in short, he manages everything and anything.
2. DocSpace admin (paid) — is the administrator, let’s call him, since he helps a lot in managing the multiple rooms of DocSpace but also its settings.
3. Room admin (paid) — is an administrator who has a more specialized and specific responsibility since he deals with the management and has full responsibility regarding specific rooms. Here he can also invite users who are not yet part of the room.
4. User (free) — is the user who in DocSpace only has the right to create and edit documents, but he must do this only within the room he is a part of.
5. Guest (free) (formerly User) — is the user who is invited by others to special rooms, and within them he has a very limited access.

Within each room, you can also assign various user roles depending on the room type. Each role has restrictions and can perform only specific operations with files, allowing you to flexibly manage access to your files. Some examples of user roles are Content creator, Editor, Reviewer, Commentator, Viewer, etc. Read this guide to learn more about DocSpace’s user roles and types.

Seamless editing and full format support

What connects Microsoft Office and DocSpace is precisely the fact that DocSpace has 100% compatibility with MO formats, but it is worth noting that it offers a very different document editing experience than MO. This is why the platform supports all major formats such as DOCX, XLSX, PPTX, PDF, ODT, Markdown, EPUB and more.

As for ONLYOFFICE Diagram Viewer, it currently supports viewing Microsoft Visio files in VSDX. This means users no longer need to worry about file conversion or format loss when working with DocSpace.

The platform also allows multiple users to edit documents simultaneously, including useful features like comments, version history, paragraph locking, and various collaboration modes.

Artificial intelligence — smarter document editing

In the editing and creation of documents in DocSpace, AI assistants also make a major contribution, representing the third key advantage of this platform. DocSpace, by offering great flexibility and full integration with OpenAI, Together AI, Mistral, Groq, Anthropic/Claude, Gemini, DeepSeek, Ollama, Stability AI, and LocalAI, has greatly assisted users in creating and improving content more quickly. It does so by suggesting reformulations, translations, grammar corrections, text generation, images, code, OCR and more.

This advanced technology brings a completely new dimension to document creation and editing by significantly reducing time and improving work quality.

Security comes first

Data security in a rapidly advancing technological world represents one of the most critical issues of our time. DocSpace, as an open-source solution, has taken this into serious consideration, offering an exceptionally high level of protection in an environment where cyberattacks and privacy breaches are increasingly on the rise. That’s why all documents, and more, on this platform are stored and transmitted using advanced encryption (AES‑256 and HTTPS/TLS), while administrators have full control over access policies.

Also, below you will be able to get acquainted with some of the security options that ONLYOFFICE DocSpace offers for data, rooms and the entire work environment:

1. Data security options

• Data encryption at rest and data encryption in transit
• Data backup and restore
• Watermarks on documents
• Restriction on downloading and copying of documents

2. Security options for DocSpace rooms

• Role and permission management (manager, creator, editor, viewer, form filler)
• Restriction of actions for users with specific roles (e.g. download ban for viewers)
• Activity history and monitoring
• Virtual data rooms (VDR) with enhanced security tools

3. Security Options for the whole platform

• Two-factor authentication (2FA) for platform login
• LDAP and Single Sign-On (SSO) integration
• IP-based access control and session duration
• Password management (complexity and change period)
• Monitoring and logging of activities in the environment
• Ability to log out of all active sessions

Expansion and integration with the tools you use every day

The ability to connect platforms and tools of all kinds into a single, functional ecosystem makes it possible to create or maintain a working environment that is easier, more efficient, and more collaborative. And it is precisely this philosophy on which DocSpace is built, to be open, flexible, and easy to integrate with the tools you use every day.

Users are completely free to integrate the platform with widely known and used services such as Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Slack, Gmail, Asana, Trello, Zoom, all supported via Zapier for seamless automation and connectivity.

Specifically, the integration of Zoom enables users to work productively and creatively during their online meetings. They are free to work on any type of document, spreadsheet, or presentation at the same time, without the need to leave their online meeting. All changes they make are automatically saved in a dedicated or separate room, ready for later access.

But of course, it should be mentioned that not only this integration but many others have been made possible only thanks to the ready-to-use connectors offered by the ONLYOFFICE team, which enable extremely easy connections not only with the Zoom platform and Zapier but also with WordPress, Drupal, Moodle, Pipedrive and monday.com.

The platform also offers system plugins and the ability to develop custom plugins, making it highly adaptable to the specific needs of any organization. DocSpace is not just a tool for collaboration and document management — it is a large and powerful platform, and this is precisely thanks to this integration.

DocSpace special edition for developers

ONLYOFFICE DocSpace also comes with a very special edition which is called DocSpace Developer, and it is entirely dedicated to developers. With an exceptionally expanded REST API and advanced support for Webhooks, this version makes it possible to fully customize workspaces and integrate DocSpace with external applications for all developers out there under their own brand. This means that all workspaces, and not just those, are fully customizable, with highly advanced control over user roles.

What truly makes this platform the best solution for creating and managing technical documentation is precisely the version control for documents and real-time editing. Access to logs and debugging tools are also features through which this edition offers a highly advanced development environment.

DocSpace provides developers with the opportunity to explore complete technical documentation, support for plugins and custom modules, and the ability to build solutions that fully meet their needs. Another advantage that this special edition has is the fact that developers can easily use ONLYOFFICE under their own brand, thus further personalizing their experience with DocSpace Developer.

With all these features and more, we can clearly see that this edition puts developers at the center, offering them an advanced, streamlined, and highly adaptable environment for building sophisticated solutions for managing various types of documents.

Simple and fair pricing

One of the most interesting advantages of DocSpace, which is its pricing model. Unlike other platforms where you pay various and often expensive fees, with DocSpace you have the possibility for every regular user and collaborator to be free. So, you only pay for administrators.

Below, you can also get acquainted with the pricing plans that ONLYOFFICE DocSpace offers:

1. STARTUP Cloud, which is free for all of you.
2. BUSINESS Cloud, which is perfect and economical for all types of businesses, costing only $20 per admin per month.
3. ENTERPRISE On-premises, which starts at $6,550 per server.

The Wallet feature allows you to purchase additional storage space in your DocSpace, ($0.14 per 1GB/month, minimum 100GB), if what you have is not enough for you.

These options, among others, make DocSpace the most affordable platform for teams and not only those who want to work in an organized way by navigating all the advantages and key features, but without high costs. Good, cheap, and full of collaboration, try it now in the cloud!

GREATE FREE ACCOUNT

Conclusion

If you are tired of the usual platforms out there and are looking for a new and innovative platform regarding the creation and management of your documents, ONLYOFFICE DocSpace is the solution you shouldn’t miss. This is because this platform excellently combines structure, security, advanced functionality, and a fair pricing model, four strong pillars that make it attractive both for individual users and for large organizations.

ONLYOFFICE DocSpace: A Platform that Brings Innovation to Document Collaboration was originally published in ONLYOFFICE on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

We invite enthusiasts, integrators, and writers to share their experiences with ONLYOFFICE. Whether you’ve streamlined a workflow, built a novel integration, or uncovered security best practices, your insights can help our community work smarter.

1. What we publish

We focus on content that helps our readers get the most out of ONLYOFFICE:

• How‑to guides and tutorials. E.g. “How to migrate from Google Workspace to ONLYOFFICE DocSpace”
• Integration walkthroughs. E.g. “Working on documents within Odoo”
• Feature deep dives and best practices. E.g. “8 tips to work with PDF in ONLYOFFICE Docs”
• AI‑powered workflows. E.g. “AI-powered document editing”
• Security and compliance overviews
• Design and visual content advice
• Success stories

Focus on teaching, illustrating, or inspiring.

We believe every idea counts — and if you know the answer, chances are someone out there is still asking the question. Whether it’s a clever workaround, a use case, or a vision for the future, your story might be just what someone needs.

2. Submission requirements

Aim for 800–1,500 words in English, clearly structured with headings, subheadings, and short paragraphs. Use:

• Screenshots or diagrams to clarify complex steps
• Inline code blocks or numbered lists for processes
• Citations for external data or references

Content must be original and not published elsewhere. While you may use AI tools to assist with research, grammar, or drafting, the article must reflect your own insights and experience — fully AI-generated content will not be accepted. Please review Medium’s rules before submitting.

3. How to join & submit

Pitch your idea. Send a one‑paragraph summary and a proposed outline to marketing@onlyoffice.com, include a link to your Medium profile or the email address associated with your Medium account.

Receive an invitation. If your topic aligns with our editorial calendar, we’ll invite you as a Writer to the ONLYOFFICE publication on Medium.

Draft your story. In your Medium dashboard, click “Write a story”, craft your article, then click “… → Add to publication” and select ONLYOFFICE → Submit.

Edit & approve. Our editors will review your draft, suggest revisions if needed, and publish it once it’s finalized. Please note that we reserve the right to decline submissions that do not align with our editorial guidelines, even after revisions.

4. After publication

If you’d like, we can include an “About the author” section with your bio, a link to your portfolio, your photo, and social media handles — just let us know when you submit your final draft.

We’ll share your piece across our channels — feel free to share it on your own networks and tag us.

We look forward to your contribution. For questions or to submit your pitch, contact marketing@onlyoffice.com.

Author guidelines for the ONLYOFFICE Medium publication was originally published in ONLYOFFICE on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.