Joomla 6.2: what's new and when it lands

Joomla 6.2 is due on or about 13 October 2026, and as of 24 September 2026 it is in beta with its feature list frozen. The main additions are OAuth 2.0 sign-in for SMTP mail, a language fallback chain, a link picker and a native Readmore button in the TinyMCE editor, and sub-category images. One planned feature, secure preview links for unpublished articles, was pulled before release. The system requirements do not change from 6.1. This post will be updated when 6.2 ships. Until then, the beta is for testing only, and you can spin up a Joomla test site on 6.1 to get familiar with the line it builds on.

When is Joomla 6.2 released?

Joomla 6.2 is planned for 13 October 2026. Every 6.2 release post from the Joomla Project says it “will be released on or about 13th October 2026” and adds that “dates may be subject to change depending on the availability of volunteers.” The Joomla Project Roadmap, last updated on 17 September 2026, schedules Release Candidate 1 for 29 September 2026. As of 24 September 2026 the latest published build is Beta 3.

After the stable release, the roadmap plans patch releases 6.2.1 on 24 November 2026 through 6.2.4 on 30 March 2027. The same 13 October date is also when Joomla 5 loses regular bugfix support, which our explainer on Joomla 5 end of life covers date by date.

What is new in Joomla 6.2?

The 6.2 changes focus on mail, languages, and the editor. The list below comes from the Joomla Project’s “Joomla 6.2 Beta 1: the next phase starts now” and “Joomla 6.2 Beta 2: test test test!” posts from August and September 2026, with the pull request behind each change. The Beta 3 post confirms that “no new features will be implemented” from here on.

• OAuth 2.0 for SMTP mail.Beta 2 says “Joomla can now use OAuth 2.0 authentication when sending email via SMTP,” for providers such as Microsoft 365 and Google. Joomla keeps a refresh token instead of your mail password. You choose it as the SMTP authentication method in Global Configuration, on the Server tab (PR #48290).
• Language fallback chain. When a string is missing in one language, Joomla can now look it up in a configurable fallback language, per string and in a chain, so Swiss German can fall back to German before English (PR #47933). It is set in the Languages options.
• Link picker in the editor.TinyMCE gains a “Browse links” dialog for articles, contacts, menu items, and media, and extensions can add their own link sources (PR #48138).
• Native Readmore button. A real TinyMCE plugin replaces the old readmore handling and disables itself when an article already has one (PR #48236). Existing sites need to reload a toolbar preset to see the button.
• TinyMCE 8.8.2. The editor library moves up from 8.6.0 (PR #48215).
• Sub-category images. Category List, Category Blog, Contacts, and News Feeds views can now show sub-category images, hidden by default (PR #48196).
• Security flag for extension updates.An extension’s update feed can mark a release with a security severity, which Joomla shows as a badge in the update list and on the dashboard (PR #48127).

Smaller changes, per the Beta 1 and Beta 2 posts, include TinyMCE following Joomla’s own text filter by default, separate intro text and full text fields in the Web Services API, clearer SVG upload errors, and a custom support link in the admin menu. For what came before, see what is new in Joomla 6.1.

What was pulled from Joomla 6.2?

Secure preview links for unpublished articles were pulled. The feature let an editor share a signed link to a draft article, and it was merged for Beta 1 (PR #48030). It was then reverted in Beta 2 by PR #48325, merged on 31 August 2026, because the preview token relied on the site’s configuration “secret” value, which is not truly secret. It is not in 6.2, and no later release has been confirmed for it.

Does Joomla 6.2 change the system requirements?

No. As of 24 September 2026 the Joomla manual’s technical requirements page for 6.2 lists exactly the same figures as the page for Joomla 6.1. Joomla publishes three columns: an absolute minimum, the lowest officially supported version, and a recommended version.

If a site runs Joomla 6.1 today, its server already meets 6.2. The one to watch is still PHP: 8.3.0 is both the minimum and the lowest supported version, so there is no leeway below it. Our guide to Joomla system requirements explains all three columns.

Is Joomla 6.2 backward compatible?

Joomla 6.2 is a minor release, so it is meant to stay backward compatible with 6.1. The manual’s “6.1 to 6.2” update notes do not list any new deprecations or removals. The release posts and pull requests do mark two deprecations for developers: the CMS Crypt package is deprecated in favour of the framework’s Crypt package (PR #47443), and the Web Services API’s old combined article text field is deprecated for removal in Joomla 8.0, per the Beta 1 post.

The Joomla Project is asking extension developers to check their work now. Beta 3 says it wants developers to “test their extensions with Joomla 6.2” and report problems at issues.joomla.org. Editor-level changes such as the new Readmore button and the default text filter are the most likely place for a custom setup to notice a difference. For a method, see how to test a Joomla extension online.

How do you test the Joomla 6.2 beta safely?

Put the beta on a site you can throw away. The Joomla 6.2 Beta 3 announcementis explicit that “this beta version of Joomla 6.2 is not suitable for production sites.” The 6.2.0 Beta 3 release on GitHub includes an update package, which Joomla’s own updater can apply to an existing 6.1 site:

1. Open a disposable Joomla 6.1 site. Spin up a clean Joomla 6.1 test site on PHP 8.3 or 8.4. The beta is not for production, so it belongs on a site you can throw away.
2. Download the 6.2 update package. From the Joomla 6.2.0 Beta 3 release on GitHub, download the file named Joomla_6.2.0-beta3-Beta-Update_Package.zip.
3. Apply it with Upload & Update. In the administrator, go to System, then Update, then Joomla, open the Upload & Update tab, and upload the package. The site updates in place to the beta.
4. Try the new features and report bugs. Set up a language fallback, open the new link picker in TinyMCE, and check your extensions. Report anything broken at issues.joomla.org before the stable release.

A throwaway site also makes the Release Candidate easy to try when it lands on 29 September: open a fresh 6.1 site and repeat the steps with the new package. The same habit works for every update, as our guide on how to test a Joomla update before going live explains.

Should Joomla 5 sites wait for Joomla 6.2?

It is a reasonable plan if you are not in a hurry. Joomla 6.2 arrives on the same day that Joomla 5 bugfix support ends, 13 October 2026, and Joomla 5 keeps security fixes until 12 October 2027 (Joomla Project Roadmap). A cautious option is to let the new minor release reach its first patch, planned as 6.2.1 on 24 November 2026, before moving production.

You do not have to wait for 6.2 to test the Joomla 6 upgrade. You can test it today. Our guide to upgrading Joomla 5 to 6 covers the steps, and the comparison of Joomla 5 vs Joomla 6 covers what changes for templates and extensions.

Conclusion

Joomla 6.2 is planned for 13 October 2026, with Release Candidate 1 due on 29 September. It brings OAuth 2.0 mail, a language fallback chain, a link picker and native Readmore button in TinyMCE 8.8.2, sub-category images, and security flags for extension updates. Secure article previews were pulled. The requirements are the same as 6.1, nothing is removed, and the two deprecations only affect developers. Try the beta on a copy, not on production. The free Joomla test site guide covers every way to get one, and the quickest takes one click.

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