Everything You Need To Know About The Umbraco 16 Release
Umbraco 16 was released on the 12th of June 2025 and has brought about some exciting changes.
This update focuses on further evolving the Umbraco 14’s back office user experience in ways that will continue to make the editing experience smoother, faster and easier for you!
Whether you’re an editor, developer, or administrator, there’s plenty to get excited about, and, in this blog we’ll dive into the details and explore what they could mean for you.
As mentioned in the last release, Umbraco is transitioning to using Tiptap Rich Text Editor (as opposed to the previous TinyMCE Rich Text Editor).
Tiptap is built on an open-source framework that's focused on flexibility and customisation. This allows for personalisation of everything from toolbar options to advanced features such as version history.
This change will be particularly beneficial for teams with specific editing needs, as features can be added as extensions, allowing the editor to be tailored for more unique workflows and particular requirements. It even allows for collaborative editing!
When upgrading to Umbraco 16, any TinyMCE Rich Text Editors will be automatically upgraded. You’ll instantly be able to access this new editing experience, with all the essential features you know and love, along with many new options to tailor the experience even further.
Umbraco 16 implements all the refinements from a number of Umbraco 15 sub-releases. For example, clipboard support for blocks, warnings for referenced content and drag and drop for media have all been added to make the editing experience more seamless.
One new standout feature is Property Value Presets, which allows initial values for properties to be added when new documents are created. These can be created with custom logic that will allow a more streamlined editing experience, such as the current date being selected automatically.
Umbraco 16 introduces enhanced property level permissions, allowing for documents or even properties to be read-only or even hidden. This new level of control allows for important content to be restricted to ensure only authorised editors can view or modify them.
When upgrading, existing read/write permissions will be preserved for users. Administrators can then configure the new granular permissions specifying which user groups have access to read and write the individual document types and properties. It is important to note that this change is currently designed to streamline the content management experience and not as a security update at this stage.
Finally, what we’re most excited about in this update is the return of content segments to Umbraco!
A key focus for Umbraco 16 has been bringing content segments back to the CMS, Content Segments will work similarly to language variants, enabling you to target the same content to specific audience groups, such as VIP members. This allows for highly targeted content delivery or for marketing features such as personalisation and A/B testing (Through Umbraco Engage).
By utilising content segments with Umbraco Engage, you can precisely target your content. This targeted approach can directly benefit your business, helping you achieve improved engagement, creating higher conversion rates and driving a stronger connection with your audience.
Umbraco 16 will start to bring about more consistent webhooks in future release candidates. These will make it easier for your websites to be automated, scaled and futureproofed during development.
If you're as excited about Umbraco 16 as we are and you're considering upgrading your current site or rebuilding onto the Umbraco platform, we'd love to help so get in touch with us!