Five-Year Support: Ubuntu Unveils Final Release Schedule for 26.04 LTS Edition

The article reports that Ubuntu 26.04 LTS will enter its feature freeze on 19 February 2026, with the final stable release scheduled for 23 April 2026, marking the start of a five-year support cycle lasting through 2031. It notes that users on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS or Ubuntu 25.10 will receive the new LTS update at different times, with 25.10 users able to upgrade immediately after the release and 24.04 LTS users waiting until 26.04.1 LTS becomes available.

The detailed release timeline also includes a March 12 2026 user interface freeze, a March 19 2026 kernel feature freeze, a March 23 2026 beta freeze, and a 26 March 2026 beta release. The article further lists a 9 April 2026 kernel freeze and an 16 April 2026 final freeze and release candidate phase, preceding the 23 April 2026 official release, followed by an 6 August 2026 official release of 26.04.1 LTS. It explains that 24.04 LTS users will need to wait longer for the 26.04.1 upgrade, requiring a degree of patience for those on the current LTS branch.