How LimeSurvey Cloud updates work (and finding your version)

How LimeSurvey Cloud updates work (and finding your version)

LimeSurvey is continuously developed, so "the latest version" changes regularly. Rather than tracking version numbers, it helps to understand how updates reach you — which depends on whether you use LimeSurvey Cloud or host LimeSurvey yourself.

Cloud instances update automatically

If you use LimeSurvey Cloud, you never need to install updates yourself. Your instance is updated and maintained by LimeSurvey, so you are always on a current, stable release — with no maintenance window to plan for.

This is the key difference from the self-hosted Community Edition (CE), where updating is your responsibility (see the section for self-hosted users below).

Finding your current version

To see which version your instance is running:

  1. Log in to your survey administration area.
  2. Look at the bottom-right corner of the admin interface.

You will see a version string such as "LimeSurvey Cloud Version X.Y.Z". This is useful when contacting support or checking whether a feature described elsewhere applies to your instance.

Where release information is published

Details about new releases are published on the LimeSurvey community website:

Why the interface may not match older articles

Because Cloud instances are updated automatically, the interface can change between major versions — menus, editors, and buttons may move or be redesigned. Articles in this knowledge base describe the current interface. If a screenshot or instruction does not match what you see, check your version string first; you may be reading guidance written for a different major version.

A note on importing surveys

Survey structure files are not forward-compatible: you cannot import a survey exported from a newer LimeSurvey version into an older installation. This mainly affects self-hosted users exchanging surveys with Cloud instances, since Cloud always runs a current release.

Self-hosted (Community Edition) users

If you host LimeSurvey yourself, updates are manual: download the latest release from the community downloads page, or use ComfortUpdate to update from within the admin interface. See the dedicated articles on manual updating and ComfortUpdate for step-by-step instructions.

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