Avid has released Sibelius 2025.3 across its desktop and mobile platforms. This is largely a maintenance release to refine some of the “decondensing parts” and hidden notes features introduced in Sibelius 2025.2, along with other bug fixes and improvements.
What’s new
Here’s what’s new in Sibelius 2025.3.
UI improvements to Staff Filters
When using Staff Filters in Panorama, the name of the Staff Filter will always be visible on the left, and the Staff Filter is now wider, giving more space to the music and not colliding with the blue instrument names and bar numbers.
Pitch Correction Tool
The Pitch Correction Tool on the Keypad now works for all notes in a passage selection, making it eaier to change pitches en masse. This is more relevant on the mobile platform where access to arrow keys isn’t assured, but it works on desktop as well.
Copying and pasting bar rests containing fermatas
Longtime Sibelius users may find this disorienting, but a welcome change is that fermatas and pauses are now pasted when copying bar rests that contain them.
Hidden notes
- When hiding a note within a unison and undoing it, Sibelius will now correctly undo the hide action rather than just changing the selection.
- The ability for hidden or filtered-out notes to be transposed both by the arrow keys and by the transpose function (Shift + T) is re-implemented. All other operations remain unchanged.
Tuplets
- Converting a passage of tuplets to Voice 2 no longer loses articulations.
- Attached text is no longer lost when converting a tuplet into another voice.
- Lyrics are no longer lost when using Alt+1,2,3,4 on a tuplet.
- Slurs are no longer lost when changing voice of a tuplet.
Flexi-time
- Reliability improvements when using a MIDI device after using Flexi-time.
- When selecting different staves in your score, Sibelius will now always choose the right sound when you next play your MIDI keyboard.
- The metronome click will no longer needlessly stay on after using Flexi-time.
Other fixes
There are more than 30 other fixes and modest improvements in Sibelius 2025.3. Among the highlights:
- A bug affecting the undo queue when using Re-Input Pitches has been fixed.
- The score no longer jumps around during note entry when in vertical page view.
- Right-click menu more reliable now. Sibelius will no longer slightly drag the score, allowing you to get the right-click menu when you need it. Also, objects moved with a right-click gesture are undoable.
- Systems no longer shift up when adjusting system spacing after Auto-Optimize is used.
- Notate Glissando now works regardless of the order of the selection you made to the music.
- Repeat bars now play back tremolos.
- Selection is no longer lost when using the dot key on the Keypad when you have a passage selection.
- The Header after first page text is no longer hidden when creating new Dynamic Parts.
- Various other bugs and crash sequences have been addressed.
For a complete list of fixes and improvements in Sibelius 2025.3, consult the official post about this release on Avid’s site.
Compatibility and availability
Sibelius 2025.3 uses the same file format as Sibelius 2025.2.
Sibelius 2025.2 used a new file format. Files saved directly in 2025.3 will not be able to be opened in an earlier version of Sibelius prior to 2025.2 without first exporting them in File > Export > Previous Version. If you’re collaborating with someone else that’s using a previous version, be sure to find out what version they’re using.
The Sibelius 2025.3 desktop update is free for all Sibelius users with active subscriptions and upgrade plans. The updated installers for desktop are available through users’ Avid accounts and through Avid Link.
The Sibelius 2025.3 iOS/iPadOS update and the Sibelius app for Android and Chromebook are available in the usual way, and will be delivered automatically, or, if you’ve disabled automatic updates, you can manually update the app on your device. Some of the features may only be available on the desktop version of Sibelius.
Typically our Scoring Notes coverage only extends to the Sibelius Ultimate version of the application. Not all features are available in all tiers of Sibelius.
A reminder that if you’re an existing Sibelius customer with an active support plan or subscription, you get the mobile version at the same tier at no extra charge. If you have a subscription to Sibelius Artist (mid-tier) on your Mac or PC, that will carry over to Sibelius Artist for Mobile, and the same for Sibelius Ultimate — a Mac or PC subscription allows you full access to Sibelius Ultimate on iPhone and iPad.
Learn more
For the latest information about compatibility for Sibelius, Dorico, and MuseScore, as well as links to the latest news and reviews about product releases, please see the Scoring Notes Product Guide.
Avid also has a “What’s New in Sibelius” page highlighting the features in recent Sibelius updates.
