Toad for Oracle 2026 R2 Beta

[ButtonPusher]

We are pleased to announce the Toad for Oracle 2026 R2 beta

We encourage you to participate in the beta program to help us deliver a high quality product. This is your opportunity to participate in the development, direction, and testing of Toad for Oracle. By becoming a beta tester you will have direct access to the development team and product management via the Toad World forum.

How to join the Beta program:

1. Read the Beta Agreement. Downloading the Toad Beta constitutes usage agreement.
2. Install Toad for Oracle version 26 R1 for Windows first.
   a. This must be a licensed, non-trial version
   b. Run version 26.1 at least once before running the beta.
   c. Leave 26.1 installed. The beta does not replace it.
3. Download and install the beta (links below)
4. Please post suggestions or problem reports to this forum. The development team reads every post and typically responds very quickly.

Which version?

If you use a 32-bit Oracle client:

• Download/Update 32-bit Beta

If you use a 64 bit Oracle client (or no Oracle Client at all):

• Download/Update 64-bit Beta

Expiration and Release Schedule

• Each beta expires after 4 weeks
• New betas are released often, typically on Mondays. An indicator will appear on Toad's status bar when a new version is available. Click it to download and install the update (No need to remove the old beta first, just install the new one on top of it).
• Stay up to date with the latest beta and you'll be able to use it until the next version of Toad is officially released.

A note about Oracle clients:

• 12cR2 and 18c are the recommended client versions.
• 19c and 21c clients will work, but they leak memory with LOBs, and sometimes hang when cancelling queries against 11gR2 servers. The memory leak is not terribly severe, but something to be aware of. You can just restart Toad if/when you need to reclaim the leaked memory.
• 12cR1 and older clients don't handle XMLTYPE natively.

Toad's no-client option

• Uncheck the "Use Oracle Client" box on the login window to connect to the database without an Oracle client.
• Pros of no-client option:
  • No setup required
  • It is a bit faster than using a client.
  • Supported: LDAP, TNSNames.ora, TNS_ADMIN environment variable, Oracle Encryption and Data Integrity, Spool SQL, SSH, TCPS, IPV6, External authentication, and Oracle Wallet connections.
  • Can connect to every database version since 7.3!
  • Can connect to very old and very new database versions at the same time.
• Cons of no-client option:
  • Not supported: Oracle client style tracing/logging, proxy connections, Kerberos
  • If you don't have an Oracle client installed, of course you won't have their tools like SQL*Plus, DataPump, Import/Export, but if you have a client installed Toad can still use these tools, even if you run Toad in no-client mode.

What is this sorcery that Toad can connect to the database without an Oracle client?

• The Oracle client is just DLLs (and some other files) produced by Oracle that know how to connect to the database. Toad now contains code that can achieve the same thing. We did not compile Oracle DLLs inside of Toad, or package them together in any way.

The beta change log is below

[JohnDorlon]

Toad Beta Change Log

Toad Beta 26.2.32.8128, Released 9-March-2026
Bug Fixes

• Audit Objects: Privileges dialog incorrectly appears after lost connection
• Code Analysis: Object install dialog shows incorrect connect string in no-client mode
• Compare Databases: Recompare causes access violation on shutdown
• Compare Multiple Tables: Access violation if target DB not connected when window is opened
• Compare Multiple Tables: DB Links requiring double-quotes caused errors
• Compare Multiple Tables: LOBs not skipped when using DB Link if option to skip unsupported columns is selected
• Compare Schemas: Recompare causes access violation on shutdown
• Connections: "One/Toad" window setting caused connection to change when opening an already-open window
• Connections: Lost connection not handled well in SB-Tables-RHS data and stats tabs, and also export dataset
• Editor: Desktop toolbar gets larger over time
• Explain Plan: Create/Find table dialog staying on top of other apps
• Export Dataset: Fixed Field widths does not consider column name width for NUMBER datatype columns
• High DPI: Threaded query activity indicator did not scale
• Licensing: Exception needlessly raised on network timeout when restoring online status
• Schema Browser: RHS Constraints tab not showing constraint text after grid reset
• Schema Compare: Column datatype not compared in materialized views
• Session Browser: Access violation when manually resizing columns by right-click after making them not visible.
• Single Object Compare: Sync Script not enabled in Toad XPert edition
• TNSNames Editor: Does not handle files with errors as well as 25.3 and prior. Some TNSNames entries are missing, and errors not displayed on Syntax Check
• Toad on Mac: High DPI and SVG not displayed will with Toad color themes enabled

Enhancements

• Compare Multiple Tables: Provide a script to create ACL if needed to use DB Link
• Connections: Added "Bypass save prompts" in close connection confirmation dialog. Checking this is similar to what happens with fast shutdown. We just close the connection as quickly as possible and don't prompt to save your work
• Explain Plan: Added option to use Oracle's built in plan table by default, and use Toad's plan table only if Oracle's isn't found
• Misc: Edge Browser now used internally instead of Internet Explorer
• TNSNames Editor: Now identifies duplicate entries when you click "Syntax Check"
• Window captions: Add just "Database" as a caption text option

The change log for Toad version 26.1 is here