diff --git a/changelog.rst b/changelog.rst
index a160e4ab..eb2fe336 100644
--- a/changelog.rst
+++ b/changelog.rst
@@ -1,6 +1,30 @@
 ZoiteChat ChangeLog
 =================
 
+2.18.0~pre6 (2026-03-30)
+
+- Applied app theme CSS to the menubar consistently across the app.
+- Restored horizontal separator lines in menus.
+- Improved Windows installer VC++ redistributable handling by failing loudly when missing and using the official Microsoft download endpoint.
+- Fixed Windows locale path resolution in both GTK and text frontends.
+- Fixed duplicate dialog buttons persisting in the UI.
+- Fixed GTK auto-replace cursor snapback.
+- Restored hiding of formatting control bytes so only formatted output is shown.
+- Added one-click client SSL certificate tools, including generation with P-256 certificates.
+- Added client SSL certificate import support in the network editor.
+- Added 99-color support.
+- Fixed xtext link hit-testing coordinates.
+- Fixed short-palette fallback clobbering tab colors.
+- Lazy-loads Preferences pages on first open for faster dialog startup.
+- Removed unused UI icons.
+- Added a None option for resetting the GTK3 theme back to system/default behavior.
+- Added channel-only mode to Ctrl+F search.
+- Disabled disk info in sysinfo.
+- Wrapped the topic bar in a scroller with bounded height.
+- Added close buttons to tabs.
+- Fixed fallback GTK menu highlight states.
+- Applied configured font preferences to the topic bar, channel tree, user list, and input box.
+
 2.18.0~pre5 (2026-03-22)
 ------------------------
 - Overhauled preferences/config saving: fully staged and transactional, debounced
diff --git a/data/misc/net.zoite.Zoitechat.appdata.xml.in b/data/misc/net.zoite.Zoitechat.appdata.xml.in
index b9cebc92..d7aedde7 100644
--- a/data/misc/net.zoite.Zoitechat.appdata.xml.in
+++ b/data/misc/net.zoite.Zoitechat.appdata.xml.in
@@ -29,7 +29,47 @@
     <id>zoitechat.desktop</id>
   </provides>
 <releases>
-  <release date="2026-03-22" version="2.18.0~pre5">
+<release date="2026-03-30" version="2.18.0~pre6">
+  <description>
+    <p>GTK theme and UI:</p>
+    <ul>
+      <li>Applied app theme CSS to the menubar consistently across the app.</li>
+      <li>Restored horizontal separator lines in menus.</li>
+      <li>Fixed duplicate dialog buttons persisting in the UI.</li>
+      <li>Fixed GTK auto-replace cursor snapback.</li>
+      <li>Restored hiding of formatting control bytes so only formatted output is shown.</li>
+      <li>Fixed xtext link hit-testing coordinates.</li>
+      <li>Fixed short-palette fallback clobbering tab colors.</li>
+      <li>Added a None option for resetting the GTK3 theme back to system/default behavior.</li>
+      <li>Wrapped the topic bar in a scroller with bounded height.</li>
+      <li>Fixed fallback GTK menu highlight states.</li>
+      <li>Applied configured font preferences to the topic bar, channel tree, user list, and input box.</li>
+      <li>Removed unused UI icons.</li>
+      <li>Added close buttons to tabs.</li>
+    </ul>
+    <p>Preferences and search:</p>
+    <ul>
+      <li>Lazy-loads Preferences pages on first open for faster dialog startup.</li>
+      <li>Added channel-only mode to Ctrl+F search.</li>
+    </ul>
+    <p>Security and certificates:</p>
+    <ul>
+      <li>Added one-click client SSL certificate tools, including generation with P-256 certificates.</li>
+      <li>Added client SSL certificate import support in the network editor.</li>
+    </ul>
+    <p>Windows and packaging:</p>
+    <ul>
+      <li>Improved Windows installer VC++ redistributable handling by failing loudly when missing and using the official Microsoft download endpoint.</li>
+      <li>Fixed Windows locale path resolution in both GTK and text frontends.</li>
+    </ul>
+    <p>Other changes:</p>
+    <ul>
+      <li>Added 99-color support.</li>
+      <li>Disabled disk info in sysinfo.</li>
+    </ul>
+  </description>
+</release>
+<release date="2026-03-22" version="2.18.0~pre5">
     <description>
       <p>Preferences and config saving:</p>
       <ul>
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 4876784d..d255f95a 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 project('zoitechat', 'c',
-  version: '2.18.0~pre5',
+  version: '2.18.0~pre6',
   meson_version: '>= 0.55.0',
   default_options: [
     'c_std=c17',
diff --git a/plugins/python/python.py b/plugins/python/python.py
index 84b93b4f..30c59fc1 100644
--- a/plugins/python/python.py
+++ b/plugins/python/python.py
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ else:
 if not hasattr(sys, 'argv'):
     sys.argv = ['<zoitechat>']
 
-VERSION = b'2.18.0~pre5'
+VERSION = b'2.18.0~pre6'
 PLUGIN_NAME = ffi.new('char[]', b'Python')
 PLUGIN_DESC = ffi.new('char[]', b'Python %d.%d scripting interface' % (sys.version_info[0], sys.version_info[1]))
 PLUGIN_VERSION = ffi.new('char[]', VERSION)
diff --git a/win32/version.txt b/win32/version.txt
index 6814f843..4977304b 100644
--- a/win32/version.txt
+++ b/win32/version.txt
@@ -1 +1 @@
-2.18.0~pre5
+2.18.0~pre6