Writer Guide 24.8
Preface
This document is Copyright © 2024 by the LibreOffice Documentation Team. Contributors are listed below. This document may be distributed and/or modified under the terms of either the GNU General Public License (https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html), version 3 or later, or the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), version 4.0 or later. All trademarks within this guide belong to their legitimate owners.
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Jean Hollis Weber |
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Jean Hollis Weber |
Rafael Lima |
Kees Kriek |
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Bruce Byfield |
Gillian Polack |
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Published November 2024. Based on LibreOffice 24.8 Community.
Other versions of LibreOffice may differ in appearance and functionality.
LibreOffice is a feature-rich, free, and open source office suite. It includes several powerful applications for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases, and formula editing. Writer is the word-processing application. It is compatible with a wide range of document formats including Microsoft Word (.doc, .docx), and you can export your work in several formats including PDF.
Anyone who wants to get up to speed quickly with Writer will find this book valuable. You may be new to word processing software, or you may be familiar with another office suite.
This book introduces the main features of Writer, the word processor component of LibreOffice, and provides instructions for their use.
LibreOffice 24.8 requires one of the following operating systems:
Microsoft Windows: Windows 7 SP1 or 8 (both deprecated); Windows 10 or 11; Windows Server 2012 through 2022. Administrator rights are needed for the installation process.
GNU/Linux: Kernel version 4.18 or higher and glibc2 v2.27 or higher.
macOS 10.15 (Catalina) or higher.
For a detailed list of requirements and operating systems supported, see the LibreOffice website, https://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/system-requirements/.
Note regarding Java
Some LibreOffice features (wizards and the HSQLDB database engine) require that the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) or, for macOS, the Java Development Kit (JDK) is installed on your computer. If you do not want to use Java, you can still use nearly all of the LibreOffice features.
Java is available at no cost. More information and download links to the appropriate edition for your operating system can be found at: https://java.com/en/download/manual.jsp.
For macOS, you need to install Oracle’s Java Development Kit (JDK), not just the Java Runtime Environment (JRE). Download links can be found at: https://www.oracle.com/java/technologies/downloads/.
Versions of LibreOffice Community for Windows, Linux, and macOS are freely available and can be downloaded from https://www.libreoffice.org/download. Linux users will also find a free version of LibreOffice included by default in the majority of Linux distributions. Windows and macOS users can also buy versions through the Microsoft Store or Apple’s Mac App Store. Portable and other versions of LibreOffice are listed on the download page. Linux, Enterprise, Online, and other versions may differ in appearance and functionality from the descriptions in this book.
Information on installing and setting up LibreOffice on the various supported operating systems is given here: https://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/install-howto/.
You can change the default settings (options) in LibreOffice to suit your preferences. To change settings, go to Tools > Options on the Menu bar (LibreOffice > Preferences on macOS). Settings are described in the Help and in the Getting Started Guide. Some settings of particular interest to users of Writer are covered in Chapter 20, Customizing Writer, in this book.
Tip
Many settings are intended for power users and programmers. If you do not understand what an option does, we recommend leaving it on the default setting unless instructions in this book recommend changing the setting.
You can customize menus, toolbars, and keyboard shortcuts in LibreOffice, add new menus and toolbars, and assign macros to events. See Chapter 20, Customizing Writer, for details.
You can add functionality to LibreOffice with extensions and add-ons. Several extensions are installed with the program and you can get others from the official extensions repository, https://extensions.libreoffice.org/ and from other sources. See Chapter 20, Customizing Writer, for more information on installing extensions and add-ons.
This book, the other LibreOffice user guides, the Help system, and user support systems assume that you are familiar with your computer and basic functions such as starting a program, opening and saving files.
LibreOffice comes with an extensive online Help system. This is your first line of support. Windows and Linux users can choose to download and install the offline Help for use when not connected to the Internet; the offline Help is installed with the program on macOS.
To display the Help system, press F1 or select Help > LibreOffice Help on the Menu bar. If you do not have the offline help installed on your computer and you are connected to the Internet, your default browser will open the online Help pages on the LibreOffice website.
The Help menu includes links to other LibreOffice information and support resources. Notice that options marked with a ‡ sign are only accessible if your computer is connected to the Internet.
What's This? For quick tips when a toolbar is visible, place the mouse pointer over any of the icons to see a small box (“tooltip”) with a brief explanation of the icon’s function. For a more detailed explanation, select Help > What's This? and hold the pointer over the icon. In addition, you can choose whether to activate Extended Tips using Tools > Options > LibreOffice > General. (macOS: LibreOffice > Preferences > LibreOffice > General) on the Menu bar.
User Guides ‡ Opens your default browser at the Documentation page of the LibreOffice website https://documentation.libreoffice.org/en/. There you will find user guides (to download as free PDFs or buy as printed copies) and other information.
Show Tip of the Day Opens a small window with a random tip on how to use LibreOffice.
Search Commands Opens a window where you can type a few letters or the name of a Menu bar command, to quickly find where the command is located. Clicking on a command in the resulting list may open a relevant dialog or have other effects.
Get Help Online ‡ Opens your default browser at the Ask LibreOffice forum of questions and answers from the LibreOffice community https://ask.libreoffice.org/c/english/5.
Send Feedback ‡ Opens your default browser at the Feedback page of the LibreOffice website https://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/feedback/. From there you can report bugs, suggest new features and communicate with others in the LibreOffice community.
Restart in Safe Mode Opens a dialog where you can restart LibreOffice and reset the software to its default settings.
Get Involved ‡ Opens your default browser at the Get Involved page of the LibreOffice website, https://www.libreoffice.org/community/get-involved/. There you can choose a topic of interest to help improve the program.
Donate to LibreOffice ‡ Opens your default browser at the Donation page of the LibreOffice website https://www.libreoffice.org/donate.
License Information Outlines the licenses under which LibreOffice is made available.
Check for Updates ‡ Opens a dialog and checks the LibreOffice website for updates to your version of the software.
About LibreOffice Opens a dialog and displays information about the version of LibreOffice and the operating system you are using. This information will often be requested if you ask the community for help or assistance with the software. (On macOS, this option is found under LibreOffice on the Menu bar.)
The LibreOffice community not only develops software, but provides free, volunteer-based support. See Table 1 and this web page: https://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/.
For comprehensive online support from the community, look at mailing lists and the Ask LibreOffice website, https://ask.libreoffice.org/c/english/5. Other websites run by users also offer free tips and tutorials.
Table 1: Free support for LibreOffice users
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Free LibreOffice support |
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FAQs |
Answers to frequently asked questions |
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Mailing lists |
Free community support provided by a network of experienced users |
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Questions & Answers and |
Free community assistance is provided in a question and answer format. Search similar topics or ask a new question in https://ask.libreoffice.org/c/english/5 The service is available in several other languages; replace /en/ with de, es, fr, ja, ko, nl, pt, tr, and others in the address above. |
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Native language support |
The LibreOffice website in various languages Mailing lists for native languages Information about social networking |
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Accessibility options |
Information about available accessibility options. https://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/accessibility/ |
You can also pay for support through service contracts from a vendor or consulting firm specializing in LibreOffice. For information about certified professional support, see The Document Foundation’s website: https://www.documentfoundation.org/professional-support/.
For schools, educational and research institutions, and large organizations, see https://www.libreoffice.org/download/libreoffice-in-business/.
LibreOffice runs on Windows, Linux, and macOS operating systems, each of which has several versions and can be customized by users (fonts, colors, themes, window managers). The illustrations in this guide were taken from a variety of computers and operating systems. Therefore, some illustrations will not look exactly like what you see on your computer display.
Also, some of the dialogs may be different because of the settings selected in LibreOffice. You can either use dialogs from your computer’s operating system or from LibreOffice. The differences affect mainly Open, Save, and Print dialogs. To change which dialogs are used, go to Tools > Options > LibreOffice > General (macOS: LibreOffice > Preferences > LibreOffice > General) and select or deselect the option Use LibreOffice dialogs.
The LibreOffice community has created icons for several icon themes: Breeze, Colibre, Elementary, Karasa Jaga, Sifr, and Sukapura; some are also available in a dark version. As a user, you can can select your preferred theme. The icons in this guide have been taken from a variety of LibreOffice installations that use different icon themes. The icons for some of the many tools available in LibreOffice may differ from the ones used in this guide.
To change the icon theme used, go to Tools > Options > LibreOffice > View. In the Icon Theme section, choose from the drop-down list.
Note
Some Linux distributions include LibreOffice as part of the installation and may not include all the icon themes mentioned above. You should be able to download other icon themes from the software repository for your Linux distribution.
The Galaxy, Oxygen, and Tango icon themes are no longer included as part of the standard installation package for Windows, macOS, or Linux. You can download and install them as extensions from https://extensions.libreoffice.org/.
Note
Some of the previously included gallery sets are now available only as extensions. For example, the People Gallery is available from https://extensions.libreoffice.org/en/extensions/show/people-gallery
Some keystrokes and menu items are different on macOS from those used in Windows and Linux. The table below gives some common substitutions for the instructions in this chapter. For a more detailed list, see LibreOffice Help.
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Windows or Linux |
macOS equivalent |
Effect |
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Tools > Options |
LibreOffice > Preferences |
Access setup options |
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Right-click |
Control+click and/or right-click depending on computer setup |
Opens a context menu |
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Ctrl (Control) |
⌘ (Command) |
Used with other keys |
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Alt |
⌥ (Option) or Alt, depending on keyboard |
Used with other keys |
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F11 |
⌘+T |
Open Styles deck in Sidebar |
How is LibreOffice licensed?
May I distribute LibreOffice to anyone? May I sell it? May I use it in my business?
How many computers may I install it on?
Do I need Java to run LibreOffice?
How can I contribute to LibreOffice?
May I distribute the PDF of this book, or print and sell copies?
This book has been updated from LibreOffice 24.2 Writer Guide. It covers some of the changes that are visible in the LibreOffice Writer user interface, including:
Width of Comment pane can now be adjusted.
Bullets used in the document can be selected in the Unordered List dropdown.
New features in the Navigator.
New hyphenation features.
Hyperlink tab was removed from character properties; use the Hyperlink dialog instead.
Formatting aid: to enclose selected text with parentheses, square brackets, curly braces or quotation marks, press the opening character.
Table Alignment and Left/Right spacing can be changed via the Sidebar.
New Find deck in Sidebar lists results of a quick search along with their context.
Improved support for multi-page floating tables.
Organizer page in style dialogs now named General page.
And more; see the Release Notes.
LibreOffice 24.8 Community also includes many other changes, including:
Improved support for multi-page floating tables.
Accessibility improvements.
Improvements in interoperability with Microsoft’s proprietary file formats.
“Legal” ordered list numbering: DOC and RTF support.
Release Notes are here: https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/ReleaseNotes/24.8