Writer Guide 7.3
Preface
This document is Copyright © 2022 by the LibreOffice Documentation Team. Contributors are listed below. You may distribute it and/or modify it 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 |
Kees Kriek |
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Jean Hollis Weber |
Rafael Lima |
Kees Kriek |
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Bruce Byfield |
Gillian Polack |
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Please direct any comments or suggestions about this document to the Documentation Team’s mailing list: documentation@global.libreoffice.org
Note
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Published March 2022. Based on LibreOffice 7.3.
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 7.3 requires one of the following operating systems:
Microsoft Windows: Windows 7 SP1; Windows 8, 10, or 11; Windows Server 2012. Administrator rights are needed for the installation process.
GNU/Linux: Kernel version 3.10 or higher and glibc2 v2.17 or higher.
macOS 10.12 (Sierra) 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/.
If you want to use LibreOffice features that require Java, it is important that the correct 32-bit or 64-bit edition matches the installed version of LibreOffice. See the Advanced Options in Chapter 2, Setting up LibreOffice.
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 version of LibreOffice included by default in the majority of Linux distributions. 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 Chapter 2, Setting up LibreOffice, in the Getting Started Guide. Some settings of particular interest to users of Writer are covered in Chapter 20, Setting up 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/en/questions/.
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://donate.libreoffice.org/.
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/en/questions/. 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 is provided by a network of experienced users |
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Questions & Answers and |
Free community assistance is provided in a question & answer format. Search similar topics or ask a new question in https://ask.libreoffice.org/en/questions The service is available in several other languages; just replace /en/ with de, es, fr, ja, ko, nl, pt, tr, and many others in the web 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/gethelp/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 and select or deselect the option Use LibreOffice dialogs.
The LibreOffice community has created icons for several icon sets: 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 set. The icons in this guide have been taken from a variety of LibreOffice installations that use different sets of icons. The icons for some of the many tools available in LibreOffice may differ from the ones used in this guide.
To change the icon set used, go to Tools > Options > LibreOffice > View. In the Icon Style 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 sets mentioned above. You should be able to download other icon sets from the software repository for your Linux distribution.
The Galaxy, Oxygen, and Tango icon sets 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/en/extensions/.
Note
Some of the previously included gallery sets are now available only as extensions; see https://extensions.libreoffice.org/?Tags%5B%5D=49 or search for specific ones. 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 the application 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?
LibreOffice 7.3 Community includes many changes not visible in the user interface. These changes include further improvements in interoperability with Microsoft’s proprietary file formats, including new features targeted at users migrating from Microsoft Office to LibreOffice, or exchanging documents between the two office suites. These improvements include:
New handling of change tracking in tables and when text is moved.
Performance improvements when opening large DOCX and XLSX/XLSM files, improved rendering speed of some complex documents, and new rendering speed improvements when using the Skia back-end introduced with LibreOffice 7.1.
Improvements to import/export filters.
ScriptForge libraries, which make it easier to develop macros, have been extended with various features.
In addition, LibreOffice’s Help has been improved to support all users, with particular attention for those switching from Microsoft Office.
More information is in the announcement:
https://blog.documentfoundation.org/blog/2022/02/02/libreoffice-73-community/.
Release Notes are here: https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/ReleaseNotes/7.3.
This user guide has been updated from Writer Guide 7.2. It covers changes that are visible in the LibreOffice Writer user interface and additional information from earlier releases, including:
Enhancements to Track Changes (Chapter 3). More details are in the Release Notes.
Added details about the Print dialog in macOS (Chapter 7).
Updated details about Templates dialog (Chapter 10).
Updated list terminology in Chapter 11 and anywhere else lists are mentioned.
Minor rewording and replacement figures in several chapters.