Work with document files either imported from programs like MS Word, Excel and other office tools or created natively in formats like ODF or PDF compatible with modern and open standards. Editing, copying and incorporating data in databases is possible.
LibreOffice is an open-source free alternative to heavy commercial office suites like MS Office. While having generally the same functionality, LibreOffice is more open to modification and updates, making it a more attractive suite if you want a comfortable and adjustable tool for working with documentation.
LibreOffice consists of several tools capable of working with documents of any type, from standard Word files and Excel tables to presentations and Publisher files. There's a word processing and desktop publishing tool called Writer; spreadsheet program Calc; tool for creating effective multimedia presentations called Impress; a sketching tool named Draw; database manager Base; formula editor Math; advanced chart and diagram creator Charts. Every tool has all the features of an advanced editor for the kind of files you could work with. The tools work stable and fast, they are easy to use even if you're not an experienced user of office tools.
LibreOffice adds several unique features into its programming, such as the support for ODT documents and the ability to incorporate various plugins and extensions. You can always add new templates for various documents.
Open-source tools sometimes disappoint by being attempts to copy a licensed product. LibreOffice is different in that, it's a genuinely good product itself.
v24.2 [Jan 7, 2024]
Writer
- "Legal" ordered list numbering: make a given list level use Arabic numbering for all its number parts. tdf#150408 (Mike Kaganski, Collabora)
- Comments can now use styles, the "Comment" paragraph style being the default one. This makes it easier to modify the formatting of all comments at once, or to visually categorise different types of comments. tdf#103064 (Maxim Monastirsky)
-
Two comments with two different paragraph styles
- Improve first page headers/footers OOXML import: Use first page property in the existing page style instead of creating a new page style just for the first page. tdf#136472 (Tomaž Vajngerl, Collabora)
Navigator
- Linkable elements can now be drag-and-dropped from the Navigator onto a text selection to use the selection as the hyperlink text. tdf#156111 (Jim Raykowski)
- Nested Sections can now be collapsed just like Headings (tdf#158103) and can be hidden or made visible from their context menu (tdf#157681). (Jim Raykowski)
-
Collapsible subsections in the Navigator.
- In Outline Folding mode, the hidden headings are now greyed out in the Navigator instead of not being visible. tdf#156282 (Jim Raykowski)
-
Greyed-out hidden headings in Outline Folding mode
- Comments in a thread are now grouped in the Navigator. tdf#157729 (Jim Raykowski)
-
Two replies are grouped under the main comment.
Multi-page floating tables
Support for multi-page floating tables was improved in various aspects:
- Overlap control, border and footnotes: blog post (Miklos Vajna, Collabora)
- Nesting: blog post (Miklos Vajna, Collabora)
- Wrap on all pages: blog post (Miklos Vajna, Collabora)
- UI improvements: blog post (Miklos Vajna, Collabora)
Templates
- Templates with the required settings for Japanese text added to the Localization category. This increases interoperability with Microsoft Word for Japanese users. tdf#86483, core commit feeb3a46 (Jun Nogata)
-
Comparing LibreOffice Writer (left) and Microsoft Word (right)
New line break algorithm for interoperability
Since 2013, the non-proprietary, metric-compatible alternative fonts are no longer guaranteed the same paragraph layout, because MS Word 2013 and later introduced a new default line breaking algorithm for justified text. To fix the lost interoperability, the same algorithm has been implemented in Writer to reduce spaces within justified lines by up to 20%. tdf#119908 blog post (László Németh, donor: NLnet).
For example, the 2-page test document in Writer has been reduced to one page, just like in MS Word, as visible on the following composite image (red text typeset by MS Word, which covered by the black text typeset by LibreOffice Writer). After the development, the red MS Word text is visible only at high magnification next to the black Writer letters, as the line breaks are already exactly the same:
Note: used only for DOCX interoperability yet (including for ODT files which are converted from new DOCX files with space shrinking), but planned to be the default justification algorithm of the next major versions of LibreOffice.
Calc
- New search field in the Functions sidebar deck. tdf#122718 (Rafael Lima)
-
Search in Functions sidebar deck
- Number format: scientific format now supports and saves to ODF (tdf#153993 and tdf#156449 Laurent Balland)
o embedded text, with number format such as ###.000 E0
o lower case for exponent, with number format such as ###.000e0
o exponent with blank '?' instead of '0', with number format such as 0.00E+?0
- Font is live-previewed again: it is temporarily applied on the selected cell(s) by hovering or navigating in the font dropdown (sidebar or toolbar). tdf#158320 (Caolán McNamara, Collabora)
- Shortcuts to switch sheets now work to cycle from last to first (Ctrl + Tab ↹ or Ctrl + Page Down; ⌘ Cmd + Tab ↹ or ⌘ Cmd + Page Down) and vice versa (Ctrl + ⇧ Shift + Tab ↹ or Ctrl + Page Up; ⌘ Cmd + ⇧ Shift + Tab ↹ or ⌘ Cmd + Page Up;). tdf#156311 (Denis Sorotnik)
Column/Row Highlighting for Active Cell
- Highlight the row and column for the active cell. tdf#33201 (Sahil Gautam)
- Accessible through Tools ▸ Options ▸ LibreOffice Calc ▸ View, or through the menu entry View ▸ Column/Row Highlighting
