Module 6d · Switching from Microsoft Office
Your Word and Excel files are still your files. LibreOffice opens them with a double-click, no conversion needed, and saves them back in a format your Windows colleagues open as usual. This module covers the four everyday moves: opening files, understanding the small display differences, saving for others, and spotting the first-week surprises.
By the end of this module, you will know how to:
- Open a
.docxor.xlsxfile with a double-click, with nothing to convert first - Explain why a document can look slightly different, and why its content is intact
- Save in Word or Excel format for your Windows colleagues, and set those formats as the default via Tools → Options
- Spot the four habits that change: the format dialog, the Tab key in Calc, paste special, and Track Changes
Opening a Word or Excel file: just double-click
A colleague sends you report.docx or budget.xlsx. Double-click it, the same way you always have. The file opens straight into LibreOffice. Nothing to convert, nothing to import, no copy to make: you work in the original file.
| You receive | Opens in | The equivalent of |
|---|---|---|
| report.docx | LibreOffice Writer | Microsoft Word |
| budget.xlsx | LibreOffice Calc | Microsoft Excel |
Nothing to install, nothing to convert
LibreOffice is already on your machine and reads Microsoft formats directly. You edit the document, save it, and send it back. It is the same move as on Windows.
Why the document looks slightly different
Sometimes a detail changes when a file opens: a slightly different font, a heading that wraps one word earlier, spacing that sits a little wider. This is normal, and here is why.
Recent Word documents often use the Calibri and Cambria fonts, which belong to Microsoft and do not ship with Linux. LibreOffice swaps in very close substitutes, designed to take up the same width. On screen, the difference usually amounts to a few shifted line breaks.
The real limits sit elsewhere, and they are rare in everyday work: complex SmartArt diagrams can lose their layout, and macros written for Word or Excel do not always run. For the letters, reports, memos and tracking sheets of daily ministry work, you will not see a difference.
The content is intact
Text, tables, images, comments, tracked changes: it is all there. The display differences are cosmetic. Nothing is lost, and the file stays readable in Word.
Saving so your Windows colleagues can open your files
Your colleagues on Word and Excel need to open what you send them. Two settings cover it.
For a one-off file: go to File → Save As, then pick the Word (.docx) or Excel (.xlsx) format in the file type list. The document then opens on your colleague's machine like any other Office file.
If your team lives in Microsoft formats: set LibreOffice once and forget it. Go to Tools → Options → Load/Save → General, then under "Always save as", choose Word (.docx) for text documents and Excel (.xlsx) for spreadsheets. Every save will use the Microsoft format, with no question each time.
The four small surprises of the first days
Four habits change slightly. Here they are, so nothing stops you.
The "Keep current format?" dialog
When you save a .docx or .xlsx file, LibreOffice asks whether to keep the Word/Excel format or switch to its own. Click "Use Word format!" (or Excel): your file stays compatible with your colleagues. It is not an error, just a question. The setting from the previous section makes it disappear.
Calc completes what you type
When you type text in a column that looks like a cell you have already filled in, Calc suggests the rest of the word, highlighted. Enter or Tab accepts the suggestion, Delete removes it. Excel does this too, but more quietly: the highlight surprises people in the first days, then saves time.
Paste special has a different shortcut
To paste without formatting, the shortcut is Ctrl+Shift+V (in Office you may have known Ctrl+Alt+V). A small dialog lets you choose: text only, values, everything. The Edit → Paste Special menu gets you there too.
Track Changes has moved
In Word, it lives on the Review tab. In Writer, it is the Edit → Track Changes menu. Turn on "Record Changes" and work as usual: your corrections show up for your colleagues in Word, and theirs show up for you.
Your Office files are already at home in LibreOffice. Double-click to open, Word or Excel format on save, and your exchanges with Windows colleagues carry on as before.