Apache OpenOffice Community Forum

I am an Open Office newbie, transitioning from MS Office on an old Dell with Windows XP to a new Dell with Windows 8.1 and no other installed software. I get to install ONLY what I want, not what some MS or Dell professional geek thinks I want.

I decided to try Open Office because of MS's transition to an annual subscription format for their software - I am not a fan of that concept.

OK, here's my first issue. In Open Office, in the word processing subset, how do I turn OFF all automatic formatting in my default blank document? I generate a variety of correspondence, invoices, note sheets, etc., for business and personal use, and I want to format those the way I feel is best, without having to combat auto formatting popups. So, where is the OFF switch for auto formatting?

Thanks.

Greetings and welcome to the community forum!

Format > AutoFormat > While Typing: OFF covers most automatic changes.

For finer control, see Tools > AutoCorrect Options > Options ...

I just had horrible results trying to turn off automatic numbering, indention and bulleting for someone wanting to make their own document.
I would go through the settings and disable all the automatic(s) I could find and still have it automatically indent, and number only allowing per-instance disabling which would then screw up the thing that'd already been done and, if you backspace to repair the appearance it's all back in action again the next time you press return to get to the next line.

I dunno.. I've had to deal with this doing my own work and when under pressure at someone else's pc to try to fix what happened and disable it to only have it re-enable itself immediately is both embarassing and supremely frustrating.

I said maybe they should do it in notepad as I was unable to regain control of the situation and stop ooWriter from refusing to stop these automatic features .. 2024 and this should be clearly defined in Options to uncheck so it's a non-issue.

Note: It may be this does have an easy fix however with someone standing over me and not having to deal with this issue often/if ever aside from my own prior frustrations.. it did not clearly present itself.

You can turn off automatic numbering by selecting the menu Tools -> AutoCorrect Options, choosing the Options tab and removing the selection from Apply numbering - symbol