LibreOffice is an open-source, free software utilized by millions of people around the world. It is pre-installed in most Linux distributions. Its user-friendly interface and advanced features help to enhance work efficiency and also allow the user to customize its default look and feel as per requirements.
This post provides a deep insight to change the default LibreOffice look and feel with the following highlights:
How to Change the Default LibreOffice Look and Feel?
LibreOffice is a versatile tool that comes with several applications like “Writer (word processing)”, “Impress (presentations)”, “Calc (spreadsheets)”, “Draw (vector graphics and flowcharts)”, and many others.
This section shows the possible ways to customize the default LibreOffice and its application’s look and feel.
Change LibreOffice User Interface
The default LibreOffice user interface is the “Standard Toolbar” which seems to be traditional and old as compared to other tools:
Now it introduces a variety of user interfaces from which “Tabbed” is recommended. It obsoletes the main menu and displays all functions in tabs.
Follow the below steps to change the default LibreOffice interface to “Tabbed” or user choice:
- First, hit the “View” tab present in the “Menu” bar and select the “User Interface” option from the drop-down list.
- Mark tick on the “Tabbed” user interface. It asks only to open LibreOffice applications i.e “LibreOffice Writer” or all. Here we clicked on “Apply to all”.
Now the user interface has been changed from the default “Standard Toolbar” to “Tabbed”.
Change LibreOffice Toolbar Look
The user can also customize the “Toolbar” layout by adding, re-arranging, and removing icons from it. It can also be easily done using some essential steps:
- Access the “View” tab and tap open up the “Toolbars” options list.
- Select the desired options as per requirements and it will automatically be applied to the “Toolbar” layout:
In addition, the default location of the Toolbar can also be changed. To perform this task open the “hamburger” menu located at the edge of the toolbar:
Right-Click on it select the “Undock” option, and deselect the “Lock Toolbar position” as shown in the image:
Drag and drop from the mouse to place the “Toolbar” at the new location i.e left side of the LibreOffice window:
Change LibreOffice Menu Content
Apart from Toolbar, the “Menu” bar of LibreOffice can also be changed to the default look. Follow these steps to modify the LibreOffice “Menu” bar content:
- Press the “Tools” tab and move on to the “Customize” option from the generated list.
- From the “Customize” window, navigate to the “Target” area whose content needs to be changed by using the “Customize” options “Insert”, and “Modify”:
Here we have added a new submenu “Export as Doc” in the “Export as” option of the “File” tab:
Change LibreOffice Icons Style
The default LibreOffice icon style look is traditional and minimalist. However, it can be unique by customizing quickly and instantly by following the below-mentioned steps:
- Open up the “Options” window by hitting the “Options” from the “Tools” tab drop-down list
- Navigate to the “Icon Style” section located in the “View” option.
- Select the icon style of your own choice and hit the “OK” button.
In this scenario, the “Icon style” has been changed from the default “Automatic(Yaru)” to “Breeze(dark)”.
Change LibreOffice Theme and Colors
The “Theme” plays an important role to represent the look and feel of any software application. Just Like other applications LibreOffice also provides a wide range of themes to customize its default look. To change the LibreOffice theme and its colors read our detailed article “How to Enable Dark Mode in LibreOffice in Ubuntu”.
Conclusion
In Linux, the default LibreOffice look and feel can be easily customized to change its “User Interface”, “Toolbar Look”, and “Menu Content”. It can also be customized by changing the LibreOffice default “Icon Style” and “Theme and Colors”. These changes can be set to all LibreOffice applications or either the desired one. This post has described all the possible ways to change the default LibreOffice look and feel.
