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LibreOffice is an open-source cross-platform office suite, serving as a near drop-in replacement for Microsoft Office. It was forked from OpenOffice 3.3.0 and has gained ground in Linux distributions as the default office suite. It replaced OpenOffice in Debian Wheezy and is now the default office suite in all current versions of Debian. It has good support for .docx, .xlsx, .odt, .ods, and other popular formats.

How to install LibreOffice

Using official Debian repositories

LibreOffice is the default office suite since Debian Wheezy. You can also add it manually by installing the following packages:

To install the full LibreOffice suite, run

$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt install libreoffice 

Using Debian backports

Add the relevant backports for your Debian version in your SourcesList file: http://backports-master.debian.org/Instructions/

Install LibreOffice from the newly added backports repo after updating your package listing with apt update. This is accomplished by using the -t flag followed by the name of the repo you've added for your version.

For example, on a Debian 13/Trixie system, you might run:

$ sudo apt install -t trixie-backports libreoffice

If further updates are backported later, you may re-run the previous command to install them.

Using the project's own deb packages

LibreOffice has a compressed archive containing the LibreOffice suite on their own server: https://download.documentfoundation.org/libreoffice/stable/

To install on 64-bit machines, run:

$ sensible-browser https://download.documentfoundation.org/libreoffice/stable/

Then download the package that you want to install. First you might need to use your browser to navigate to the desired version, then click on "deb" for Debian packages, then your architecture's subdirectory (if you don't know your architecture, execute in a terminal arch to see it)

Once you've downloaded the main package, named something such as "LibreOffice_26.2.5_Linux_x86-64_deb.tar.gz" (with the version):

$ tar -xvf LibreOffice_26.2.5_Linux_x86-64_deb.tar.gz
$ sudo apt install ./LibreOffice_26.2.5.2_Linux_x86-64_deb/DEBS/*.deb

You can also download and install the language and help packs for your language using sudo apt install ... if using LibreOffice packaged in Debian.

Java Environment

Some components of LibreOffice require a Java Environment to achieve full functionality. The LibreOffice metapackage recommends default-jre, or libreoffice-java-common, which installs the recommended Java version for your version of Debian. This should require no further configuration, but if you want to manually install Java and configure LibreOffice for it:

• Open Synaptic (or use your preferred method for package installation)

• Install default-jre or, on Debian 12 and later, libreoffice-java-common

• Open LibreOffice. Navigate to "Tools" menu > Options > LibreOffice > Advanced > Java Options

• Activate “Use a Java runtime environment”
• Choose your desired JRE provider

• Restart LibreOffice (including quickstarter)

Extending functionalities

Extend LibreOffice by installing these packages:

Fixing poor look and feel in LibreOffice

You should first make sure you have the appropriate theming package installed. On KDE Plasma, install libreoffice-kf5 or libreoffice-kf6, respectively, depending on whether you use KDE Plasma 5 or 6 (There is also libreoffice-plasma, but it also contains minor stuff, but it recommends either "the correct" -kf5 or -kf6, depending on which version you use). On GNOME 3, install libreoffice-gnome. On other GTK-based desktops, install libreoffice-gtk3.

LibreOffice will try to auto-detect your desktop and use the most appropriate theming plugin based on this, but you can also force it by setting the SAL_USE_VCLPLUGIN environment variable. The available options are kf6 (Qt6 with KDE integration), kf5 (Qt5 with KDE integration) and gtk3 (GTK3 with GNOME integration if available).

For example, if you're trying to use LibreOffice with the KF5 theming plugin, you might run:

SAL_USE_VCLPLUGIN=kf5 libreoffice

A generic Qt5 plugin is available in the libreoffice-qt5 package, however it is experimental and not yet considered ready for production, as it can introduce issues that don't manifest with any other theming plugin. Because of this, you're recommended to either use KF5, or to run LibreOffice with the SAL_VCL_QT5_USE_CAIRO=1 environment variable set which forces it to use the same Cairo rendering path as the KF5 plugin:

SAL_USE_VCLPLUGIN=qt5 SAL_VCL_QT5_USE_CAIRO=1 libreoffice

If you have bigger or smaller fonts in toolbar, you can fix it by enabling quick start option:

For GNOME:

$ echo 'OOO_FORCE_DESKTOP=gnome libreoffice --quickstart --nologo --nodefault' > ~/.config/autostart/lo.sh
$ chmod +x ~/.config/autostart/lo.sh

For KDE:

$ echo 'OOO_FORCE_DESKTOP=kde libreoffice --quickstart --nologo --nodefault' >  ~/.kde/Autostart/lo.sh
$ chmod +x ~/.kde/Autostart/lo.sh

Fixing Interoperability Problems

See Substituting Calibri and Cambria Fonts.

Fixing Blank PDF Export

Symptoms:

• The PDF has the expected number of pages, but no text.

• Examining the PDF (for example in Okular, File > Properties > Fonts) shows no embedded fonts.

This can be caused by using the wrong VCL (LibreOffice desktop integration module) for the desktop environment, such as "qt5" instead of "kf5". Yes, surprisingly the PDF export depends on the VCL.

The current VCL is shown in the Help > About LibreOffice dialog box. Usually LibreOffice will pick the right VCL provided that the required package is installed, such as libreoffice-kf6. Otherwise, it can be forced with the SAL_USE_VCLPLUGIN environment variable.

Launchers

• Writer: /usr/bin/libreoffice --writer

• Calc: /usr/bin/libreoffice --calc

• Draw: /usr/bin/libreoffice --draw

• Impress: /usr/bin/libreoffice --impress

• Math: /usr/bin/libreoffice --math

Remote Control

Impress can be remotely controlled via an Android device with the app Impress Remote available from F-Droid. It interacts with your slideshow presentation and allows slide previews, reading speaker notes, play/pause presentation and setting timers. Connection is done through Bluetooth or WLAN.

External links

• http://www.libreoffice.org – LibreOffice homepage

• http://help.libreoffice.org/Main_Page – LibreOffice help

• http://extensions.libreoffice.org/ - LibreOffice extensions

CategoryOfficeApplication CategorySoftware CategoryDesktopApplication