After installation, LibreOffice is immediately ready to use. However, it is worth spending a few minutes to adjust it to your needs. As a result, using the suite will become much more convenient and faster.

1.Choosing the interface layout

LibreOffice offers several interface variants—from the classic menu layout to modern views resembling the ribbon known from MS Office.

How to change the interface layout:

Open any module, e.g., Writer.
Go to View → User Interface.
Choose one of the options:
Standard Toolbar – classic and universal,
Tabbed Compact – modern, similar to MS Office,
Tabbed – thematic tab layout (Insert, Tools, etc.).
It is worth noting that interface settings are saved separately for each module.

2.Setting default folders

Instead of searching for files each time, you can specify where LibreOffice should save and open them by default.

How to do it:

Go to Tools → Options.
Select LibreOffice → Paths.
Click the “My Documents” category and choose Edit to specify, for example, D:\Documents\LibreOffice.

3.Changing the default save format

By default, LibreOffice saves files as .odt, .ods, etc. However, if you frequently exchange documents with MS Office users, it is worth setting the .docx format as the default.

How to do it:

Go to Tools → Options → Load/Save → General.
In the “Document Type” field, choose, for example, Text Document.
Select format: Microsoft Word 2007-365 (.docx).
Moreover, you can repeat this step for spreadsheets and presentations as well.

4.Setting language and spell checking

LibreOffice supports many languages. Therefore, it is worth checking whether you have the appropriate dictionary and interface language installed.

How to do it:

Go to Tools → Options → Language Settings → Languages.
Choose the interface language and the default language for documents.
Check whether there is a green check mark next to the language (meaning the dictionary is installed).

Additionally, you can enable AutoCorrect:

Tools → AutoCorrect → AutoCorrect Options
Add your own shortcuts, e.g., brg → best regards.

5.Icon style – colorful or monochrome?

LibreOffice allows you to change the icon style—this is useful if you work in dark mode or prefer a minimalist look.

How to change it:

Go to Tools → Options → LibreOffice → View.
In the “Icon Style” section, choose, for example:
Colibre (colorful – default in Windows),
Breeze (monochrome),
Sifr (simple, black and white).

6.Dark or light mode

LibreOffice automatically adapts to the system theme. However, if you want to manually set colors, you can do so:

Change the document background, interface color, etc.

Go to Tools → Options → LibreOffice → Application Colors

7.Custom keyboard shortcuts and toolbars

If you frequently use the same function, assign it your own shortcut. This will save time.

How to do it:

In the “Toolbars” tab, you can also add and remove buttons.

Tools → Customize → Keyboard

Example: assign Ctrl + Shift + H to the “Replace Text” function.

After this configuration, LibreOffice will become:

faster and more convenient to use,
better tailored to your habits,
ready to work with Word, Excel, and other documents.