Experimental user interfaces overview

LibreOffice has kept an older style user interface for multiple since it was first forked from OpenOffice.org in 2011. The suite has not followed Microsoft Office, which changed to a ribbon interface in with version 2007, abandoning the old menu system.

While the open-source suite has not yet dispensed of its traditional user interface, starting with version 5.3, new user interfaces were added as options. To access them, users need to activate the experimental features. This Web page shows you how.

Version 6.0 has 6 user interfaces to choose from. Version 5.4 has five, and version 5.3 has three. Here are the user interfaces.

The six user interfaces in the Notebookbar sub-menu are as follows:

Contextual groups

This user interface is divided into four sections.The four sections contain icons that perform the most basic functions in a word processor, such as saving a document and inserting objects.

The sections are as follows:

    The user interfaces are divided into four sections that contain basic icons for editing a document.
  • File
  • Clipboard
  • Text
  • Insert

This user interface has been available since version 5.3.

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Contextual single

This user interface has most of the icons that are in the Contextual groups. It is also very similar to the Single Toolbar layout.
The user interface is a single-line toolbar that is similar to the one in Google Docs, Sheet, or Slides. It contains many of the same icons that are in Contextual groups, but they are streamlined into one line.

This user interface has been available since version 5.3.

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Tabbed

This user interface is the one that is most like Microsoft Office ribbon. The interface looks more like the Mac version of Office, rather than the Windows version. It has seven tabs. Each one has its own set of of icons that appear when it is selected.

The tabs contain more icons than the contextual groups contains. It offers a fuller editing experience through its ribbons than the above user interface.

The tabs are as follows:

  • File
  • The tab interface gives LibreOffice a look and feel that is similar to Microsoft Office.
    Home
  • Insert
  • Page layout
  • References
  • Review
  • View

This user interface has been available since version 5.3.

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Tabbed Compact

This user interface has the same tabs as the previous user interface. Plus it adds one called Tools. The associated ribbons are compact, as the name implies, so they place all the icons and drop-down menus into single line toolbars.

The tabs are as follows:

  • File
  • The compact tab interface adds Tools to its list of tabs and places the icons for each toolbar in one line.
    Home
  • Insert
  • Page layout
  • References
  • Review
  • View
  • Tools

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Groupedbar Full

This has 9 sections. The user interface combines drop-down menus that are like LibreOffice’s traditional menus with icons that can be found in the Standard toolbar. It makes visible a lot more features than the traditional Standard toolbar does.

The 9 sections are as follows:

  • File
    The user interface combines drop-down menus and toolbar icons in a single toolbar that is divided into 9 sections.
  • Edit
  • Styles
  • Format
  • Paragraph
  • Insert
  • Reference
  • Review
  • View

This user interface has been available since version 5.4.

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Groupedbar Compact

This user interface has the same sections as Groupedbar Full. However, there are only two rows of icons, rather than the three in Groupedbar Full. This means there are less icons in each section.

The menus are in the second row. The 8 sections are as follows:

  • File
    The Groupedbar Compact is like Groupedbar Full, except it only has two lines of icons and fewer of them. It also replaces the Reference section with References, which as a few more icons. The Review section is also removed.
  • Edit
  • Styles
  • Format
  • Paragraph
  • Insert
  • Reference
  • Review
  • The last section has the Menu drop-down menu and Tools drop-down menu.

This user interface has been available since version 5.4.

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