Frequently Asked Question

https://libreofficetutorials.com/libreoffice/change-the-default-fonts/

LibreOffice is an awesome free and open source software that goes neck to neck with Microsoft’s office suites in terms of features and capabilities. However, there are a few things about this great piece of software which annoy me the most is that it makes some of the basic feature a little complicated.

One of these annoyances is changing the default font in LibreOffice to a custom one, so you don’t have to change the font every time you work on a new document.

While LibreOffice comes with Liberation Sans as its default font, which is a great font by the way, and also looks good on paper – it’s not for everyone. So here I have listed the ways by which you can change the default fonts of LibreOffice once and for all.

Table of Contents

• Understanding The Basics
• Changing The Global Default Font
• Changing The Default Font Only In LibreOffice Writer
• Changing The Default Font Only In LibreOffice Calc

Understanding The Basics

The fundamentals of how LibreOffice handles the default font for each application are a little different from those of Microsoft Office. There are actually three different ways you can set a default font in LibreOffice as a whole, or in each of its applications separately.

Changing The Global Default Font

If you want to change the default font in all the applications of LibreOffice, such as Writer, Calc, Impress, and Draw at once, follow the instructions below.

• Go to Tools > Options
• Navigate to LibreOffice > Advanced > Open Expert Configuration

Search for org.openoffice.VCL:LocalizedDefaultFonts[‘en’] in the search field. Put the name of your desired font with a semicolon ; at the very beginning of each line highlighted in red on the above screenshot.

For example, I’m adding Luxi Sans; as my font of choice.

Once you’re done, close the window and click Apply > OK. From now on, LibreOffice will use the given font as the default font for each of its applications, from Writer to Calc, Impress to Draw, and Math.

Quick Note: If the given font name is not installed on your computer, LibreOffice will look for the next closest font name and use it as the default instead. This pattern will be repeated for each font name entered into that field until it finds a font that is already installed on the computer.

Changing The Default Font Only In LibreOffice Writer

If you only want to change the default font in LibreOffice Writer, follow the given steps.

Note: I already have written a detailed tutorials on how to change the default font in LibreOffice Writer using two different methods. You can check out that post instead.

• Go to Tools > Options from the top menu bar.
• Navigate to LibreOffice Writer > Basic Fonts (Western)
• Change the default font and its size from here.Once done, click Apply > OK

Changing The Default Font Only In LibreOffice Calc

If you’re wondering whether the steps outlined above apply to LibreOffice Calc as well, I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed because changing the default font in LibreOffice Calc is an entirely different ballgame.

• Open an empty Calc Spreadsheet.
• On the right sidebar, click the first button labeled Properties(If the sidebar is hidden you can expand it by clicking the small arrow icon at the middle of the horizontal line).
• Change the font and its size to your liking, then click the button labeled Update Selected Style.

Close the property panel if you want, and select File > Templates > Save as Templates from the top menu bar.

Quick Note: If you could not see the top menu bar or have changed to a different UI, simple press Shift + F11 on the keyboard. It’s the keyboard shortcut for saving a file as template.

Give the template a name, then on the list select My Templates > Set as default template > Save.

You have now successfully changed the default font in LibreOffice Calc. These exact steps can also be applied to change the default fonts of LibreOffice Impress, Draw, and Math as well.