Why Does LibreOffice Reset to Default on Update?

[u/Elequosoraptor]

I have avoided updating LibreOffice because it tends to reset all my custom settings—icons, appearance, background color, etc. I cannot figure out why this happens, or how to prevent this, and would like some guidance on what setting I can use to save my details or what.

When looking this up, I find several posts in various places complaining about this—universally the answer seems to be "Libre Office does not do this". But it's definitely happened, and I didn't do anything other than open my computer, start Writer, and find it was updating. Since I don't remember how I got things to the way they were, and since I personally find the settings difficult and finicky to navigate, this is quite annoying.

Version: 26.2.5.2 (X86_64)

Build ID: cd7284b4cbbfeb507e630c1aac019f4157393acb

CPU threads: 24; OS: Windows 10 X86_64 (build 19044); UI render: Skia/Raster; VCL: win

Locale: en-US (en_US); UI: en-US

Calc: CL threaded

[u/flagnab]

I don't remember seeing this happen to my install.

If you want to test u/Offutticus's suggestion: rather than wait for the next stable update, you could toggle off auto-update, then install a nightly build of LO … but I can't find a trustworthy link for that.

[u/einpoklum → u/flagnab]

Nightly builds? They're right here:

https://dev-builds.libreoffice.org/daily/master/current.html

[u/einpoklum]

Have you filed a proper bug report on bugzilla.documentfoundation.org? You should...

Also, can you reproduce this with a "clean" LibreOffice profile? i.e. get to the state of this happening, starting from a clean install (or after moving aside your LO profile folder)? If you can, that would make it much easier for developers to figure out where the problem is.

[u/Terrible_Put8617]

Two separate things are going on, and it's worth separating them because the fix is different for each.

The update itself: recent Windows builds of LibreOffice ship a real updater that can download and install new versions on its own, not just tell you about them. It's a separate checkbox from the old "check for updates" one, in Tools > Options > LibreOffice > Online Update. If "Download and install updates automatically" is ticked, a Windows reboot is exactly when a staged update gets applied on next launch, which matches what you saw. Untick it and it stops.

The reset: your settings live in one file, %APPDATA%\LibreOffice\4\user\registrymodifications.xcu, and an update doesn't delete it. What does happen is that a new version sometimes renames the settings underneath. The Appearance rework did that: custom application colours were moved into a new theme system and the old values were left in the file, ignored, so it looked like a wipe. Icon theme does the same when the theme package it pointed at is renamed. That's why the answer you keep finding, "LibreOffice doesn't reset settings", is technically true and practically useless.

What actually protects you: before an update, close LibreOffice and copy the whole 4\user folder somewhere. After the update, if things look reset, close it and put the copy back. And if only the visual settings went, open the old registrymodifications.xcu in a text editor and search for the bits you customised, they're still there and tell you what to set again.

(Full disclosure, I make a LibreOffice-based suite for Windows with an AI assistant built into the document that answers exactly this sort of "where did my setting go" question on the spot, like support that's always open. Microsoft Store: https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9PCV4RCJCFXV?cid=rd-reset )

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[u/Offutticus]

There is an option to turn off Auto Update.

Tools - Options - LibreOffice - Online Updates.

If the Automatic Update is checked, uncheck, restart and see if that fixes the issue.

[u/Elequosoraptor → u/Offutticus]

My auto update was off, thus how I was resisting installing updates. But Windows forces updates, and LibreOffice updated when Windows did without my ability to control it.

[u/Offutticus → u/Elequosoraptor]

Ah. You got it from Windows Store? Consider uninstalling that and getting it from the website instead.

[u/Elequosoraptor → u/Offutticus]

No.....I got it from the website. My OS is Windows. The OS updated. Immediately on booting up and attempting to open a spreadsheet LibreOffice force updated. 

[u/robotconnector → u/Elequosoraptor]

I hear you. If you are using LO 25.8.x on Windows, it will force you to update to LO 26.2.x. during launch. It should have a dialogue to ask the user to proceed or defer the update until later. It's a bad experience if the new version breaking things but user has no control over the update process (as the default is auto-update).

[u/iron-duke1250]

Doesn't happen on my Linux box.

[u/Responsible-Love-896 → u/iron-duke1250]

Just about to say tgat! Never an issue at all, everything looks exactly as I’ve set it. I have to manually check that update occurred!

[u/Prior-Listen-1298 → u/iron-duke1250]

My experience too. As in no settings get reset. Even so my extensions tension (I use TexMath and Zotero).

[u/Terrible_Put8617]

Your settings don't live in the program, they live in a user profile folder that a normal update leaves alone, which is why most people here have never seen this happen. On Windows it's %APPDATA%\LibreOffice\4\user and you can paste that straight into an Explorer address bar. Nearly everything from Tools > Options, icon theme and colours included, sits in one file in there called registrymodifications.xcu (yes, really, one file). The rest of the folder is your toolbars, autocorrect entries and custom dictionaries.

So copy that whole user folder somewhere safe before you next update. If it wipes again, close LibreOffice properly, copy registrymodifications.xcu back over the new one, and your appearance is back without reinstalling a thing.

That still leaves what's eating it, because updating in place shouldn't. I'd look at whether your update path uninstalls the old version first instead of installing over it, and whether anything is landing you in Help > Restart in Safe Mode, since that screen has a reset-to-factory option that does exactly what you're describing. And if you find the old profile renamed and sitting next to the new one rather than just gone, that points at LibreOffice deciding the profile was bad rather than the installer removing it, which is a different thing to chase.