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Converting files from Open Office to Microsoft Office

twopenny
twopenny Posts: 7,878 Forumite
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I've been working on some detailed stuff, full of formatting, on Open Office at home.
It will open with Libre which I used to print off at the library (big, competent printer) but with the library upgrade they no longer have Libre.
I've tried before to copy and paste it into MO Word but have to do a lot of tedious correction to the formatting. In fact it's probably a case that I'll have to spend a month retyping these files which would be mind deadening.
It's a long shot but thought I'd ask in case. Does anyone know of a way I could transfer these with minimal disruption to the formatting please?

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Comments

  • pramsay13
    pramsay13 Posts: 2,177 Forumite
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    In Open Office there will be a way of saving it as a Word file or even as a PDF. 

    It will be in File / Save As or possibly Export 
  • Browntoa
    Browntoa Posts: 49,612 Forumite
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    As above , save as , choose format
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    Long term forum member
  • fenlander_uk
    fenlander_uk Posts: 634 Forumite
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    edited 22 May 2020 at 11:23AM
    Open Office and Libre Office are two branches of the same program. You can easily install Libre Office at home if you prefer it. In Libre (and I imagine in Open Office also) you can set an option always to save in a format of your choice. In Libre Office Writer it is Tools - Options - Load/Save - General. Set the 'Always Save' option to Word docx if that is your preference.
  • Paula_Smith
    Paula_Smith Posts: 308 Forumite
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    For the future - why don't you set the defaults in Libre/Open Office to save as .doc, .xls etc. then you wont have this problem going foreward.


  • twopenny
    twopenny Posts: 7,878 Forumite
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    That's wonderful, thank you so much.
    It's just that I had a system that worked so never needed to change it until now.
    My Open Office saves up to Word 6 which is old as I haven't been updating OO. I will try downloading Libre and moving the detailed files as that seems ok. Then look to save in a new version of MO.
    Do you think that would work?
    And which version of Microsoft Office should I buy? That's a whole other question really but it needs to be connected.
    I;m reluctant to use Cloud storage if the newer versions use that, as I have trouble finding files and because of the social distancing have no one to ask for help. These problems never come alone  :|

    I can rise and shine - just not at the same time!

    viral kindness .....kindness is contageous pass it on

    The only normal people you know are the ones you don’t know very well


  • DoaM
    DoaM Posts: 11,863 Forumite
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    If Libre saves the files in MS Word format without compromising the formatting (when opened in MS Word) then stick with LibreOffice. Otherwise go for Office 2016 or 2019, not Office 365 (unless you want to pay an annual subscription). The alternative is to use Office Online which is free (provided you setup an Office account).
  • Neil49
    Neil49 Posts: 3,383 Forumite
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    Open Office isn't on the same development programme as Libre Office despite both being based on the same basic code. After staff at Open Office split from the team and set up Libre Office, for some reason they were able to adopt developments made by the Open Office team but the Open Office team couldn't make use of developments to the Libre Office programme.

    So basically, the Open Office team were providing Libre Office the fruits of their labour for precisely nothing and getting nothing in return. 

    In your situation I would install Libre Office, set it up to save in docx format by default and see how it goes. 

  • twopenny
    twopenny Posts: 7,878 Forumite
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    Brilliant advice. Thank you so much.
    This has been worrying me for ages. Can't remember is I've tried transfering from Libre to Word but it's worth a go.
    I used to experiment on the Library computers but can't now with them closed. Still I had a good run.
    I'll see if there's a difference in price between the Word programmes you mention. I like to have something solid for myself ie saving to hard drive/USB rather than cloud. Have my hard work in my hand and private so to speak and if we get another lockdown or my activities cancelled again I can get on with the project.

    I can rise and shine - just not at the same time!

    viral kindness .....kindness is contageous pass it on

    The only normal people you know are the ones you don’t know very well


  • twopenny
    twopenny Posts: 7,878 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Looked at the prices and rules and regs which for just half a dozen documents seems a bit much.
    I see I can save files from Office Online to my computer I might give that a go first and see what happens.

    I can rise and shine - just not at the same time!

    viral kindness .....kindness is contageous pass it on

    The only normal people you know are the ones you don’t know very well


  • Have you thought of Google docs? Free software which is compatible with Libre office and MS Office. One advantage is that you can use it within Google Drive and therefore have access to files whether within your library environment (when available) or desktop at home. Free storage up to 15 GB.
    Outright purchase of MS Office is something I would not dream of because of the expense although you can purchase license keys on Ebay or utilising student criteria if it applies directly from Microsoft.
    Personally I swear by Libre Office as it helped me save some old Lotus files which all of a sudden became unreadable after one particular Windows update even using compatibility settings!
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