So that when I start typing after hitting Ctrl+F, I am searching in the find toolbar.
I would also like it if possible to highlight the previous search if the toolbar is already open, so typing will replace the previous search.
Not sure why I can’t do this now, as the previous (and better) version of LibreOffice I used to use before I changed computers did this.
You haven’t mention which version you use now. At least with 6.1.3.1, it works as expected (I hope I understand your issue well: when I already have some text in Find bar, and I’m in main window, and want to search something, then I press Ctrl+F, and get into the Find bar, and the text there is alredy selected, so that I can start typing, and the pre-existing text will be overwritten.)