how to PERMANENTLY disable libre office writer track changes option

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#1

I have found a few posts about this, but I haven’t seen an answer to how to permanently disable this function. One comment is that the changes are harmless. They are not - as soon as you export the file (to .xhtml, for example), the changes all show up.

The only way I have found to get around this is to open the file, show the changes, toggle the option to turn off tracking and then manually go through the file and delete all the items that are struck-through. I have no use/no desire to keep track of the changes and just want to permanently turn off the function (including the option to disable/remove changes in a file that I receive from someone else). Or, if there is some option to completely wipe the document clean before exporting it, that would be OK, too.

#2

I don’t see any problem with just disabling Edit -> Track Changes -> [ ] Record. If that is disabled no changes you make are tracked. This doesn’t affect changes made by other people, which you can view by View -> Track Changes (which is a pure viewing option). Of course, if you get a document already containing tracked changes, at some point someone needs to accept/discard changes (using: Edit -> Track Changes -> Manage) before a document becomes track-free.

#3

oops…missed the last part of your comment… let me try the manage option…

#4

YES! The manage option ‘cleaned it up’ so I don’t see the ‘extra’ lines in my xhtml! Thanks!

#10

2c from a LO fanboy:

The keyboard shortcut to turn on tracking is Ctrl-Shift-C. If you work with Linux terminal, that key combination also copies text from terminal. I use it alot, and apparently accidentally turned this on (while working in Windows, no less), subsequently collecting hundreds of changes that LO began tracking from that point forward.

Not to mention a very annoying habit: The track changes toolbar gets turned on when there are changes to accept/reject.

I love LO. I use it daily. I know I can change any keyboard shortcut I want. Please don’t tell me to do that.

Writing is for MOST users MOST OF THE TIME a solitary activity. In my very large company, only the Legal Dept uses track changes (in MS Word). The rest of the world uses PDFs and other workflow tools to indicate revisions.

And so: It would would be a nice feature to have track changes more difficult to turn on and keep it out of the way.

LO keeps getting better and better and I love updating and exploring it like it’s an old friend returning from vacation with fascinating stories. But, I spent a lot of time figuring this one out (finally winding up here), and although @Kittyrinn was obviously frustrated, s/he has a point. Angry people can also have good ideas.

#11

You are wrong here with your post - you should file an enhancement request at Bugzilla to address the issue of a shortcut which is prone to inadvertently activating Track Changes feature.

#12

@anon73440385 Why is it wrong to comment here in this fashion? Sure, I could submit it as a bug/enhancement, but it’s not a bug, LO is working as intended, and quite frankly, there are many more things that I’m sure the dev team would like to focus on.

In the meantime, those like me and @Kittyrinn who have wrestled with track changes have some more context.

It’s all good. Peace out.

#5

First Edit → Track Changes → Accept All (or Reject All, or Manage to walk through the changes and individually accept/reject), then switch off Edit → Track Changes → Record.

#6

My scenario (below) was resolved by using the option to manage the changes (which I missed before posting the comment below).

Once an item is deleted, it seems to be saved and the Export function then ‘sees’ it and includes it in the new file format. I was able to easily re-create:
I created a new file, took option to turn on track changes.
Added 3 lines:

This is a new text file.

Adding another line.

Now adding another line.

Saved the file. Exitted file.
Re-opened the file for editing. Deleted the ‘Adding another line’ line. Saved the file.
Turned off option for tracking changes, turned on to ‘show’ the changes - I could see the ‘Adding another line’ struckthrough.
Turned off option to show changes. Turned off option to track changes.
Saved file. Took option to ‘Export’, exported as xhtml.
Viewed the xhtml in my browser. I see:

This is a new text file.

Adding another line.

Now adding another line.

When I view the .odt in writer with the track changes -show option on, I see:

This is a new text file.

Adding another line.----> this line is shown as struck-through (ie, deleted). Thus, I wouldn’t expect (don’t want) it to show up when I view the xhtml in my browser.

Now adding another line.

I am running: Version: 6.2.2.2 (x64)
Build ID: 2b840030fec2aae0fd2658d8d4f9548af4e3518d
CPU threads: 12; OS: Windows 10.0; UI render: GL; VCL: win;
Locale: en-US (en_US); UI-Language: en-US
Calc: threaded

#7

Assuming you are using Writer 6.0… According to the LibreOffice Writer 6.0 manual, you cannot. Or the manual does not document a method to do so.

Tracking Changes is discussed on page 71 in the manual.

#8

I find it just as annoying. Whoever it was who decided this had to be permanently turned on should be fired. The only time it’s even of any use is when two or more people are editing the same file. It doesn’t need to be on when I’m entering first draft material. I make so many changes my document would soon become unreadable. Please, if there is anyone who knows how to switch the default to off I’d like to hear it. All the fixes I see do nothing more than shut it off until I start up the program again.

#9
  • This rant doesn’t answer a question
  • If it starts ever and ever again on new documents, you seem to have
    • either a default template, which has the setting turned on (solution: Change your default template - and btw: If that’s the case, you are the one who should be fired according to your own rant, because a customized default template is defined by the user)
    • or you suffer from a corrupt user profile (solution: reset your LibreOffice user profile to factory settings)
  • you don’t understand that nobody can be fired, because people developing LibreOffice are not hired by LibreOffice

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