System: MacOS Catalina
Libreoffice 7.1.0.3
When I highlight backup path in preferences and press Edit nothing happens.
Is there some other way to change the path?
I have resolved the problem: I should have specified that I was trying to change the path in Write. Opened up a spreadsheet document and could change the backup path in Calc. The path was also changed in Write.
Changing the path should work even without any specific module (Calc, Writer, etc,) loaded. If it does not, this should be considered a bug or a corrupt user profile.
Thank you. I don’t understand what might be meant by corrupt user profile. Does this mean I should re-install Libreoffice?
Does this mean I should re-install Libreoffice?
No - definitely not. You absolutely need to separate LibreOffice Installation (which is for all users of a system) from the user profile (which contains user specific settings). The user profile on macOS is located in your home directory $HOME/Library/Application Support/LibreOffice/. This user profile may get corrupted and cause strange artifacts. If this is the case, you need to reset your user profile to factory settings using Help -> Restart in Safe Mode and selecting the proper options. See also LibreOffice FAQ - User Profile
Thank you. I restarted in safe mode and found that th behaviour persisted. I then asked to reset the user profile. That seems to have completely resolved the issue. I wonder if it had been caused by remaining information from a version of Libreoffice that I had some years ago. Now it is saving a backup automatically to the desired location, which is what I needed.
I wonder if it had been caused by remaining information from a version of Libreoffice that I had some years ago.
In general: It is not worth any effort to try to investigate the cause of a user profile corruption. If you are a long term user of LibreOffice sooner or later you’ll be hit by a profile corruption. Just keep in mind: Before reinstalling LibreOffice as a “problem solution”, take into account that a corrupt user profile may cause an issue and the first step to take is to run in Safe Mode and to check, if a problem persist.