Close Document "X" missing after closing one file and opening another

ajgriffin0 · January 3, 2026, 7:25pm

I am editing a book with multiple chapters in seperate files and I’ve noticed recently that when I first open Writer and then open a file, I can edit it and then close it with the Close Document ‘X’ on the right side under the Minimize, Maximize and Close program buttons. However if I then open another document from the Libre Office Startup window, the Close Document button is no longer there. This happens every time I perform this set of actions and while it’s not interrupting my work flow, it is annoying.

I am currently running Libre Office 25.2 on MX linux 23.6 (Debian (12.12). My system specs are:
System:
Kernel: 6.1.0-41-amd64 [6.1.158-1] arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 12.2.0
parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-6.1.0-41-amd64 root=UUID= ro quiet splash
Desktop: Xfce v: 4.20.0 tk: Gtk v: 3.24.38 info: xfce4-panel wm: xfwm v: 4.20.0 vt: 7
dm: LightDM v: 1.32.0 Distro: MX-23.6_x64 Libretto Jan 12 2025 base: Debian GNU/Linux 12
(bookworm)
Machine:
Type: Desktop Mobo: Micro-Star model: B550-A PRO (MS-7C56) v: 2.0 serial:
BIOS: American Megatrends LLC. v: A.B0 date: 08/11/2022
CPU:
Info: model: AMD Ryzen 5 5600G with Radeon Graphics bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Zen 3 gen: 4
level: v3 note: check built: 2021-22 process: TSMC n7 (7nm) family: 0x19 (25) model-id: 0x50 (80)
stepping: 0 microcode: 0xA500011
Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 6 tpc: 2 threads: 12 smt: enabled cache: L1: 384 KiB
desc: d-6x32 KiB; i-6x32 KiB L2: 3 MiB desc: 6x512 KiB L3: 16 MiB desc: 1x16 MiB
Speed (MHz): avg: 1445 high: 1739 min/max: 1400/4465 boost: enabled scaling:
driver: acpi-cpufreq governor: ondemand cores: 1: 1400 2: 1400 3: 1400 4: 1605 5: 1400 6: 1400
7: 1400 8: 1400 9: 1739 10: 1400 11: 1400 12: 1400 bogomips: 93421

Here is an image showing what I see:

I’m not sure if this is a bug, feature or just wackiness with my computer. I’m looking to see if there is a fix or explanation before I submit a bug report.
Thanks

mariosv · January 3, 2026, 11:18pm

That happens when you have several files open.

EarnestAl · January 4, 2026, 12:34am

Maybe to explain a bit further, when you have more than one document open, the big red X will close the window.

If you have only one document open you can close the window in the normal way with the big red X which will also choose LibreOffice entirely. If you want to keep LibreOffice open and just close the document then the lower X appears to give you that choice. In other words, that lower X is only needed when the document is the only document open.

ajgriffin0 · January 4, 2026, 1:40am

Understood, however I am only editing one file at a time and the Close Document X (not the larger Close Program X) is not there after I close the first document and then open the next one. That is the behavior I am asking about. I apologize if this was unclear from the originall post.

LeroyG · January 5, 2026, 10:54am

There is no another window with a document open in Calc, Draw, Impress, etc.?

ajgriffin0 · January 5, 2026, 1:24pm

LeroyG, that is correct. I open my first file in Writer, edit that file, use the Close Document X to close that file, open the next file from the LibreOffice main window and the Close Document X is not there.

LeroyG · January 6, 2026, 1:31am

Test in Safe Mode, to discard that there is a corruption in the user profile.
Anyway, you can use Ctrl+W to close a document (and the Start Center, if no document is open).

ajgriffin0 · January 6, 2026, 2:10am

I tested opending and closing documents in safe mode. The same behavior happens. On a whim, I turned off the automatic checking for updates because the icon was next to the Close Document X. Surprisingly this seems to have solved the problem. Is it possible that the icon for Updates ends up covering the Close Document X?