Highlighted text, pressed enter, document gone

[imakeyper]

I just started used LibreOffice and wanted to change the font size of my 10 page document. I made the font size selection and then highlighted the text of the whole document. Being new, I just pressed enter thinking it would apply the change. No, my entire document disappeared.
So, now I know I have to set the auto-recovery and backup and did.

But, the whole document totally disappear by just pressing enter? I can see it leaving if I pressed delete but enter?
I’m using Zorin OS pro 16.3 with a Firefox browser. Any ideas if this is recoverable?

[Villeroy]

Enter overwrites the selected text with a paragraph break. The same happens with any text editor including the text editor I write this text with.
menu:Edit>Undo (Ctrl+Z) undoes the last edit.

[Hrbrgr]

A selected text is converted into an empty paragraph when the Enter key is used, this is absolutely correct.

English documentation

You should read the documentation (at least the introduction) before proceeding.

And see how you can better prepare for the unexpected.

Preventing data disaster

[imakeyper]

I came from using WordPerfect and in that program it would have prompted something before wiping out text or it just wouldn’t allow the action. I scrolled through the document and didn’t find anything left of my document.
To change a font size I would think would be something that isn’t difficult or troublesome but a simple, straightforward thing to do. So, going forward, certainly, I will consult the manual, it seems I’ll have to in order to perform the simplest of tasks.

[Hrbrgr]

If you are new to LibreOffice, this article can help you:

My Transition from MS-Office to LibreOffice

The principles also apply to WordPerfect.

You can find an introduction to working with the text component Writer here:
Getting started with professional text composition in Writer

[Zizi64]

@imakeyper

wanted to change the font size of my 10 page document. I made the font size selection and then highlighted the text of the whole document.

It is a Direct (Manual) formatting method. Use the Styles instead. Modify the font soze of the applied Paragraph/Character Style(s).

[mikekaganski]

@imakeyper

I came from using WordPerfect and in that program it would have prompted something before wiping out text or it just wouldn’t allow the action. I scrolled through the document and didn’t find anything left of my document.

Just to see how WordPerfect does this completely strange and unusual thing - disallowing replacement of selected text with a new typed text - I went to Corel site, downloaded a trial version of WordPerfect 2021, installed it, and made a short test. I created a text document in it, typed some paragraphs of dummy text, then selected it all (indeed, they follow the common practice of using Ctrl+A shortcut), and pressed Enter. And guess what? You could have guessed it: the selected text has silently and expectedly was replaced with the entered text - an empty paragraph appeared instead of the whole selection, followed by another empty paragraph with the cursor. Same as what would happen in 100% other applications that allow you to select and type. Including LibreOffice Writer.

You likely misremember stuff.