Sometimes when using Writer, after I press Enter a couple of times to begin a new paragraph, the font changes (at the beginning of the new paragraph) from unemphasised to bold; I think it’s noticing that I’ve used bold further up the page, and is erroneously sensing a pattern and trying to be helpful. How can I stop this? I’d like to be in control of when and how the font is emphasised.
You are at a crossroads here, you can either continue using Writer as a typewriter or you can see this as an opportunity to harness the power of Writer. I will give two alternatives, both of which involve turning off the automatic bolding, as well as an interim solution:
Alternative 1 - continue direct formatting
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In the menu, click Tools > AutoCorrect > AutoCorrect Options > Options and untick the box Apply styles
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Select the document and press Default Paragraph Style to remove the Heading styles that have been automatically applied (See Options (AutoCorrect) and scroll down to Apply Styles)
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Continue manually direct formatting and double-spacing your paragraphs.
Note: in the event of having to change, for example, the font or the spacing between paragraphs, you might have a difficult job ahead.
Alternative 2 - Use styles to consistently format your document
- In the menu, click Tools > AutoCorrect > AutoCorrect Options > Options and untick the box Apply styles
- Select the text in the body of your document and apply Body Text paragraph style by double-clicking the style in the Sidebar under Styles, or press Ctrl+0 to apply Body Text paragraph style. Select any headings and apply the relevant Heading n style
With a fully styled document a change of any attribute is usually only required in one place to update the entire document.
If you do go down the route of using styles, then the Apply Styles checkbox could be left ticked until you are more familiar with using them. The bold is applying Heading 1 style; you could press Ctrl+0 to apply Body Text style instead which already has extra space between paragraphs (so an empty paragraph is not required).
You might want to apply another Heading style (Ctrl+2 for Heading 2, Ctrl+5 for Heading 5) or press Tab at the beginning of th paragraph as described in the link.
The introduction to Designing with LibreOffice explains why styles are useful and how they are easier to use then direct formatting. Download link on English documentation II | LibreOffice Documentation - LibreOffice User Guides
The Writer Guide can help with how to use styles and other aspects of using Writer, https://documentation.libreoffice.org/en/english-documentation/
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Thank you EarnestAI for trying to help. Unfortunately, though, your Alternative 1 suggestion has not resolved the issue: I already had Apply styles unticked; and selecting the whole document and applying Default Paragraph Style made no difference—something is still auto-applying bold formatting in certain instances.
Do you have any other ideas as to how I can use Writer “as a typewriter” (as you say)? I just want to be able to type everything in a plain format, and apply formatting changes (such as bold or italics) as and when I see fit.
Can you please upload a small sample document without personal information that has bold applied after the return?
You can either drag the document from your file manager on to an open comment, or click the Upload icon (7th from left) to open a dialogue in which you can select the file.
sample document.odt (11.2 KB)
Thank you EarnestAI for your continued interest. I’ve uploaded “sample document.odt” for your review.
Apart from the last few lines, I typed the contents as shown, toggling bold on and off manually before and after typing Heading in each instance.
The exception is the last few lines: I cut what is now the last Heading, its following “Content”, and the empty line after it, from the first few lines of the document (in a single cut); I then pasted what I’d cut to where it is now; and I then pressed Enter. When you go to the last active line in the document (two lines below the final “Content”, you can see that bold formatting is applied, even though I didn’t select it.
So: I haven’t been able to reproduce the reported problem exactly as described (I only pressed Enter once in this instance); but hopefully this gives you something to work with in troubleshooting this problem.
Your document is completely and totally direct formatted! You won’t control easily anything with this workflow. Learn to work with styles. Read at least the Writer Guide. To discover the benefits gained from styles, I recommend Bruce Byfield’s Designing with LO available from the same link after clicking on More… and scrolling down a bit.
Regarding bold weight on last line, it results likely from your copy-paste operations: the copied block ended after the empty paragraph following “Contents”, i.e. immediately at start of a “heading”. Consequently, you copied the active attributes at this location, including bold attribute.
Contrary to common belief, direct formatting requires super expert guru skills to succeed on first shot. Prefer to work with styles and note that empty paragraphs to achieve vertical spacing is a very pernicious form of direct formatting.
With a typewriter, you have to manually turn off settings after you have finished using them.
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The simplest way to write is to just type and apply headings when needed; this is what styles do. They make it easier, not harder to write without worrying about formatting.
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Here is is simple experiment for you to see if it is helpful:
- Start a new document and at the top type My document or something similar. Press Ctrl+1
- Press Enter to start a new line and type a few words. Press Enter again and type a few words.
Notice how the lines between paragraphs are nicely spaced and how the bolding in the Heading wasn’t carried on to the following line. Of course, if the spacing of the lines are not to your liking then you can alter the style
You lot sure know how to browbeat a brother into using styles! Consider me beat, with all good humour. 
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