I just upgraded to this latest version of LibreOffice running under Windows 11 pro. I am now experiencing a problem with four files; one Write file and three Calc files. They open in read-only mode. I can tell the program to edit them, save, and reopen them with no problem. As soon as I save again, they revert to the read-only state again. I have tried creating new blank files and copying the contents into them, but the same problem recurs with these new versions of the files. I have tried saving the old files and the new ones with different names, but the problem still occurs. Have created a new directory and saved to a new location. Still have the problem. I have done extensive testing (literally hours) through CoPilot, tried numerous things, to no avail. I am now going to try to download an older version of LibreOffice and installing it to see if the problem occurs under an older version. As far as I can tell, these are the only four files with a problem- I have trried several others andm they work fine. Can anyone help?
As a follow up, I installed the portable version of LibreOffice 25.2.3.2 and worked with the Write file I was having problems with. It worked with this file without any problems, allowing editing, saving in various directories and the Desktop, allowed itself to be renamed, and never triggered a read-only state. It appears that there is something in these four files that triggers a bug in version 26.2.0.3. I am going to try one of the spreadsheet files now as further confirmation.
- Close the office suite completely. Mind the nasty “quick starter” on the task bar near the clock. Kill any
soffice.binentry in the task manager. - Make sure that your file explorer shows hidden files.
- Navigate to the document directory, look for lock files related to the reluctant documents and delete the lock files.
Sample with a file named TEST.odt opened on a Linux system. Lock files look the same on Windows.
Normally, the lock file gets deleted when the file has been saved and closed. It prevents that any second program gets simultaneous write access to the same file.
The lock files really aren’t there. If you refresh the view in File Explorer you can see that they are gone. This ;ock file behavior exists for all files that get opened, not just the problem ones. that open read-only. The problem is definitely a bug in the new release, because the problem does not occur if the same files are opened and used in the 25 series releases, only in the new 26 release version.
Lock files were my first thought. I don’t know Windows. However, I’ve read many issues with antivirus and obscure file permissions. Could it be that LibreOffice 26.2 does not have the same permissions as the preceding version?
You need to add LibreOffice or soffice.bin to the allowed list of your anti virus or anti ransomware program. I guess you have AVG or one of its clones
No. After extensive troubleshooting with an AI agent that actually took about SIX HOURS we were able to conclusively prove that this is a problem with LibreOffice release 26 that was reproducible on two computers. I appreciate your effort to be helpful- i really, truly do.
Right now, I’ve upgraded 25.8 to 26.2 on three Windows10 boxes and opened various documents from a network share and user’s directory. Everything works normally.
No, I use Windows defender. Everything works fine with LibreOffice release 25 on two machines. The problem occurs with release 26 on both. It’s only about a half dozen files that have the problem in release 26, and it’s the exact same files on two different computers. I spent SIX HOURS on this with an AI agent last night and today, and we confirmed that the problem has to be a software bug involving something in those particular files that release 26 does not like. The vast majority of the files we used work just fine. It involves three different text files and five different spreadsheet files out of over one hundred.
I am running Windows 11 Pro, not Windows 10.
menu:File>Properties>tab::Security has an option to open a document read-only independently of the file system permissions.
Did you try to start LibreOffice with a new profile folder?
Close LibreOffice.
Rename %APPDATA%\LibreOffice\4\user %APPDATA%\LibreOffice\4\user.bkp
LibreOffice starts with brand-new settings.
Open the files in question.
I don’t think that has anything to do with it. One was a new install on a new fresh Win11 installation, the other an update on man existing installation, both with the same problem on exactly the same files and no problems on the exact other st of files.
Are the files on OneDrive? Has LibreOffice 26.2 got permission to edit OneDrive files?
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Copilot adds extra protections so it might be Copilot that makes it read only. The sensitivity labels get applied to derived documents so copying the contents also copies the sensitivity label. Microsoft 365 Copilot data protection architecture | Microsoft Learn
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I don’t use OneDrive nor Copilot so cannot test.
[Edit]
Can you check the Document Classification, Classification Bar