LibreOffice Calc, typing in a cell constantly overwrites the same character over and over?

[marctremblay]

LibreOffice Calc contains a weird and very annoying bug that constantly just replaces the same character over and over when you try to replace a float number at the beginning of a cell that contains a float number followed by the word “total”. Anybody has seen this weird bug?

Steps to reproduce, just start a new Calc document and then:

1. Type “123.45 total” in an empty cell and press ENTER to validate it.
2. Double click that cell to edit its contents and highlight 123.45 by clicking and dragging the mouse cursor over the 123.45 part of the text.
3. Try to type anything to replace the text and the bug will happen: It will overwrite the selection with only the last character that you’ve typed. If you smash your keyboard, it may occasionally replace the text with 2 or 3 characters, but only the very last one(s) you typed.

See, here I tried to type “hello” on top of “123.45” at the beginning of the cell and only the letter “o” remains:

GIF from video capture of this bug (click to open it in a new tab, as this forum does not allow embedding such large GIF animations)

[schiavinatto]

In version 24.2.1.2 on Win10, it is normal without a bug.

[elmau]

Work fine in my system

Version: 24.2.0.3 (X86_64) / LibreOffice Community
Build ID: 420(Build:3)
CPU threads: 16; OS: Linux 6.7; UI render: default; VCL: gtk3
Locale: es-MX (en_US.UTF-8); UI: en-US
24.2.0-2
Calc: threaded

Please, always send your version of LibreOffice and OS

[marctremblay]

As the top/left part of the screenshot reveals, I’m under macOS Sonoma. Also, I forgot to add the LibreOffice version, but it’s 7.6.2.1

[elmau]

Sorry, I don’t know macOS

[marctremblay]

Alright, so today I have updated to macOS Sonoma 14.4 and re-tried under the same version (7.6.2.1) and the bug is still very much there. I then gave in and replaced 7.6.2.1 by 24.2.1.2 AARM and the bug is exactly the same.

[spruce112358]

I have the same issue (MacOS; LibreOffice 7.3.4). It has been a feature of LO for some time and ALL the observations are correct:

• It is maddeningly non-reproducible. When I use your example ‘123.45’, it doesn’t do it. But I was working in a spreadsheet yesterday and the cursor repeatedly switched to Overwrite by itself. I have observed it mostly in larger spreadsheets with “lots of text.” Make of that what you will.
• Toggling from Insert to Overwrite does not help (yes, we thought of that.)
• Saving the document, closing the program, etc. - yes, tried. No, it doesn’t solve the problem.

As for bug reports, one has to be able to describe/capture/the bug in some detail and I have never been able to do that. The behavior is too random and the few times I’ve tried to screen record, it stopped doing it. Absolutely infuriating!

So kudos to you for finally Photographing this Monster! Maybe the fact that many of us have seen it will enable someone to finally kill it for us.

[EarnestAl]

Nobody will do anything until a bug report is made because the developers won’t know about it.
The other posters haven’t made a bug report as far as I know, could you please do it?
Please report the bug number here
Cheers, Al

[spruce112358]

Bug 162413 has been successfully created

[EarnestAl]

At the bottom of the LibreOffice Calc window, you should see, in the Status bar, Overwrite. Click it to change to Insert mode.

[marctremblay]

Hi, thanks for your suggestion, but it’s never on “Overwrite” and always seems to be on “Insert”. Here’s a video proving it. Click on the “broken” canvas to open it directly in a new tab (this forum does not allow large GIF pictures)

[EarnestAl]

Does it exhibit the same behaviour in Safe mode? Click Help - Restart in Safe mode - Continue in Safe mode

[marctremblay]

Yup, same exact behaviour in safe mode. If nobody knows, I’ll wait a couple days/weeks until 24.2.x gets in stable release and I’ll upgrade and re-test then.

[EarnestAl]

Try pressing Fn+Enter once to toggle Insert mode in Mac.

Possible bug, see Bug 82599 - Insert and overwrite mode reversed in cell while editing on the Calc Formula bar

@marctremblay

I’ll wait a couple days/weeks until 24.2.x gets in stable release

If it is not resolved by toggling Insert mode or by restarting computer then report a bug. If the developers don’t know about it, they cannot fix it, see How to Report Bugs in LibreOffice - The Document Foundation Wiki

[marctremblay]

FN+Enter does nothing except to validate the cell and then it selects the cell underneath it. But just so we’re clear, what do you mean by “toggling” the insert mode? It’s constantly in insert mode already as you can see in my animated GIF from yesterday. I also discovered that you don’t even have to type “123.45 total”. You can repeat the bug with any 2 words, e.g. “abc abc” does the same bug when you try to highlight the first “abc” and type over it.

[EarnestAl]

The bug I referred to shows Insert when it has switched to Overwrite mode.

Please file a bug report and give the bug number here in the form tdf#1234567 so it creates the link. Cheers, Al

[s-light1]

i think i have seen the same / very similar behavior on my system
but for me it is not reproducable - it just occures sometimes -
and is gone if i restart libreoffice…

Version: 7.6.5.2 (X86_64) / LibreOffice Community
Build ID: 60(Build:2)
CPU threads: 16; OS: Linux 6.5; UI render: default; VCL: kf5 (cairo+xcb)
Locale: de-DE (en_US.UTF-8); UI: en-US
Ubuntu package version: 4:7.6.5-0ubuntu0.23.10.1
Calc: threaded

[EarnestAl]

Just clicking Overwrite in the status bar at the bottom or pressing the Insert key should fix it.

If not then try these steps before submitting a bug report, First steps to take before submitting a bug - The Document Foundation Wiki

[marctremblay]

There’s no such thing as “Overwrite” in the status bar when this happens, at least on my side. I kindly ask you to please read the thread carefully before replying. You reply a lot in this thread, but it doesn’t make much sense. Look at the GIF animation at the top of the thread to see my whole screen.

[EarnestAl]

It was intended for the previous, new comment for whom it happens only occasionally so is unlikely to be the issue you encounter. The normal way of switching between Insert and Overwrite will probably work for them.

Did you report a bug? Please post the bug number in the form tdf#123456. Cheers, Al