Is there any setting or scheme to allow for the automatic return to default text settting, as when some text is selected and then italic or superscript applied, the text setting returns to default?
This would save me half of my keyboard/mouse work in formatting critical writing text.
Ctrl+M? Menu Format - Clear Direct Formatting.
If I have selected a word and keyed Ctrl+I, that will change the word to italic. If I then hit Ctrl+M, while the word is still selected, it simply reverses the change to italic.
If I move the cursor to the space after the word, that space is indicated by the selection as italic. If I then key Ctrl+M, then my whole paragraph is reformatted into something unwanted and unnecessary.
The first problem is that, by default, once I select a word and apply italic (or superscript, etc), then the empty space after the selected and modified (italic) word indicates that the empty space is italic (or superscript, etc).
I have forever wondered why would anyone want an empty space to be italic after italic applied to one or more words. Or why a superscript indication/application (normal use for a footnote number, I’m presuming) would still need to exist after the number has been converted to superscript.?
With superscript the problem is “exponentially” worse, but with a simple solution.
If I carriage return and start a new paragraph after modifying a footnote number to superscript, superscript is still applied for the next text or paragraph. That can be remedied by keying Shift_Ctrl+P again. Simple solution.
Yet if I modify existing text to italic and then Ctrl+> to the start of the next word, and then back arrow to insert another word to the default character/text format, I have to reverse the italic first that has been applied to that space, even though I did not select that space.
My interest/concern is that once a user selects only a word or whatever number of words and changes it to italic or bold, etc. that formatting potential should be eliminated and the text potential returned to the default.
Or have I made that even more confusing? 
As you aren’t using styles for your document, you could type a slashes before your words and at the end, e.g. /“my italic words”/ and if Tools > AutoCorrect > AutoCorrect Options > Options is set with the defaults it will change to italic between the slashes but you can carry on typing in regular font.
Why are you manually creating footnotes? Clicking Insert > Footnotes and Endnotes > Footnote adds the superscript, links to the footnote area and places your cursor ready to type your footnote.
Here are some shortcut keys that might help, toggles is the important word.
Download and have a look at the Writer guide, particularly the chapter on Styles, you will find it easier to work with styles especially for more complex documents. from English documentation | LibreOffice Documentation - LibreOffice User Guides
You haven’t said how you select the word.
Ctrl+Shift+Right arrow, you shall press Shift+Left arrow once to unselect the space before the next word, and then apply the formatting/style.I was deeply concerned that my explanation would not be sufficient for an adequate understanding.
My apologies. I will let this go, for now.
I have always used styles. I have used OO and LO for about 15 years, but with the great complexity of software like this, I still feel like barely edging into intermediate understanding.
I don’t know what it is that I wrote that persuaded people to believe that I don’t use styles.
Please forgive my starting a chaotic thread, although I’m sure with some further deep reading of these replies that there is more for me to learn.
Be well, all.
Ctrl+I is direct formatting. The problem with styles is that M$ Word has conditioned people to consider only paragraph styles because this is all Word has to offer. Consequently using Ctrl+I is mandatory in M$O.
When you switch to LO Writer, you gain huge advantage with character, frame, page and list styles which liberate you from the implicit Word direct formatting. However, it takes some time (quite long in fact) to realise all the benefit you can get from them. This step is not obvious because its requires a change of mind and an effort to drop habits and learn a new workflow.
Be assured we understand the difficulty and you’re totally forgiven. In addition, we aren’t face-to-face, this makes harder to describe a problem in writing and there is no instant interaction to correct an inaccuracy.
I never used MS Word, or perhaps those memories have been deleted, or corrupted my consciousness forever.
I came out of the generation that used IBM Dos, and then rebelled totally against IE, in the days of Lawrence Lessig vs Bill Gates, and used Netscape/Firefox.
Thank you all for focusing on Styles, which I thought I had a basic understanding of, but I now have a basic understanding that I did not – in fact – understand the basics and the next level features that Styles support, combating them with manual formatting.
I am now focusing on the Writer Guide, 6.4, which is the version I’m still using. I presume that before I expand my features by updating to the 7 series, I best work and learn with what I have now.
Thanks again. And a special thanks to ajlittoz.
Text in Writer is formatted by “directives” in three layers: paragraph style, character style and direct formatting, from deepest to shallowest. Upper layers override lower layers.
From your description you seem to work exclusively in the direct formatting layer (this is where Ctrl+I and others operate). Unfortunately, there is no keyboard command to erase all attributes. The commands are single-attribute toggling command: one for italics, one for bold, …
The rigorous solution to your problem is to work with styles. The paragraph style defines a “background” formatting for the paragraph. Words or characters can be formatted differently with a character style. You return to “background” formatting by applying No Character Style which removes any applied character style. To facilitate typing, this pseudo character style can be assigned a keyboard shortcut (I use Alt+0 as a similarity with Ctrl+0 for Text Body).
Your other character styles, e.g. Emphasis for italics, Strong Emphasis for bold, …, can be substituted to the direct formatting command so that you still type Ctrl+I but then you get Emphasis and you return to no-attribute state with Alt+0.
Keyboard customisation is done in Tools>Customize, Keyboard tab.
Instead of selecting the text and applying some formatting, first apply the formatting: press Ctrl+I to turn on Italics, enter the text to be in italics, press Ctrl+I again to turn it off. Same for Superscript (Ctrl+Shift+P). Using styles, however, is much better.