The lock file could not be created for exclusive access by LibreOffice …

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#1

macOS Sequoia 15.6.1
Libre Office Version: 25.8.1.1
Email client: Apple Mail 16.0

I’ve recently moved from NeoOffice to LibreOffice and have set all MS Windows Office file types to open in LibreOffice.

When I try to open a MS Windows Office attachment directly (double click) in an email I get a warning:

“The lock file could not be created for exclusive access by LibreOffice, due to missing permission to create a lock file on that file location or lack of free disk space.”

There is plenty of free disk space so I assume it is a permissions issue …?

If I move the file to the desktop, it’s not a problem.

I guess Apple Mail has the attachments in a temporary system folder which LibreOffice is not allowed to access?

This doesn’t happen with any other application (Pages, TextEdit, MSOffice, …) just with LibreOffice.

I see this was a problem with LibreOffice in the past.

Suggestions to stop it happening with my current set up, please.

Thanks.

#2

sounds like a reasonable guess

see Expert Config UseLocking as described in Ho to solve "The lock file could not be created for exclusive access by libreoffice ..." problem? - #4 by anon73440385

#3

Yes, I did find that but as it refers to LibreOffice 5.4 and LibreOffice 6.3 it didn’t seem relevant as I’m on LibreOffice 25.8.1.1 …

In any case, the instructions to access the setting didn’t make sense. However, having been pointed as this again, I spent some more time digging. I finally found the route in LibreOffice 25.8.1.1 running on macOS 15.6.1 which is:

LibreOffice → Preferences → LibreOffice → Advanced → Open Expert Configuration → Search: UseLocking → set Misc parameter to false.

But this universally disables the locking process which doesn’t seem such a great idea to me.

Why does LibreOffice want to implement a locking system which causes such problems when no other application I’ve discovered has this issue?

#4

Perhaps you need to enable Full Disk Access in MacOS for LibreOffice?

#5

That solves the issue :slightly_smiling_face:

Normally, when installing and using an app for the first time, it asks about disk access - LibreOffice didn’t.

However, going in to System Settings, I added LibreOffice and gave it Full Disk Access. Problem solved.

So, still a bug but considerably smaller than it seemed.

Thanks

#6

no impact when editing standalone.

→ Lock file

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