The Navigator does not show any headings (The "Headings" node is grayed out) [SOLVED!]

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#1

I am a power user of LibreOffice for several years.

Currently, I am using LibreOffice 7.0.3.1 (64 bit) on Windows 10 Home (64 bit).

I have a peculiar problem with one particular document (all other documents work just fine):

  1. This “defective” document has 4 levels of headings, but the Navigator fails to show any heading. Further, the “Headings” section of the Navigator panel is grayed out. The Navigator shows all other elements of the document correctly: Tables, images, bookmarks, and hyperlinks.

  2. I tried the “safe” mode, but there is no difference.

  3. If I insert a TOC, it remains blank (only a gray strip appears in place of the TOC content).

  4. If I click on any of the actual headings, the paragraph style is shown correctly in the toolbar, and also in the Properties panel.

  5. I right-clicked on Headings node of the Navigator and checked out the display settings. They all seem to be OK. For example, the Navigator is set to show all headings up to Outline level 10. The Navigator is set to show the headings of the current document. I switched to the “Active window” option, but that did not work.

  6. I selected a whole document and pressed CTRL+M, but that did not change anything.

  7. I selected a H1 heading and pressed CLTL+1 (effectively, reapplied the same heading style to it afresh). But the Navigator remained unaffected.

  8. I tried to copy a small part of the document (which had headings at different levels) and paste it in a new document. But that new document also had the same issue.

  9. I again copied the same text from the document, and then pasted it as unformatted text in the new document. Then applied some random heading styles to the text. This time the new headings appeared in the Navigator.

Question is, how do I get back the headings in the “defective” document? This document is too large, and I do not want to format all its headings afresh.

(formatting edited by ajlittoz for better readability)

#2

If the Navigator shows no heading, then your “headings” are not considered as such by the internal rules.

  • What is the effective name of the heading style? A member of the Heading n family?

  • Does the Outline & Numbering tab of these styles say they are attached to some outline level?

  • Have you played with Tools>Chapter Numbering? i.e. is the Paragraph style for the levels set to Heading n?

Note: in your original question there is no item 6. What you see presently is the effect of auto numbering by the site engine but your items jump from 5 to 7. Have you forgotten one or is this a typo?

#3

Thanks are really appreciated, but this site is not a forum. It is a Question & Answer one and answers are reserved for solutions. Otherwise you confuse users making them think there are several solutions to the problem.

Be kind enough to move your thanks to a comment under my answer and to delete your “non-answer” after that.

#4

Thank you much. That fixed my issue. Mine occurred after downloading a Google Doc and converting it to ODT.

#5

The Navigator, as well as the TOC engine, collect the “heading” paragraphs which have the right property.

This property is set in the Outline & Numbering tab of a paragraph style. The property name is Outline level. If it is Text Body, then the paragraph is not a heading. When set to Level x, the paragraph is a heading at the corresponding level.

This means that headings are not limited to the Heading n family but can be extended to any style you like. This is handy when you want chapters with numbers and annexes with letters for example.

The checklist is as follows:

  • are the headings styled with Heading n?
  • are Heading n styles attached to the corresponding Outline level in Outline & Numbering tab?
  • in case you have enabled chapter numbering and one level is not numbered (though you selected a number format), is the Paragraph Style in Tools>Chapter Numbering, Numbering tab set to the appropriate Heading n?

PS: the “bulk” text in a document should be Text Body, the intended paragraph style. Default Paragraph Style (Default Style prior to 7.x) is a “technical” paragraph style used to set attributes common to all other styles. Don’t use it for discourse and, especially if you do, don’t modify it without being aware of the consequences on the other styles. I emphasize this because Default Style is the “discourse” style in M$ Word. This is a pitfall for people converting to Writer.

To show the community your question has been answered, click the ✓ next to the correct answer, and “upvote” by clicking on the ^ arrow of any helpful answers. These are the mechanisms for communicating the quality of the Q&A on this site. Thanks!

In case you need clarification, edit your question (not an answer which is reserved for solutions) or comment the relevant answer.

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Soffice options to convert from doc to pdf
#6

In my case, the document was saved as “doc” and then converted back to “odt”. Probably that’s the reason why its formatting was changed to “Default”. In addition, all the Heading n also had the Outline level of default text, and that’s why they were not appearing in the Navigator. I selected each heading level, and set its outline level to the same number. For example, Heading 3 now has Ouline level 3.

(I expected that Navigator should show all headings under its Headings node. But that’s not the case: It shows whatever style is assigned the Outline level n.)

#7

When you want reliable and persistent formatting, always save in application native format. And that holds for any application, not hust LO.

#8

I’m a little mystified by this answer.
Is it saying that there is no fix for this problem?

#9

The answer or a comment? Please point to the right one.

Not at all. If you use Writer according to its specifications, not to those of some other application, be it Word, everything works as intended.


What is your actual problem?

#10

I can’t see the fix.
I think you’re saying that the headings cannot be restored in the particular document that Raindrop refers to.

#11

@Raindrops correctly acknowledges that the Navigator displays under the Headings category paragraphs which have a non-null “outline” level. By default, paragraph styles Heading n are attached to level n and are used to create the outline. But built-in styles are not “locked”. They can be customised. It is likely that @Raindrops, intentionally or not, has changed the default configuration and was unable to restore it.

To make things more complicated, the document was saved .doc. Consequently, a conversion occurs on open and a second one close. Considering the differences between ODF and DOC, no round-trip fidelity can be guaranteed and, usually, file corruption increases with the number of edits.

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