Contents

# General

Defines general settings for spreadsheet documents.

To access this command...

Open a spreadsheet document, choose LibreOffice - Preferences Tools - Options - LibreOffice Calc - General.

## Metrics

### Measurement unit

Defines the unit of measure in spreadsheets.

### Tab stops

Defines the tab stops distance.

### Update

#### Update links when loading

Settings for automatic links updates stored in documents are ignored for security reasons. Link updates are always bounded by LibreOffice Security settings in LibreOffice - Preferences Tools - Options... - LibreOffice – Security.

##### Always

Always updates links while loading a document, and only if the document is in a trusted file location or the global security level is Low (Not recommended).

This setting is treated as On request unless either the global macro security level is set to Low in LibreOffice - Preferences Tools - Options... - LibreOffice - Security - Macro Security... - Security Level - Low (not recommended) or the document is located in a trusted place defined by LibreOffice - Preferences Tools - Options... - LibreOffice - Security - Macro Security... - Trusted Sources - Trusted File Locations.

##### On request

Updates links only on request while loading a document.

##### Never

Links are never updated while loading a document.

## Input settings

### Press Enter to move selection

Determines the direction that the cursor in the spreadsheet will move after you press the Enter key.

### Press Enter to switch to edit mode

Determines the behaviour of the Enter key in a spreadsheet. Checking this option causes Enter to open cell contents for editing.

Uncheck this option to make the Enter key select the cell below the current cell.

If a range of cells is selected, each time Enter is pressed it will select the next cell inside the range, according to the direction selected in Press Enter to move selection. Hence, enabling both options is useful when entering values into a range of cells sequentially.

### Expand formatting

Specifies whether to automatically apply the formatting attributes of the selected cell to the empty adjacent cells. If, for example, the contents of the selected cell have the bold attribute, this bold attribute will also apply to adjacent cells. Cells that already have a special format will not be modified by this function. You can see the range in question by pressing the Command Ctrl + * (multiplication sign on the number pad) shortcut. This format also applies to all new values inserted within this range. The normal default settings apply to cells outside this range.

### Expand references when new columns/rows are inserted

Specifies whether to expand references when inserting columns or rows adjacent to the reference range. This is only possible if the reference range, where the column or row is inserted, originally spanned at least two cells in the desired direction.

Example: If the range A1:B1 is referenced in a formula and you insert a new column after column B, the reference is expanded to A1:C1. If the range A1:B1 is referenced and a new row is inserted under row 1, the reference is not expanded, since there is only a single cell in the vertical direction.

If you insert rows or columns in the middle of a reference area, the reference is always expanded.

### Highlight selection in column/row headings

Specifies whether to highlight column and row headers in the selected columns or rows.

### Show overwrite warning when pasting data

Specifies that, when you paste cells from the clipboard to a cell range that is not empty, a warning appears.

### Position cell reference with selection

With the option set, expanding a selection (with Command Ctrl +Shift+Down/Up) jumps to the end of the range in the column that was added as last to the initial selection. When the option is not set, expanding a selection (with Command Ctrl+Shift +Down/Up) jumps to the end of the range in the column where selecting the cell range was started. The same of course applies when extending a selection on rows, with Command Ctrl+ Shift+Left/Right.

### Warn when saving only the active sheet

Specifies whether a warning box informs when saving was applied to only the active sheet. For example, when saving in CSV format.