LibreOffice Writer now supports Markdown

This is great news. I've long felt markdown support was a missed opportunity for LibreOffice. There are great options out there, and with AI it's not even terrible to roll-your-own, but I already have LibreOffice anyway and being able to use that instead of reaching for a different tool would be killer. Might be a little while until this makes it into distro packages, but if anyone has tried it I'd love to hear how it compares to the other options.

What are peoples' favourite md implementations? Curious as there are different varieties and even more varied opinions. I am building a lightweight project folder managing app supporting markdown and I am between Commonmark and GitHub flavoured markdown and want to gather thoughts.

I got really excited that I would be able to write in Markdown.

Unfortunately, from the article:

> Markdown import and export features.

Oh, this is actually very helpful for me! I have an AI copilot extension for LibreOffice Writer and I need to export the doc to a text file before sending it to the LLM. The problem is that I lose the semantic formatting (eg heading).

Link to the extension for anyone curious: https://extensions.libreoffice.org/en/extensions/show/99471

What is a good way to convert MS Office documents to markdown -- until Microsoft adds "Saves As" option to office apps.

Anything that can run locally instead of uploading potentially sensitive stuff to random websites. Would be handy on work PCs.

It's markdown import and export. Does not support writing in Markdown.

Does it say how much Markdown is covered? I doubt that it will get the integrated Latex formulas...

Great news. My first thought was that I want to see how this looks. Unfortunately there is not a single screenshot in the announcement. Missed opportunity in my opinion.

Watch out for RCEs :)

I keep wondering how much longer they'll cling to these monsters, office suites as a concept. They make no sense since decades, not just for producing TERRIBLE print documents, but also as awful formats for working with text and any data they might contain.

I see this latest development as an admission that their time is up, but I don't see that same awareness from the people who actually use the software.

Link to the extension for anyone curious: https://extensions.libreoffice.org/en/extensions/show/99471

Great news. My first thought was that I want to see how this looks. Unfortunately there is not a single screenshot in the announcement. Missed opportunity in my opinion.

Watch out for RCEs :)

There's a lot of missed opportunity for LibreOffice, almost all of it to do with insisting on seeing the world in terms that fit neatly within the paradigm of 90s and early 2000s era office suites.

Back when they were quarreling over the standardization of OOXML, instead of pushing their own proprietary** desktop format, they should have instead been pushing hard for something that could be shared with and opened by anyone who has a Web browser (in other words: "anyone")—something that uses HTML as a container format and can degrade gracefully even if you don't have any kind of office suite installed and the only reader software you have for it is Chrome/Safari/Firefox/Edge. There was no chance of beating Microsoft's incumbency with Office when being libre+gratis was the _only_ distinguishing feature. It required doing something different at a fundamental level. Even Microsoft beat them to getting halfway to the place they should have been when they bought the company that wrote what became Windows Live Writer app (which is now itself open source, though neglected, and still mired in visions of desktop software from the 90s: <https://github.com/OpenLiveWriter/OpenLiveWriter>).

> The LibreOffice project's imprimatur should be to stop existing[…] The editing paradigm perpetuated by the legacy of MS Office is a dead end[…] A standardized "Markdown for the Web" (or AsciiDoc) with native browser support would be a good 80/20 start and would move things out of weird proprietary office formats and towards plain text[…]

> Right now LibreOffice is aligned against this goal as a result of perverse incentives to continue perpetuating the MS Office model of document creation, editing, and (let's face it: email-based) distribution.

<https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23795918>

For me, being able to open typical .doc files and re-save as .md w/ a reasonable approximation of formatting is _huge_, and I'm very appreciative of it (and I've long argued that an office suite which just offered only what .md can do would meet the needs of the vast majority of users _and_ keep them from making the sorts of abominable documents folks often complain about).

I'm not sure this is quite what you are looking for, though I could be wrong. As far as I can tell they haven't added support for writing Markdown, the added support for importing to and exporting from Markdown.

I know it doesn’t answer your question, but: AsciiDoc. All major forges support it and it has the same features as all the other Markdown flavors combined.

GFM, because HTML in markdown should not be a parse error, and getting twenty different markdown "specs" to all agree on new syntax for bits they are obviously missing (like details, classed scoping, transclusions, etc) is not happening.

I got really excited that I would be able to write in Markdown.

Unfortunately, from the article:

> Markdown import and export features.

Why would you need LibreOffice to write in Markdown? That would be, like, one of the slowest Markdown editors out there.

Markdown is a text markup language, of course. The output does not look like the input (unless you want to read raw text Markdown, in which case LibreOffice works fine).

How would that look in a single-pane, edit-in-place, wysiwyg editor? Where would you type the input, and where and when would it show the output?

What is a good way to convert MS Office documents to markdown -- until Microsoft adds "Saves As" option to office apps.

Anything that can run locally instead of uploading potentially sensitive stuff to random websites. Would be handy on work PCs.

The canonical answer is Pandoc.

Based on what others have suggested, I've just tried out pandoc for this, and it's produced really good results in CommonMark from some quite hideous Word documents.

If you like to have it integrated in Word: https://www.writage.com/features/

You could open the doc or docx in LibreOffice 26.2 and use its Markdown export feature?

Copy-paste it to Obsidian.

> until Microsoft adds "Saves As" option to office apps

LibreOffice also allows to convert documents via command line, so there's one more bonus.

Microsoft added markdown support to Notepad, and that went well /s

Does it say how much Markdown is covered? I doubt that it will get the integrated Latex formulas...

Well LaTeX formulas are not part of standard Markdown, which is a few different Header levels, simple lists, bold, italics, blockquote and... that's about it?

I know it doesn’t answer your question, but: AsciiDoc. All major forges support it and it has the same features as all the other Markdown flavors combined.

Why would you need LibreOffice to write in Markdown? That would be, like, one of the slowest Markdown editors out there.

The canonical answer is Pandoc.

Based on what others have suggested, I've just tried out pandoc for this, and it's produced really good results in CommonMark from some quite hideous Word documents.

There's a lot of missed opportunity for LibreOffice, almost all of it to do with insisting on seeing the world in terms that fit neatly within the paradigm of 90s and early 2000s era office suites.

<https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23795918>

Word is a WYSIWYG document editor with built-in version control and annotations. In order to match that feature set with something like Markdown, you'd basically have to reinvent Word in all ways but for file format.

And if you expect Word's current user base to get by with Emacs or Vim or Zed and git, you really are programmer-brained and need to develop more empathy for ordinary people.

Pandoc could convert between .doc/.docx and .md, but having that in LibreOffice would still be a welcome and obvious convenience.

HTML in markdown has never been a parse error. Unless you're using something very broken.

https://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/syntax#html

Markdown is a text markup language, of course. The output does not look like the input (unless you want to read raw text Markdown, in which case LibreOffice works fine).

How would that look in a single-pane, edit-in-place, wysiwyg editor? Where would you type the input, and where and when would it show the output?

Obsidian does this. It displays the raw Markdown for the line under the cursor, and renders the marked down content everywhere else in the document.

HTML in markdown has never been a parse error. Unless you're using something very broken.

https://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/syntax#html

If you like to have it integrated in Word: https://www.writage.com/features/

You could open the doc or docx in LibreOffice 26.2 and use its Markdown export feature?

Copy-paste it to Obsidian.

> until Microsoft adds "Saves As" option to office apps

LibreOffice also allows to convert documents via command line, so there's one more bonus.

Microsoft added markdown support to Notepad, and that went well /s

Obsidian does this. It displays the raw Markdown for the line under the cursor, and renders the marked down content everywhere else in the document.

And if you expect Word's current user base to get by with Emacs or Vim or Zed and git, you really are programmer-brained and need to develop more empathy for ordinary people.

Back in the long-ago times, I saw ordinary people fight tooth-and-nail to keep their WordPerfect on DOS instead of switching to Windows and Word, despite it requiring those overlays kept above their keyboard function keys and being non-WYSIWYG. Ordinary people aren't neophiles, nor is Word especially intuitive. They simply want what that app to which they are familiar.

> And if you expect Word's current user base to get by with Emacs or Vim or Zed and git

... who said that? Are they in the room now?

I'm baffled when these kinds of responses show up in these threads—every time I've brought this up. Like, it's pure hallucination. And the readiness to go from what is _my_ very clear call for "empathy for ordinary people" to an explicit suggestion that I might be programmer-brained is inexplicable. Did you black out when reading?

Ordinary people don't want to do any of the things uttered someone who's telling them to stop using Google Docs and to go "download" something called "LibreOffice".

Pandoc could convert between .doc/.docx and .md, but having that in LibreOffice would still be a welcome and obvious convenience.

I haven't like using the CLI since having to give up my NeXT Cube and pbpaste/copy and so forth.

Well LaTeX formulas are not part of standard Markdown, which is a few different Header levels, simple lists, bold, italics, blockquote and... that's about it?

> And if you expect Word's current user base to get by with Emacs or Vim or Zed and git

... who said that? Are they in the room now?

Ordinary people don't want to do any of the things uttered someone who's telling them to stop using Google Docs and to go "download" something called "LibreOffice".

simple lists? 50 examples and still gaping holes in the logic and no consistent implementation of lists across any 2 editors.

https://spec.commonmark.org/0.31.2/#loose

I haven't like using the CLI since having to give up my NeXT Cube and pbpaste/copy and so forth.

simple lists? 50 examples and still gaping holes in the logic and no consistent implementation of lists across any 2 editors.

https://spec.commonmark.org/0.31.2/#loose

It's markdown import and export. Does not support writing in Markdown.

We’re pleased to announce the release of LibreOffice 26.2, the newest version of the free and open source office suite trusted by millions of users around the world. This release makes it easier than ever for users to create, edit and share documents on their own terms. Designed for individuals and organizations alike, it continues to be a trusted alternative to proprietary office software.

LibreOffice 26.2 is focused on improvements that make a difference in daily work and brings better performance, smoother interaction with complex documents and improved compatibility with files created in other office software. Whether you’re writing reports, managing spreadsheets, or preparing presentations, the experience feels more responsive and reliable.

LibreOffice has always been about giving users control. LibreOffice 26.2 continues that tradition by strengthening support for open document standards, and ensuring long-term access to your files, without subscriptions, license restrictions, or data collection. Your documents stay yours – forever.

Behind this release there is a global community of contributors. Developers, designers, translators, QA testers, and volunteers from around the world worked together to deliver hundreds of fixes and refinements. Their efforts result in a suite that not only adds features, but also improves quality, consistency, and stability, release after release.

What’s New in LibreOffice 26.2

Markdown import and export features.
Improved performance and responsiveness across the suite, making large documents open, edit, and save more smoothly.
Enhanced compatibility with documents created in proprietary and open core office software, reducing formatting issues and surprises.
Refined user interface behavior for a cleaner, more consistent experience.
Expanded support for open standards, reinforcing long-term access to documents.
Hundreds of bug fixes and stability improvements contributed by the global LibreOffice community.

See the Release Notes for the full list of new features.

Florian Effenberger, Executive Director of The Document Foundation, says:

LibreOffice 26.2 shows what happens when software is built around users, not business models, and how open source software can deliver a modern, polished productivity suite without compromising user freedom. This release is about speed, reliability, and giving people control over their documents.

LibreOffice 26.2 is available for Windows, macOS, and Linux, and supports over 120 languages out of the box. It can be used at home, in businesses, schools, and public institutions, with no licensing fees and no vendor lock-in.

You can download LibreOffice 26.2 today from the official LibreOffice website. We invite users to try the new release, share feedback, and join the community helping shape the future of LibreOffice. If they are happy, they can donate to support the independence and the future development of the project.

Downloads: www.libreoffice.org/download

Donations: www.libreoffice.org/donate

About LibreOffice and The Document Foundation

LibreOffice is a free, private and open source office suite used by millions of people, businesses, and public institutions worldwide. It is developed by an international community and supported by The Document Foundation, an independent non-profit organization that promotes open standards, digital sovereignty and user choice.

LibreOffice 26.2 Press Kit: nextcloud.documentfoundation.org/s/eDiocN8Gak6jDKx

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LibreOffice Writer now supports Markdown

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