How to Create, Save & Open Spreadsheet in Calc

One of the fundamental tasks in operating a powerful spreadsheet application like Calc is knowing how to efficiently create, save, and open spreadsheet files on your computer.

Please keep in mind, that the screenshots below were taken using the GNU/Linux operating system. I use Linux Mint (XFCE) as my primary operating system, so if the given screenshots don’t look like it’s from Windows OS, don’t worry; the steps shown below are exactly the same for all operating systems where LibreOffice runs, whether Windows, Mac, or Linux.

Creating Spreadsheet From The Start Center

When you install LibreOffice, all its applications such as Writer, Calc, Impress etc. are also installed, and their context menus are automatically integrated in your system. These context menus can be accessed by right-clicking on the desktop or in any folder.

However, LibreOffice lets you create and manage new spreadsheets inside its Start Center. It’s the first screen you see when launching LibreOffice. It’s the document management page where you can create new document and access or manage recently opened files.

On the Start Center you got two options to create new spreadsheets documents.

Step 1. Through the top menu-bar: To create a new spreadsheet through the top-menu bar, click on Files > New > Click one from the given list of spreadsheet types (Text spreadsheet, Spreadsheet, Presentation, Drawing, and so on).

Step 2. Through the Create Section in the left side-column.

Creating Spreadsheets With Keyboard Shortcuts

LibreOffice has an extensive list of keyboard shortcuts that you can use to boost your efficiency while working on the software, such as creating new spreadsheets, saving, or opening them.

The keyboard shortcuts for creating, saving and opening spreadsheets:

Note: These shortcuts only create new spreadsheets of the same type from which the keystrokes are pressed.

For example, if you’re working on a text spreadsheet in LibreOffice Writer, the keystrokes will open a new text spreadsheet. Similarly, if you’re working on a Calc spreadsheet, the keystrokes will open a new spreadsheet.

Saving spreadsheets In LibreOffice

After you’ve learned how to create new spreadsheets, you need to save them on computer too for later use. LibreOffice offers several ways to save a spreadsheet to a file. However, there are basically three ways.

• Save
• Save As
• Save a Copy

Method 1 – Keyboard Shortcut

User who knows and uses computer must be familiar with the Ctrl + S shortcut. It’s a global standard shortcut for saving any file to a computer.

Method 2 – Save through the top Menu-bar

LibreOffice has a global menu-bar at the top by default. If you haven’t manually hidden the menu-bar, you can find the Save option under File > Save. In addition to the normal Save function, you can also find Save as and Save as Copy.

Method 3 – Save as

This function saves a new copy of the currently open spreadsheet. When this is performed, the original spreadsheet is closed, and all its content is saved to a new file with a different name or location. The keyboard shortcut for performing this operation is Shift + Ctrl + S.

Method 4 – Save as Copy

This is similar to Save as but with one difference. This function saves a copy of the currently open spreadsheet to a new file, but the current spreadsheet remains open in LibreOffice.

Saving Spreadsheet in Different File Formats

When saving a spreadsheet, LibreOffice allows you to select the file extension to be used for the spreadsheet. It offers a list of supported file types that you can choose from. Here is the complete list of supported file types Calc provides.

For example, when saving a new spreadsheet for the first time, you’ll be prompted to name the file and select its extension. The default extension of all spreadsheets is .ODS (Open Spreadsheet Format), but you can change it to another supported file type if needed. Or, you can change the default file extension from the settings as well.

Opening Spreadsheet Document

After you save a spreadsheet document as a file on the computer, you can then easily open it like any other file. Just double-click on the file icon on your computer, or if you’re already using LibreOffice, follow these simple steps:

Click on the Files > Open from the top-menu, and navigate to your spreadsheet file and click Open to access it.