New Writer documents can keep opening with the wrong margins, fonts, page size, or heading styles even after you fix those settings in one file. That usually happens because a normal document is not the same thing as Writer’s default template. To make the formatting repeat automatically, save a document as a template and set it as the default for text documents.
There is no significant recent change to this workflow in the current LibreOffice Help. The current LibreOffice 26.8 documentation still describes the Template Manager and the “Set as Default” command. The steps below work with the current menu layout; labels can vary slightly by operating system or interface mode.
A template is a starting point for new documents. It can contain paragraph, character, and page styles, along with headers, footers, tables, graphics, and other prepared content. When you create a new text document, Writer uses its default template unless you choose a different template.
Changing the default template does not reformat documents you already created. It also does not automatically change the default templates for Calc, Impress, or other LibreOffice applications. LibreOffice keeps template defaults by application type, so select the Text Documents filter when managing Writer templates.
Open a new Writer document or an existing document that already has the right layout. Set the page size and orientation, margins, default paragraph style, fonts, line spacing, header and footer, and any recurring elements such as a company name or document title field.
For a reusable template, prefer styles over formatting individual paragraphs by hand. For example, update the “Default Paragraph Style” and the heading styles rather than selecting all text and changing its font directly. This keeps future documents easier to edit and helps the navigation pane and table of contents recognize headings.
Remove sample text, one-time notes, or confidential content before saving the template. Keep only elements that should appear in every new document.
The next new text document should use the saved template. LibreOffice adds templates saved this way to the Template Manager automatically. If your installation shows a different menu arrangement, open the Templates command from the File menu or consult the current Save as Template help page.
If the template is already in LibreOffice, you do not need to save another copy. Open the Template Manager with File > Templates > Manage Templates. You can also use Ctrl+Shift+N on Windows and Linux, or choose the Templates button in the Start Center.
Double-clicking a template creates a document from it, but does not necessarily make that template the default for future documents. Use the explicit Set as Default command when you want Writer to select it automatically.
Yes. In the Template Manager, filter to Text Documents, find the template marked with the green check, right-click it, and choose Edit. Make the changes in the template document, then choose File > Save and close it. Future Writer documents will use the modified default. Existing documents remain as they were.
Built-in Writer templates cannot be edited, renamed, or deleted directly. If you want to adapt a built-in template, create a document from it, make your changes, and save that result as a new template. Then set the new template as the default.
Open File > Templates > Manage Templates, select Text Documents in the filter, and open the Manage menu. Choose Reset Default. This removes the custom default-template setting for the selected application type and returns Writer to its standard default behavior.
Check the filter before resetting. If it is set to All Applications, the reset applies to all LibreOffice applications rather than Writer alone. Resetting the default setting does not mean that every custom template in your library is deleted.
Close or minimize the current document and create a new text document from File > New > Text Document. Confirm a few visible details that distinguish your template, such as page orientation, margins, header, or a custom heading style. Save a temporary test file if useful, then close it without replacing your actual template.
If those settings appear in the new document, the default template is active. If only a document created from the Template Manager has the expected layout, you may have opened that template manually without setting it as Writer’s default. Reopen Manage Templates, check the green mark, and set the desired template explicitly.
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