Introduction to LibreOffice Writer

August 1, 2026

Today, I will be providing a brief overview of LibreOffice Writer. LibreOffice Writer is a free and open-source word processing application available to download on the Software Center app. It has much of the same functionality as Word and this series of posts aims to make understanding and using LibreOffice Writer simple.

How do you install LibreOffice Writer?

LibreOffice Writer is installed as part of the LibreOffice suite of programs on the Software Center app. On a fresh installation of Ubuntu on a device, we at BootDrive, LLC. typically choose the version of the installation for the operating system that includes it so that it can be used right away. When you install the LibreOffice suite of programs, it also comes with LibreOffice Calc and LibreOffice Impress. We'll talk about those in a future post. Any time there is a system update available for Ubuntu, the system will also check to see if there is an update available for the LibreOffice suite of programs, so your apps will always be kept up to date unless you specify not to update the programs or choose not to install the system update. If you don't yet have LibreOffice installed on your Ubuntu device, we will show you how you can install it below.

Step 1: Open the Software Center application

The Software Center app looks like this. An orange shopping bag icon with an "A" on the front.

You can find the Software Center app on your toolbar on the side of your desktop screen or if you removed it from your toolbar, it can be found on your Show Apps screen in the bottom left-hand corner.

Step 2: Navigate to the search bar and search the word "Libre"

The search bar is in the top middle of the Software Center window that has opened. Type the word libre in there and then press Enter on your keyboard or hit the search magnifying glass. The LibreOffice suite of programs will have the icon displayed below and it will have been created by Canonical, the creators of the Ubuntu operating system.

Step 3: Downloading LibreOffice

When you click on the search result for LibreOffice, it will show you the Software Center application page for it. Yours might look a bit different than mine pictures below because I already have it installed on my device. If you don't have it installed on your Ubuntu device, instead of it saying "Open" in the blue button, it may say "Download" or "Install" instead. I always make sure the Channel box lists the latest version of the software. You can tell if you are installing the latest version of the software if it says "latest/stable" in it. This means it is not only the latest version of LibreOffice, but also latest version with the fewest amount of bugs or software glitches in it.

LibreOffice's Software Center application page. You can also view screenshots of the app(s) here.

And that's all there is to it! Now, you can open LibreOffice Writer by clicking on the app pictured below.

Over the course of the next few blog posts, we will be introducing you to the many features of LibreOffice Writer. And if there are any additional questions you have about any of the apps we will showcase on these blog posts, feel free to reach out to me via my contact form at the bottom of the homepage here. Thanks for reading and I hope this helped!