OpenOffice spreadsheet tries to use Excel

[captkraus]

i had a spread sheet in Open Office that somehow without my approval that was converted to Excel and now i can't access it unless i buy Microsoft software.

[LastUnicorn]

I would try installing LibreOffice instead and see if that solves your immediate issue. LibreOffice has better support for Microsoft Office file types. There are several good reasons for making the switch anyway, some of which are mentioned here: [Tutorial] Considering a Switch from OpenOffice to LibreOffice? Some Useful Information

P.S. I don't see how the file could have been converted without your deliberate, though perhaps accidental, involvement in making it so.

[captkraus]

it is almost as if Microsoft pirated my Open office spread sheets. i notice other posts with the same problem. Horrible way to force people to pay Microsoft for Excel.

[LastUnicorn]

You should always be saving your spreadsheet as .ods file type. You would only ever need to save a copy as a Microsoft file type if you intended passing that copy of the spreadsheet file to someone who was using Microsoft Office. If you're not doing that then you should have no occasion at all for ever saving it as a Microsoft file type. As it stands I believe recent versions of Microsoft Office can open .ods files anyway, so no need for you to convert to Microsoft file type.

The same rule applies to all of OpenOffice/LibreOffice file types. Always save in the native ODF file types and treat those files as your master documents and only work in them.

[RoryOF]

This is probably caused by a Windows update resetting the default applications. I believe it can and has done so several times in the past. It may be necessary to reset the File Associations to tell computer to use OpenOffice to open such files.

[DiGro]

viewtopic.php?f=74&t=12918

[LastUnicorn]

If you do try LibreOffice then I would suggest you read chapter 10 of the Getting Started Guide — Working with File Formats, Security, and Exporting. In that chapter there are clear explanations of what file types LibreOffice can handle.

[Villeroy]

Re: Microsoft 365 Converted All My Documents to Word

[keme]

As others said, most likely nothing happened to your files, but your system suddenly assumes that MS Office is the default suite for opening OpenOffice files.

Possible quick fix: try to repair the OpenOffice install.

• Open the Settings app and go to apps
• Scroll down to the OpenOffice entry and select modify, then repair.

You may be posed a few questions. One of them may be about file type associations.