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In MS-Word, you can split a window with a horizontal bar, so that you can look at, and edit, two places in the same file (sort of) simultaneously. I vaguely seem to recall LibreOffice should also have had this kind of feature, and yet I can't find any UI for it with LO 6.0.3.1 (on GNU/Linux).

Can this be done? If so, how?

einpoklum
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4 Answers4

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I tried this today, and it seems to work. I'm running:

LibreOffice Writer Version: 6.0.6.2

Build ID: 1:6.0.6-0ubuntu0.18.04.1

To activate it, I'm simply clicked: Window --> New Window and a second window opened with the same contents. When I save in one, the saved contents are replicated in the other. They are kept in sync, as far as I can tell.

Tiling the two windows side-by-side is fairly trivial in Ubuntu Linux.

Stewart
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    Indeed, that's another way to achieve two windows for the same file (which also works for draft document which have not yet been saved). +1. – einpoklum Mar 24 '19 at 14:15
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As suggested in this post (thanks @DavidPostill):

  • You cannot split the Writer window in two like in MS Word, but
  • You apparently can, instead, open the same file twice, i.e. in two separate windows, for a similar effect.
einpoklum
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This has been a long-standing request but not yet implemented. As of LO Version 5, Writer is not among the suite's apps that can split a window. From LO Help:

Documents of LibreOffice Calc, LibreOffice Draw, and LibreOffice Impress can be split horizontally and vertically into separate views. Each view can show other parts of the document. Using the mouse, you can drag a dividing line from the scrollbar into the document.

LO Version 6 is now out (I don't have it yet), but they don't list this as a new feature.

You can open multiple windows, including the same document, but those views are not synchronized (changes in one aren't reflected in the other). Each window reflects the version of the document as last saved. So if it is adequate for your purpose to refer to old, static contents in a second window, that can be a partial solution.

But remember, any changes you make in one window and save will supersede what you're looking at in the other window. If you work in two areas of the same document in two different windows, you risk losing half of your work when you save either one.

fixer1234
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The multiple windows thing works now. The changes appear instantaneously in the other window. It is a bit silly having all the rest of the gubbins with the menus and bars just to get a split but it does the job.

Window -> New Window

Paul Woods
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    As it’s currently written, your answer is unclear. Please [edit] to add additional details that will help others understand how this addresses the question asked. You can find more information on how to write good answers in the help center. – Community May 10 '22 at 12:29