Is there a way to change the default format for dates in OpenOffice.org? I would have thought there would be, but I can't find any way of doing it. I have no trouble changing the format of a date once I've inserted it, however.

you could modify the style of the default template changing the date format to what you want to use..


For Calc

Ctrl+F11 -> Select Default -> Click on Modify -> Select Numbers Tab -> Select Data - Select Date Format


For Writer

To change the date format do Ctrl+F2 > Document tab > Type=Date > Select=your choice > Format=December 31, 1999.


You should be able to save templates with those settings so they will stick..

1 members found this post helpful.

I would like to change the default date format in openorg.writer, the word processing application.

I finally figured out how to do this and am going through and posting the solution to the threads I've been reading for help:

1) in spreadsheet press Ctrl F11
2) Default - Modify
3) Date
4) change the language until you find one that defaults to the format you like (you CANNOT specify your own format) I like Uyghur and Zulu
5) click OK - OK
6) File - Templates - Save
7) File - Templates - Organize
8) right click the saved template and "Set As Default Template"

When a date is entered, it will now be recognized from the correct format and will be rendered in the correct format.

Hello, everyone - after pulling my hair out for a while on this one a few weeks ago when making the switch from WordPerfect (on Windows) to OpenOffice (for both Linux and Windows), I had a flash of inspiration this morning and thought I'd pass it along.
I'm sure the above solution works perfectly, that is, to change the default template. But I'm used in WordPerfect to being able just to hit CTRL + D and have the date come up in my preferred format, which is "May 13, 2010, Thursday", and really like the keyboard shortcut option. In OpenOffice, it didn't seem possible to have a keyboard shortcut to pull this off. Then I realized:

1) Insert --> Fields --> Date
2) Right-click on field, select "Field"
3) Changed the format to my preferred format (Type = Date; Select = Date (fixed); Format = Additional Formats, then, for me, in the format code field, "MMMM DD, YYYY, NNN". Then click "Ok," then "Ok.")
4) Now, select the entire field, then Edit --> Autotext
5) In the Name field, I call this "Today," with the shortcut "t". Then on the right-hand side of the dialog box, select "Autotext," then "New."

The Autotext field reads the current date and uses it; I verified this by changing the computer's date and the autotext gave me the date I'd changed the computer to.

So viola! Now whenever I want that date format to appear, I click "t + F3," and there it is. Hope this helps somebody.

1 members found this post helpful.

It helped me. thank you!

Awesome! Glad to hear it!