FG

disabling DoWhatIMean behavior in OpenOffice Writer

Fresh3 days ago
Mar 15, 2026142 views
Confidence Score0%
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Problem

If I type "2-5" in a table column in OpenOffice Writer, it automagically converts it to 02/05/09. How do I give this program a dope slap and tell it to stop trying to figure out what I mean, and just let me type what I want?

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1 Fix

Canonical Fix
Unverified Fix
New Fix – Awaiting Verification

Fix for: disabling DoWhatIMean behavior in OpenOffice Writer

Low Risk

To stop OpenOffice from autoformating cells to dates and so forth, right click on the table and disable the "Number Recognition" checkbox. You can re-enable this later if you want, any previously filled in cells will stay unformatted.

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Environment