LibreOffice (Office formats)¶

The Office translation pipeline picks the best available backend in this order:

win32com (Windows + MS Office installed) — highest fidelity
LibreOffice UNO (cross-platform) — fallback when win32com isn't there
python-docx / openpyxl / python-pptx (modern formats only) — pure-Python fallback when neither of the above is available

LibreOffice is the only path for legacy .doc / .xls / .ppt on Linux and macOS, and the recommended path on those platforms for modern Office formats too (better fidelity than the pure-Python backend, especially for tables and embedded objects).

Install¶

macOSUbuntu / DebianFedora / RHELWindows

brew install --cask libreoffice

Or download from https://www.libreoffice.org/download/download/.

sudo apt install libreoffice

sudo dnf install libreoffice

The desktop app on Windows usually uses win32com with MS Office installed — LibreOffice is the fallback if MS Office is missing. Install from https://www.libreoffice.org/download/download/.

Verify¶

soffice --version

If you get "command not found" on macOS, the binary is at /Applications/LibreOffice.app/Contents/MacOS/soffice. The app auto-discovers it across common install paths, but you can override in Settings → General → LibreOffice path if needed.

What it powers¶

When LibreOffice is the active backend:

Feature	Note
Modern Office (`.docx`, `.xlsx`, `.pptx`)	Used as fallback when win32com isn't available
Legacy Office (`.doc`, `.xls`, `.ppt`)	Required — pure Python can't read these
ODF (`.odt`, `.ods`, `.odp`)	Used for round-trip conversion when Auto-convert ODF is on
Auto-convert legacy / ODF → OOXML	Required

Background process¶

The first time LibreOffice is needed, the app spawns a soffice process in headless mode and keeps it alive across translations (office_lifecycle.py). It auto-shuts down on app quit.

Caveats¶

First-run startup time

The first translation that hits LibreOffice waits ~5-10 seconds for soffice to spin up. Subsequent translations reuse the same process and are fast.

JVM crash logs

LibreOffice's Java component occasionally produces hs_err_pid*.log files when it segfaults. The app routes those to a temp directory so they don't pollute your project folder.

Auto-convert legacy / ODF

Enable Settings → Translation → Auto-convert legacy if you routinely translate .doc / .xls / .ppt. The pipeline converts them to .docx / .xlsx / .pptx first (via convert_to_modern_format), translates the modern copy, then converts back. Fidelity is much higher than translating the legacy format directly.