Recommendations for a good, free word processor.

maggiee19 · Oct 19, 2018

Hello.

I tried installing LibreOffice last night because I think it's pretty good, but the file was corrupt and it wouldn't install. I'm looking for a good, free word processor that does most of the things Microsoft Word does like word count, page numbering, indenting the first line, you know, that kind of stuff. I currently have WPS writer, but I don't know how to indent the first line of each paragraph, and every time I go to their website for help, the articles don't help. Honestly, the only thing good about this word processor is the free 1 GB of storage it gives me for my manuscripts. Other than that, it's pretty bad. Also, I for the life of me cannot number pages in the manuscript like they're numbered in a book, you know, the odd page numbers on the right hand side and the even page numbers on the left hand side. I hope you guys understand what I'm trying to say.

Sincerely
Maggie.

AW Admin · Oct 19, 2018

I'd try downloading LibreOffice again. Sometimes large files don't download well, especially on a slower network.

Here's some help with LibreOffice and page numbers.

maggiee19 · Oct 19, 2018

Thank you. I am trying to download it again, this time from a different browser to see if it makes any difference, because last night I tried downloading it from Microsoft Edge, and I bookmarked the article on the page numbers. I'll let you know how this goes. You were of tremendous help.

Maggie.

Maggie Maxwell · Oct 19, 2018

I like Google Docs. Never gives me trouble formatting, great spellchecker, and access to my work from anywhere.

maggiee19 · Oct 19, 2018

Hello, Maggie.

I'd use Google Docs, except I don't always have Wifi access to be able to use it. Sometimes my service gets disconnected because the account holders don't pay for it, so I need a word processor I could use whenever I want, offline, and that I can write on whenever I want, whether I have internet access or not.

LesFewer · Oct 19, 2018

I'm using Google Docs and I love it

https://www.google.com/docs/about/

The outlining system is good for outlining or if you want a spreadsheet for outlining they have a spreadsheet too. It saves in a wide variety of formats including word, pdf and epub. It has a revision system that will let you restore deleted content from even months back.

And it's on the cloud so you're not likely to lose your work. Back up to a thumb drive and it's almost foolproof.

You usually use it with a browser but they also have an offline system. I haven't used this.

And it's all free.

maggiee19 · Oct 19, 2018

Fortz said:
I'm using Google Docs and I love it

https://www.google.com/docs/about/

The outlining system is good for outlining or if you want a spreadsheet for outlining they have a spreadsheet too. It saves in a wide variety of formats including word, pdf and epub. It has a revision system that will let you restore deleted content from even months back.

And it's on the cloud so you're not likely to lose your work. Back up to a thumb drive and it's almost foolproof.

You usually use it with a browser but they also have an offline system. I haven't used this.

And it's all free.

If this thing with Libre Office doesn't work out, I'm going to try Google Docs. I have a Google account, so it's a no brainer. Thank you guys for all your help. If it can be used offline, then I'm going to try it.

maggiee19 · Oct 19, 2018

So I just installed Libre Office from Google Chrome, and it worked. Now, since I haven't used it since 2012 and I don't remember what it's like, I'm going to create a new document and play with it a little bit. I'm going to let you guys know how it goes. I am going to write a novel from Nano Wrimo and I'm going to type it on Google Docs, if I have internet access then.

Kjbartolotta · Oct 19, 2018

I've been using Scrivener for some time, thought I was happy (and for the most part still am), but recent formatting woes have caused me to reconsider Google Docs. Especially now that I know there's an offline feature.

Maryn · Oct 19, 2018

I have both Libre Office and Open Office, on two different machines. Sometimes some of the stuff you need to do on the freebies is not intuitive. One of the first things to work out is how to save documents in .doc format.

maggiee19 · Oct 19, 2018

I decided to try Google docs for my nanowrimo novel, but there's one thing I need to know before starting. How does one do first-line indent in Google docs?

For instance, on this paragraph, I would want the first line indented. You guys are pretty cool. OK, this is not a paragraph, but I think you get my point. At least I hope so.

So there's my question. Thank you for all your help.

Maggie.

Al X. · Oct 23, 2018

One thing to be aware of with Open Office and Libre Office is although they have file compatibility with MS Office, advanced formatting is not compatible. Things look different when created by MS Office and opened in Open Office, and vice versa.

maggiee19 · Oct 26, 2018

Al X. said:
One thing to be aware of with Open Office and Libre Office is although they have file compatibility with MS Office, advanced formatting is not compatible. Things look different when created by MS Office and opened in Open Office, and vice versa.

Thanks.
maggie.

AW Admin · Oct 26, 2018

This is a page of Google Docs support and tutorials.

To indent the first line only of a paragraph, use the ruler at the top of the google doc; just above your "page."

Dragging the triangle on the left sets the left margin. The small line or rectangle on top of the triangle sets the indent of the first line.

Maryn · Oct 26, 2018

Hey, is it dumb question time yet? I hope so, because I have one.

Do you need to be connected to the internet to use Google Docs? For my purposes, that would pose insurmountable problems at times, especially travel.

Kjbartolotta · Oct 26, 2018

Just to say, I've successfully made the switch to Google Docs and love it.

Maryn said:
Do you need to be connected to the internet to use Google Docs? For my purposes, that would pose insurmountable problems at times, especially travel.

I somehow figure this out, but please don't ask me how.

Kevin, who is still new to this and has a Mac anyhow.

AW Admin · Oct 26, 2018

On a regular basis, use the option to download as .rtf from the File menu in Google Docs.

Enlightened · Oct 26, 2018

I use Word, so I cannot recommend anything.

If everything else mentioned does not turn out, you can try some of these.... https://www.lifewire.com/free-word-processors-1356338

Find one that looks interesting and search YouTube for user videos of each. See how it is used and if it might be too different from what you are used to.

For the time being, you can always use WordPad (extremely basic word processor that is laid out similar to Word). By default, new documents cannot be saved as .doc/.docx. There is a way around this. Create an rtf, upload to a file conversion site (like the one below), download the docx file. You can open it with WordPad and start editing. To update the file, you need to click Save (not Save As). It will save as a .docx (which can be shared with Agents, whomever).

Save the file as an Rich-Text document (.rtf extension). You can convert this extension to Word (.doc or .docx), for free, online.... https://www.online-convert.com/

Choose Document Converter dropdown. Select Convert to DOCX. Upload file, click convert. You can download the .docx version.

maggiee19 · Oct 26, 2018

AW Admin said:
This is a page of Google Docs support and tutorials.

To indent the first line only of a paragraph, use the ruler at the top of the google doc; just above your "page."

Dragging the triangle on the left sets the left margin. The small line or rectangle on top of the triangle sets the indent of the first line.

Thank you. I will try that, as I've never typed anything on Google Docs before, and that's why I didn't know.

Maryn said:
Hey, is it dumb question time yet? I hope so, because I have one.

Do you need to be connected to the internet to use Google Docs? For my purposes, that would pose insurmountable problems at times, especially travel.

That is a good question, actually. I wanna know, too.

Kjbartolotta said:
Just to say, I've successfully made the switch to Google Docs and love it.

I somehow figure this out, but please don't ask me how.

Kevin, who is still new to this and has a Mac anyhow.

OK, I won't ask. :roll:

AW Admin said:
On a regular basis, use the option to download as .rtf from the File menu in Google Docs.

Good tip.

Enlightened said:
I use Word, so I cannot recommend anything.

If everything else mentioned does not turn out, you can try some of these.... https://www.lifewire.com/free-word-processors-1356338

Find one that looks interesting and search YouTube for user videos of each. See how it is used and if it might be too different from what you are used to.

For the time being, you can always use WordPad (extremely basic word processor that is laid out similar to Word). By default, new documents cannot be saved as .doc/.docx. There is a way around this. Create an rtf, upload to a file conversion site (like the one below), download the docx file. You can open it with WordPad and start editing. To update the file, you need to click Save (not Save As). It will save as a .docx (which can be shared with Agents, whomever).

Save the file as an Rich-Text document (.rtf extension). You can convert this extension to Word (.doc or .docx), for free, online.... https://www.online-convert.com/

Choose Document Converter dropdown. Select Convert to DOCX. Upload file, click convert. You can download the .docx version.

Thank you. This is very helpful.

Anne_B · Oct 26, 2018

Maryn said:
Do you need to be connected to the internet to use Google Docs? For my purposes, that would pose insurmountable problems at times, especially travel.

Answer seems to be yes, but you have to use Chrome as your browser, and download a specific extension.
https://support.google.com/docs/answer/6388102?co=GENIE.Platform=Desktop&hl=en

AW Admin · Oct 26, 2018

Chrome kinda works offline if you set it up while you're online—but not reliably well for long periods of time, or for very large documents. I've used it for two or three hours at most, without needing a connection.

I'd encourage you to try downloading Libre Office again. Most often the "file corruption" issue means that you failed to download the entire installer; this is particularly common if you have a slow or poor connection to the Internet.

cbenoi1 · Oct 26, 2018

yWriter ( http://www.spacejock.com/yWriter6.html )

-cb

alkin · Oct 27, 2018

I use Kingsoft writer, free version, totally compatible with MS Word and you don't need to install a whole office suit (though you could if you want to)
http://www.kingsoftstore.com/writer-free.html

Jason · Oct 28, 2018

Speaking to the post title, there are many options for a good free (aka open sourced) or cheap word processor. There was a thread a while back that covered this pretty well:

https://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?329923-What-software-do-you-use-for-writing

Recommendations for a good, free word processor.

maggiee19

AW Admin

maggiee19

Maggie Maxwell

Making Einstein cry since 1994

maggiee19

LesFewer

maggiee19

maggiee19

Kjbartolotta

Potentially has/is dog

Maryn

Baaa!

maggiee19

Al X.

maggiee19

AW Admin

Maryn

Baaa!

Kjbartolotta

Potentially has/is dog

AW Admin

Enlightened

Always Learning

maggiee19

Anne_B

AW Admin

cbenoi1

alkin

Jason

Ideas bounce around in my head