Description: LibreOffice Calc contains a weird, inconsistent bug where typing in a cell suddenly switches to over-writing the same character over and over. Clicking elsewhere usually stops the behavior, but it will re-occur randomly. Have noticed it particularly in Calc sheets with lots of text in cells - but not all users report this. See this address for video of the bug happening along with other user reports: https://ask.libreoffice.org/t/libreoffice-calc-typing-in-a-cell-constantly-overwrites-the-same-character-over-and-over/102886/3 Steps to Reproduce: 1.Start a new Calc document and then Type “123.45 total” in an empty cell and press ENTER to validate it. 2.Double click that cell to edit its contents and highlight 123.45 by clicking and dragging the mouse cursor over the 123.45 part of the text. 3.Try to type anything to replace the text and the bug will happen: It will overwrite the selection with only the last character that you’ve typed. If you smash your keyboard, it may occasionally replace the text with 2 or 3 characters, but only the very last one(s) you typed. Actual Results: When this bug occurs, it is often unexpected. The cursor in the cell suddenly changes from a vertical bar '|' to a black rectangle and begins over-writing each keystroke in place without advancing. Have to click elsewhere in the sheet to get it to stop. Expected Results: Keep entering text in the cell. Reproducible: Sometimes User Profile Reset: No Additional Info: The suggestion was made that this reflects an accidental switch from 'Insert' to 'Overwrite' mode. That is untrue for several reasons: 1) 'Insert' is still displayed as the mode at the bottom of the document. 2) Changing from 'Insert' to 'Overwrite' and back to 'Insert' manually does not fix the behavior. 3) The Overwrite is abnormal. It is not actually over-writing existing text. The cursor is sitting in place (as a black rectangle) and over-writing each keystroke with the next. This behavior has been going on for some years, but the bug is inconsistent enough that most of us just work around it by clicking elsewhere or saving and re-opening the doc. Finally marctremblay managed to video/reproduce the bug (see the ask.libreoffice.org' thread, above.
The Ask discussion shows more than one user reporting the same behavior / problem. Setting this report to NEW accordingly. There is also a possible relation to bug 82599 (in which the correct status of Overwrite / Insert on the status bar is not updated / shown correctly). IDK whether this tdf#162413 is a dupe of bug 82599, or instead there is only some kind of relation (or even not related).
Although this bug has just been filed as new, I can assure you that it's very old and only seems to happen under macOS. I've used LibreOffice for Windows for over a decade and never seen this bug, but under macOS it was there from day 1 and I tried to update to 3 different LibreOffice releases since last year but it's still very much happening. I can instantly reproduce the issue if anyone needs my help. I shot and posted this animated GIF of the issue on the ask.libreoffice.org forum like 6 months ago: https://ask.libreoffice.org/uploads/asklibo/original/3X/b/6/b688b789af933c5e63355a9cc77112db2cbd43f2.gif My source thread: https://ask.libreoffice.org/t/libreoffice-calc-typing-in-a-cell-constantly-overwrites-the-same-character-over-and-over/102886