Bug 169602 - Option to turn off Text Import dialog
Summary: Option to turn off Text Import dialog
Status: RESOLVED WORKSFORME
Alias: None
Product: LibreOffice
Classification: Unclassified
Component: Calc (show other bugs)
Version:
(earliest affected)
unspecified
Hardware: All All
: medium enhancement
Assignee: Not Assigned
URL:
Whiteboard:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2025-11-21 19:51 UTC by questions2000
Modified: 2026-01-29 10:24 UTC (History)
1 user (show)

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Description questions2000 2025-11-21 19:51:23 UTC
Description:
Suggesting to allow option to bypass the "Text Import" window when pasting or drag & dropping multiple lines of text from external window, into a Calc spreadsheet.
This window can be very inefficient.

Steps to Reproduce:
1.Open Calc
2.Open or create a document in a text editor with mulitiple lines of text
3.Highlight those multiple lines of text
4.Drag & drop or cut & paste those multiple lines of text into Calc spreadsheet
5.You will see "Text Import" dialog

Actual Results:
Currently if you paste or drag & drop multiple lines of text from an external window, into Calc spreadsheet, it opens up the "Text Import" window.  This window can be helpful but at least to me, more often can make things less efficient.  Often just want to paste the multiple lines into spreadsheet and have no need for this window, so it can be an extra step.
If performing this pasting / d&d action often, this window can really make things feel even less efficient.

Hard to say because sometimes this window could be desired/beneficial so a setting hidden away in "Options" window might not be that convenient to have to access if often have need to turn this on/off.

Expected Results:
Suggestions
Here are just some ideas that maybe could be added to improve this action.

TOOLBAR
(This would work with keyboard paste and mouse drag & drop)
Could be offered in the form of a toolbar button toggle that can easily turn this on/off.

SHORTCUT - ON/OFF TOGGLE
(This would work with keyboard paste and mouse drag & drop)
Shortcut to toggle this action on/off same as toolbar button mentioned above

SHORTCUT - PASTE NO DIALOG
(This would work with keyboard only)
Shortcut for a "paste" action that would paste multiple lines of text without opening "Text Import" window.
(Again would not solve mouse drag & drop so not a full solution but could still be beneficial to add and may be helpful if added with the following mouse suggestion below)

MOUSE - DRAG & DROP
(This would work with mouse only)
This would be difficult because would need to offer a way for user to choose their preferred behavior, for example....
Behavior 1
-LMB drag and drop = pastes text no window
-LMB drag and drop + hold CTRL = pastes text with window

Behavior 2
-LMB drag and drop = pastes text with window (currently the default behavior)
-LMB drag and drop + hold CTRL = pastes text no window

The option of letting user choose would be better because to some having to hold extra modifier keys every time this action is performed may not be an efficient approach either


Reproducible: Always


User Profile Reset: No

Additional Info:
For me the preferred behavior (point of this post) is to allow the common default behaviors for "paste" and "D&D" to be paste with no window so these actions are instant.  Then have secondary behaviors/actions to provide the "Text Import" window when it is desired to be accessed, with keyboard and or mouse.

If any other developers/users have any ideas as well, please share them.

Thank you to anyone who reads this
Comment 1 Olivier Hallot 2026-01-20 16:52:39 UTC
Already available in 25.8. See

https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/ReleaseNotes/25.8#Calc