[#]: subject: "Supercharge Grammar Checking in LibreOffice With LanguageTool" [#]: via: "https://itsfoss.com/libreoffice-languagetool/" [#]: author: "Sreenath https://itsfoss.com/author/sreenath/" [#]: collector: "lujun9972" [#]: translator: " " [#]: reviewer: " " [#]: publisher: " " [#]: url: " " Supercharge Grammar Checking in LibreOffice With LanguageTool ====== The popular open source productivity suite LibreOffice comes with built-in grammar and spell checker. However, there are better tools for this purpose. One of them is LanguageTool. In this tutorial, I'll show how you can integrate [LanguageTool][1] in LibreOffice for better, accurate writing. ### What is LanguageTool? [LanguageTool][2] is a multilingual spelling, style, and grammar checker that helps correct or paraphrase texts. It offers several mediums to use, like a native Java app for Linux, a web-based editor, browser extensions for both Firefox and Chrome etc. LanguageTool is an open source alternative to popular tools like [Grammarly][3]. It offers a free basic plan with essential features and a premium plan with advanced features. For normal casual use cases, the free version is more than enough. The premium version is not that expensive as well and if you like it and afford it, you can opt for the premium version. ### Check LibreOffice version There are two methods of using LanguageTool depending on which LibreOffice version you are using. In order to know your LibreOffice version, click on **Help** in main menu and go to **About** page. ![Click on About button][4] You can get the version details from here. ![LibreOffice Version Details][5] ### Using LanguageTool in the newer LibreOffice Writer ✋ You can use this method if you have LibreOffice version 7.4 or higher. #### Step 1: Enable LanguageTool Server 🚧 Since this is a connection between LanguageTool’s server and LibreOffice on your computer, you need a stable internet connection to make this work. Go to **Tools > Options.** ![Go to Tools > Options][6] In the options window, select **Language Settings > LanguageTool Server** and then Click on **Enable LanguageTool** button, as shown below. ![LanguageTool Server Settings][7] Here, you have three possibilities. ##### Use the Free version of LanguageTool There is not much to do here. Because, upon clicking the “Enable” checkbox, probably the base URL field will be filled automatically with the required URL. If not, enter the below URL on the base URL field and leave the other two fields empty. ``` https://api.languagetool.org/v2 ``` ##### Use the Premium version of LanguageTool If you have subscribed to a premium version of LanguageTool, first enter the base URL field with: ``` https://api.languagetoolplus.com/v2 ``` On the “Username” field, enter your registered Email address and in the “API Key” field, enter your API key. 💡 You can generate your API Key yourself, by clicking on “Access token” in the settings of the [LanguageTool Editor][8]. ##### Set up a local server If you want to set up a local server, then copy and paste the below URL to the “Base URL” field: ``` http://localhost:8081/v2 ``` #### Step 2: Enable LanguageTool Now that you have set up the LanguageTool server in LibreOffice, you need to enable the tool. For that, go to **Tools > Options**. Inside the Options window, go to **Language Settings > Writing Aids**. ![Enable LanguageTool][9] Enable **LanguageTool Remote Grammar Checker** , by clicking on the checkbox. Click OK to apply the settings. 🚧 If you have any other spell check tool enabled, disable all of them. #### Step 3: Spell Check Verify if automatic spell check is enabled. For this, click on **Tools** and enable **Automatic Spell Checking**. ![Enable Automatic Spell Checking][10] From here, once you start typing, it will detect grammar mistakes, spelling errors, etc. ![][11] ### Using LanguageTool in older LibreOffice Writer ✋ For LibreOffice below version 7.4, you can use a LanguageTool extension to access the proofreading service. Compared to the API method, there are several advantages of using the extension. 1. The extension runs on the local machine. No remote server is needed. 2. The extension supports all rules working on the level of full text (e.g., opening and closing quotes are recognized even if they are more than one paragraph away from each other). 3. Automatically adds all lists of correctly spelled words (according to LanguageTool) to the dictionaries used by LibreOffice. 4. The extension supports grammar checking of Impress and Calc documents (Only manual checking by the LT check dialog. An automated check is not supported by LibreOffice.) #### Step 1: Install the required packages Since LanguageTool depends on Java, you need to have [Java Runtime environment installed][12] on your system and accessible by LibreOffice. You can check this in LibreOffice by going to **Tools > Options > Advanced**. ![Java Options in LibreOffice][13] If you do not have this, open a terminal and run: ``` sudo apt install default-jre libreoffice-java-common ``` This will install the necessary packages. Once installed, restart LibreOffice, if any instance is running, and then again check if everything is OK. #### Step 2: Download the extension LibreOffice's extensions are `.oxt` files. There is a [dedicated platform][14] for all the available LibreOffice extensions. There is one extension called [LanguageTool][15], which you need here. You can download the latest version from the button below. It is a 200+ MiB sized file. [Download Latest Stable LanguageTool Extension for LibreOffice][16] #### Step 3: Install the extension Open LibreOffice Writer. Select **Tools > Extension Manager** from the main menu. ![Open Extension Manager][17] You can also press the shortcut key **CTRL+ALT+E** to go to the extension manager. Inside the extension manager, click on **Add** button. ![Click on Add Button][18] Browse and open the downloaded extension file to install it. You can see the installation progress and once completed, it will be listed on the extension manager. ![Extension installed and Listed][19] You should restart LibreOffice to finish the installation. #### Step 4: Enable LanguageTool Extension and turn off other spell check tools Enable LanguageTool in Writing Aids. Also, if you have any other spell-check tools or the default one enabled, disable them. You can do all this by going to **Tools > Options > Language Settings > Writing Aids.** ![Enable LanguageTool and Disable others][20] Apply the changes and restart LibreOffice. #### Step 4: Dock or undock the toolbar After you restart the LibreOffice, you can see a tiny floating toolbar. This is the LanguageTool toolbar, and you can dock this toolbar to your LibreOffice section. To do that, click on the top-right dropdown button and select **Dock Toolbar**. ![Dock the Toolbars][21] You can see that the toolbar has now docked to the main toolbar section of LibreOffice. If you want to keep it as undocked later, right-click on it and select “Undock Toolbar”. ![LanguageTool toolbar docked][22] #### Step 5: Check your documents Now, if you start typing, you can see that LanguageTool starts suggesting. ![Correction by LanguageTool extension][23] #### Step 6: Tweak the extension The extension provides several options to make it more productive. To access the extension settings, click on the settings button on the docked toolbar. ![Go to LanguageTool Extension Settings][24] You will get a settings dialog box, where you can manage the working of the extension. It also provides a way to add a premium account, if you have any, using the API add section. ![LanguageTool extension settings][25] ### In the end... I know that LibreOffice has built-in grammar checker. However, as a fan of LanguageTool, I would prefer using the same tool even in LibreOffice. It adds a lot more grammar checking features and uses my custom dictionary. Basically, I get a streamlined experience. ![][26] I hope you it enhances your LibreOffice Writer experience as well. Stay tuned for more LibreOffice tips. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- via: https://itsfoss.com/libreoffice-languagetool/ 作者：[Sreenath][a] 选题：[lujun9972][b] 译者：[译者ID](https://github.com/译者ID) 校对：[校对者ID](https://github.com/校对者ID) 本文由 [LCTT](https://github.com/LCTT/TranslateProject) 原创编译，[Linux中国](https://linux.cn/) 荣誉推出 [a]: https://itsfoss.com/author/sreenath/ [b]: https://github.com/lujun9972 [1]: https://itsfoss.com/languagetool-review/ [2]: https://languagetool.org/ [3]: https://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=224026&u=747593&m=26748&urllink=&afftrack= [4]: https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2023/08/click-on-about-libreoffice.png [5]: https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2023/08/libreoffice-version-details.png [6]: https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2023/08/Go-to-tools-and-options.png [7]: https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2023/08/language-tool-server-settings.png [8]: https://languagetool.org/editor/settings/access-tokens [9]: https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2023/08/enable-language-tool.png [10]: https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2023/08/automatic-spell-checking.png [11]: https://public-files.gumroad.com/akcz661m3xkpsztskivjmh2agj22 [12]: https://itsfoss.com/install-java-ubuntu/ [13]: https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2023/08/Java-runtime-environment-settings-in-LibreOffice.png [14]: https://extensions.libreoffice.org/ [15]: https://extensions.libreoffice.org/en/extensions/show/languagetool [16]: https://languagetool.org/download/LanguageTool-stable.oxt [17]: https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2023/08/open-extension-manager.png [18]: https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2023/08/click-on-add-button-to-add-extension.png [19]: https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2023/08/extension-installed-and-listed.png [20]: https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2023/08/turn-off-other-spell-checkers-1.png [21]: https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2023/08/dock-the-toolbars.png [22]: https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2023/08/languagetool-toolbar-docked.png [23]: https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2023/08/correction-by-language-tool-extension.png [24]: https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2023/08/go-to-language-tool-extension-settings.png [25]: https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2023/08/language-tool-extension-settings.png [26]: https://itsfoss.com/content/images/size/w256h256/2022/12/android-chrome-192x192.png