How to delete the contents of an active cell in LibreOffice Calc?

To delete the contents of an active cell in LibreOffice Calc, the quickest and most common method is to simply press the Delete key on your keyboard. This action removes the data from the cell while leaving the cell formatting intact.

Essential Methods for Clearing Cell Contents

LibreOffice Calc offers several intuitive ways to clear the contents of one or more cells, giving you control over what information is removed.

1. Using the Delete Key

The Delete key is your primary tool for quickly erasing cell data.

Single Cell: Select the cell you wish to clear and press the Delete key.
Multiple Cells: Select a range of cells (e.g., A1:B5) and press the Delete key. All selected cells will have their contents removed.

This method typically removes only the content (text, numbers, formulas) of the cell, leaving behind any formatting (bold, italics, background color, borders).

2. Using the Backspace Key

While the Delete key clears selected cells, the Backspace key is primarily used when you are actively editing a cell or typing new content.

During Cell Editing: If you've double-clicked a cell to enter edit mode or started typing, pressing Backspace will delete characters to the left of the cursor, just like in a text editor.
Active Cell (Emptying): If a cell is active (selected, not in edit mode), pressing Backspace will typically move the cursor into the formula bar, allowing you to edit the cell's content there. If the cell is empty, pressing Backspace usually does nothing.

3. Utilizing the "Delete Contents" Dialog

For more granular control over what gets deleted from a cell (e.g., only formulas, only text, or even just formatting), LibreOffice Calc provides the "Delete Contents" dialog.

Select the cell or range of cells you want to clear.
Go to the menu bar and choose Edit > Delete Contents.
A dialog box will appear, allowing you to specify what to remove.

The "Delete Contents" dialog presents various options:

Option	Description
All	Clears everything: text, numbers, formulas, dates, time, and formatting.
Text	Removes only text entries.
Numbers	Removes only numeric entries.
Date & Time	Removes only date and time entries.
Formulas	Removes only formulas, leaving their calculated results as static values.
Comments	Deletes any associated cell comments.
Formats	Clears all direct cell formatting (bold, color, borders, font styles, etc.).
Objects	Removes embedded objects like images, charts, or drawing objects within the cell range.

Practical Insight: If you want to clear a cell's formula but keep its current calculated value, select "Formulas" and ensure "Numbers" is not selected (if the result is numeric).

4. Customizing Keyboard Shortcuts (Advanced)

If you find that your Delete key is not behaving as expected, or you wish to assign a different shortcut to the "Delete Contents" function, LibreOffice Calc allows for keyboard customization.

To verify or modify the shortcut for deleting cell contents:

Go to Tools > Customize from the menu bar.
Select the Keyboard tab. Ensure that the Calc radio button is selected at the top right of the dialog.
In the Functions area of the window (bottom), under Category, select "Edit".
From the Function list, locate and select "Delete Contents".
In the Shortcut Keys area of the window (top), select "Delete" (or your desired key combination).
Click the Modify button to apply this assignment.
Click OK to close the Customize dialog.

This process ensures that the selected shortcut key (e.g., Delete) is correctly assigned to the "Delete Contents" function, allowing for efficient clearing of cell data.

Additional Tips

Undo: Always remember that you can undo your last action by pressing Ctrl + Z (or Cmd + Z on macOS) or by going to Edit > Undo.
Clearing Entire Rows or Columns: To delete an entire row or column, select the row/column header (e.g., click "A" for column A, or "1" for row 1), then right-click and choose Delete Rows or Delete Columns. This removes the cells entirely, shifting other data. If you only want to clear their contents, select the whole row/column and use the Delete key or Edit > Delete Contents.

By understanding these methods, you can efficiently manage and clear data within your LibreOffice Calc spreadsheets.