How to configure LibreOffice to default to MS Office file formats

LibreOffice has been my office suite of choice for a very long time. I've always found it works as well as any other solution and is flexible enough to be exactly what I need. 

And, to be honest, I do prefer the default file formats used by the open-source office suite. Those file formats (such as ODT for text documents) follow the Open Document Format, which means they are widely accepted for many common applications.

However, that doesn't mean the default file formats are the best option for some users. 

If you primarily collaborate with (or have to send files to) people who use MS Office, you might well have run into instances where those users either cannot open LibreOffice files or don't know exactly what to do with them.

Also: What's new in LibreOffice and how to install it on MacOS

Fortunately, because LibreOffice is very flexible, you can set the file formats such that they default to the MS Office types of DOCX, XLSX, etc. 

Although MS Office can open the LibreOffice file formats, they aren't nearly as widely accepted. And even though the LibreOffice formats better conform to open standards, it's sometimes a losing battle to get others to accept the open formats. 

Instead of trying to win that fight, it's often just easier to make the MS defaults your LibreOffice defaults. This makes it easier to share files, and it's also simply more familiar to most people.

How to configure the LibreOffice to default to MS Office file format

Let's get those default formats changed.

Requirements

The only thing you'll need for this is LibreOffice installed. You can install it on Linux, MacOS, and Windows. That's it.

Also: How to get Microsoft Office for free

And there you have it, you've just made LibreOffice slightly easier to use when you have to share those files with people who only use MS Office. Although I would recommend sticking with the Open Document Formats (simply because ODF is better at adhering to open standards), there are too many occasions when the MS Office file formats are the only acceptable option (such as when you have to upload a file to a service). Now, you have the ability to make that happen.