Change Default Date Format in OpenOffice Calc?

[Nasher800]

I created an account on this forum specifically to THANK MathUHenry for posting a working solution to this problem.

I'm one of those random people who uses a search engine to try and figure out how to fix things. In this case, I was growing increasingly exasperated by OpenOffice Calc automatically adjusting the date I was entering into a spreadsheet. I kept thinking... WTF is going on? Can't this MF'ing software just KEEP what I'm typing in?! So annoying!

Your instructions proved to be FANTASTIC!

So... thank you!

I finally figured out how to do this and am going through and posting the solution to the threads I've been reading for help:

1) in spreadsheet press Ctrl F11
2) Default - Modify
3) Date
4) change the language until you find one that defaults to the format you like (you CANNOT specify your own format) I like Uyghur and Zulu
5) click OK - OK
6) File - Templates - Save
7) File - Templates - Organize
8 ) right click the saved template and "Set As Default Template"

When a date is entered, it will now be recognized from the correct format and will be rendered in the correct format.

[vanadium]

4) change the language until you find one that defaults to the format you like (you CANNOT specify your own format)

The date format can be given as a format code (see field "format code"), and thus is pressy customizable: you do not need to take a preset.