So, in response to all the Google docs AI/deletion invasions recently, I downloaded my fic folder to my laptop's hard drive. (I do need to get an external hard drive as well; haven't gotten to that step yet). I also downloaded LibreOffice so I could access and edit all these files, which download as .docx. (I do not have Microsoft Word or Pages.)

My issue is that my Mac wants to open them with "TextEdit" by "default" and isn't giving me the option of changing the default program. I can open them with LibreOffice if I hit Ctrl+click -- I'd just prefer not to do that every time.

I experimented with going to Open With > Other and selecting LibreOffice to open it 'every time.' It did not give me the option of opening all .docx's all the time with LibreOffice, but it THEN told me it wouldn't open the file because it couldn't verify that it didn't have malware. That warning went away when I restored the default to TextEdit.

But, it turns out, you can have the search bar back if you press the secret key combination Shift-Command-F each time you start the program. I think this is not documented anywhere, it’s just secret lore passed on by word of mouth/word of Stack Overflow.

System Requirements - Recommended:

(30 seconds pass.)