LibreOffice is seen in the dock as a running app, but it's not running

[o-alquimista]

What Happened?

2025-11-02.19-19-54.mp4

That LibreOffice item in the dock shows up after starting any LibreOffice app for the first time. I've searched the process list for "libreoffice" or anything related, but nothing matches it — it cannot be running.

$ ps aux | grep -i 'libreoffice'
dsilva     10410  0.0  0.0  49820  2476 pts/1    S+   19:40   0:00 grep --color=auto -i libreoffice

When activated, it behaves like an app with two or more windows to choose from, raising them for selection; but I cannot see any window, unless they're invisible.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Install LibreOffice from Flathub (I chose a --user installation).
2. Launch any of its apps, such as LibreOffice Writer; then look at the dock.

Expected Behavior

If it's not running, why is the dock showing it?

OS Version

8.x (Circe)

OS Architecture

amd64 (on most hardwares)

Session Type

Secure Session (Wayland)

Software Version

Latest release (I have run all updates)

Log Output

Hardware Info

No response

[o-alquimista]

After logging out and back in, the problem is gone. That was a one-off, it seems.

The LibreOffice app now appears to be running in the background whenever a LibreOffice app (such as Writer) is running.

[o-alquimista]

The original problem just happened again.

UPDATE: version 8.3.0 fixed it. Now it's just the background app.

[lenemter]

I can reproduce the original issue with gala 8.2.5 but not with 8.3.0 so I guess it got fixed. About the second issue -- it comes from xdg-desktop-portal. It gets running apps not from our portal backend, but checks running flatpak apps. So when you lanuch Writer for example, it sees that org.libreoffice.LibreOffice is running, but in reality the running app is org.libreoffice.LibreOffice.Writer

Not sure if there's a way to implement org.freedesktop.background.Monitor in our portals...

[LuminousHustler]

I can reproduce the original issue with gala 8.2.5 but not with 8.3.0 so I guess it got fixed. About the second issue -- it comes from xdg-desktop-portal. It gets running apps not from our portal backend, but checks running flatpak apps. So when you lanuch Writer for example, it sees that org.libreoffice.LibreOffice is running, but in reality the running app is org.libreoffice.LibreOffice.Writer

Not sure if there's a way to implement org.freedesktop.background.Monitor in our portals...

This is a little bit outside of my depth, but this comment sounds like a decent feature request. To avoid muddying the waters on this particular issue, would you mind opening a new issue and elaborate on the last line? I'd do it, and link it to this ticket, but I don't know what to say other than "implement org.freedesktop.background.Monitor in our portals".

Seems legit though! Also thanks for reporting back about the behaviour changes in gala 8.3!