If you are someone who relies on the Microsoft Office Android app for all your word processing needs on your Chromebook, there’s bad news. As About Chromebooks reports, Microsoft is ending support for the Office Android app on Chromebooks next month.
Chromebook Support on Office Android App
Microsoft will officially end support for the Office Android app on September 18. Instead, the Redmond giant is urging users to switch to the web version of Office. According to a Microsoft spokesperson, the move is to offer an “optimized experience” for Chromebook users.
“In an effort to provide the most optimized experience for Chrome OS/Chromebook customers, Microsoft apps (Office and Outlook) will be transitioned to web experiences (Office.com and Outlook.com) on September 18, 2021. This transition brings Chrome OS/Chromebook customers access to additional and premium features. Customers will need to sign in with their personal Microsoft Account or account associated with their Microsoft 365 subscription,” a Microsoft spokesperson told the publication.
However, this doesn’t mean that Microsoft is discontinuing the Office app on Android. The transition simply drops support for the app on Chrome OS, presumably because the app is best suited for mobile screens.
While the web version has all the basic features you would need, one disappointing fact is that it won’t work offline. If you prefer using an app anyway, you can check our guide on installing Microsoft Office on Chromebooks. The process involves enabling Linux support and setting up Wine 5.0 on your Chromebook. You could also just switch to Google Docs, which offers offline support or go through our comprehensive list of the best writing apps for Chromebooks.
