Microsoft makes Office for Android available again for all Chromebooks

More than a year after Microsoft promised that the Office apps for Android would return to all Chromebooks, they are back on the laptops with Chrome OS. For a long time, the apps were only available on the Pixelbook.

Chrome Unboxed saw the Office apps for Android appear in the Play Store with the Samsung Chromebook Pro, Pixelbook, two models of the Acer Chromebook 15 and the Acer C771. Microsoft itself has not made an announcement about the availability, which makes it unclear how long the apps can be installed on the Chromebooks again.

At the beginning of November last year, it turned out that Microsoft Office Android apps, such as Word, Excel and Powerpoint, could no longer be installed via the Play Store on Chromebooks with the download store. The apps were listed as ‘not compatible’ in the store. Microsoft then stated that compatibility would return, but that return was long in coming. Only with the Pixelbook did they work right on the release of that device.

An Office 365 subscription is required to create, edit and print documents with the apps on devices with larger screens. The Office apps for iOS, Android and Windows 10 Mobile can only be used in full on devices with 10.1″ screens and smaller without paying.