A touchscreen Chromebook is even better when you add in a digital pen. Teaching during the COVID pandemic made this abundantly clear to mesome things are just easier to do with a pen. A touch screen with a Chromebook pen makes it much easier to draw, diagram, show steps, and quickly jot down notes. Being an avid Chromebook user after making the switch from Windows, I’ve played around with many different apps for taking notes, and this list is the 3 best apps I’ve found to work for me so far for my projects. Honorable Mention: OneNote Web Clipper.
One of the beautiful things about Chromebooks is that they’re largely cloud-based. You don’t have to fill up your hard drive with endless files. Instead, you can do just about everything through Google Drive. But as great as that is, most of us are used to Microsoft Office apps like Word, Excel, and Powerpoint. Luckily, you can run Microsoft Office on Chromebooks.
You can’t install desktop versions of Office on a Chromebook, but you still have options when it comes to running Microsoft Office on Chromebook. Depending on what software you run on your Chromebook, you’ll be able to use Office in a somewhat limited capacity. Let us tell you how it’s done.
Read next:Here is a list of the best Chromebooks you can buy
Microsoft Office for Chromebook: Google Play Store
The easiest way to get Microsoft Office on Chromebook is to download the Office apps that are available for Android. Some older Chromebooks still don’t have access to the Google Play Store, but most do. Check out our list of compatible Chromebooks to see if yours has access to the Google Play Store.
Follow these simple steps:
- Open the Google Play Store.
- Search for the Office program you want to download and select it.
- Click Install.
- Once the app is done downloading, open the Chrome launcher to open the app.
- Sign into your Microsoft Account or Office 365 subscription account.
Click on the links below to download specific apps:
More:The most useful Chromebook shortcuts and gestures
Microsoft Office for Chromebook: Office Online
If your Chromebook only has access to the Chrome Web Store, you unfortunately can’t download the various Office apps. You’re not out of luck, though. It’s possible to use Office Online.
Also:The best Android apps for Chromebooks
With the online version, you’ll be able to work on, edit, and share Office files directly in your browser. You need to be connected to the internet to use Microsoft Office on Chromebook, which may not be ideal, but it means you have an alternative to Drive.
The best part is that you can access OneDrive and Microsoft Office web apps with a free account. You get more benefits and extra services if you pay for an Office 365 account, but it’s not necessary just to use Microsoft Office apps online.
Stream from your PC
Onenote For Google
If you don’t want to use Android apps (or can’t), another option is to run Microsoft Office on a PC and stream it to your Chromebook. This might be beneficial because you get the option to run the full desktop version made for PC. It will have all features and no compromises.
Before you start, make sure you have Microsoft Office and Google Chrome installed on your PC. Also, make sure you have a stable internet connection on both your PC and Chromebook.
How to stream Photoshop on Chromebook:
- Open the Chrome browser on your PC and visit the Chrome Remote Desktop website.
- Click the Set up remote access option.
- Install the Chrome Remote Desktop extension on your PC.
- Return to the original tab on your PC and name your computer.
- Click Next and create a PIN with at least six digits.
- If prompted, enter the PIN you created on your PC.
You could also use a PC cloud service like Shadow. This company offers Windows machines that can be accessed remotely through any compatible device. Supported operating systems include Windows, macOS, Ubuntu, Android, and iOS. You don’t see Chrome OS on the list, but remember Chromebooks can run Android apps! Once set up, you could install Photoshop on your remote Windows machine and stream it. Just keep in mind Shadow isn’t exactly cheap! It currently costs at least $11.99 per month.
Check out the links below to learn more about using Chromebooks and to figure out which ones are worth your money.
Microsoft has released a new Chrome extension for OneNote, its digital notebook app, that aims to make saving snapshots of web content faster and easier than before.
The software, popular with students, is part of Microsoft Office and has dedicated desktop clients for Windows and Mac, mobile apps for Android and iOS and a feature-limited web version.
Using OneNote Clipper in Chrome
Like any note collation service worth its paper clips, OneNote lets you add and arrange an array of content, including handwritten and typed notes, doodles and images, snippets of audio, citations, and so on.
With the OneNote Clipper for Chrome you can send screenshots of webpages to the Quick Notes section of your default notebook with a single click — no need to fire up a desktop app or upload a file to the online service.
To clip something, just click on the OneNote button in the Chrome toolbar when on the page you want to save. The first time you do this you will be prompted to link the extension to your Microsoft account.
OneNote Bookmarklet Remade
Does Onenote Work On Chromebook
If you’re an avid OneNoter then the functionality on offer here may not seem entirely new. Earlier this year Microsoft released a bookmarklet compatible with Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari and Chrome that offered the same features. After looking at usage stats Microsoft say:
“…We saw that a lot of you are using the OneNote Clipper in Chrome. We also heard many of you asking for a Chrome extension for the Clipper. Now the OneNote Clipper is available as a Chrome extension, adding an easy-to-access OneNote button to your Chrome browser that launches the Clipper.”
Onenote Chromebook Offline
OneNote Clipper is a free extension for Google Chrome on Windows, Mac and Linux. Usage requires a Microsoft/Windows Live/Hotmail account.