Google Optimizes ChromeOS for Microsoft 365

Google today highlighted some of the work it’s done to optimize the Microsoft 365 experience on Chromebooks and other ChromeOS devices.

“On ChromeOS, we’ve taken steps to enhance the Microsoft 365 web app experience to deliver a familiar experience without compromising on IT,” Google’s Marcus Koehler and Max Kayen write. “Unlike traditional desktop applications available on other operating systems, web applications ensure its data and software are always up to date and easy to manage, while inheriting all of the security benefits of ChromeOS without the need for additional software. These benefits are especially true for Microsoft 365 web applications on Chromebooks — including Excel, PowerPoint, and Word.”

The announcement is tied to a Google-commissioned Forrester report that found that IT leaders are prioritizing AI, web-based apps and cloud-based endpoint management solutions, and that web apps are “key” to a modern endpoint. I don’t believe any of these optimizations are new per se–at least some of these features were announced last April–but it’s an interesting push regardless.

ChromeOS optimizations for Microsoft 365 include:

Desktop app-like experience for the Microsoft 365 web apps. Though the web app versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint are not installable like PWAs, Google says it has “taken steps” to make them “look and behave like desktop applications.” They can be opened from the ChromeOS tray like other apps, so users don’t need to first navigate to the Microsoft 365 website.

Single sign-in (SSO). ChromeOS can be configured to automatically log in to Microsoft 365 apps using SSO from Microsoft EntraID and third party providers. “The user just logs into the Chromebook once, and they are logged into their services, including their Microsoft 365 web applications, without the need to reauthenticate,” Google explains.

OneDrive integration with the ChromeOS Files app. Users can integrate Microsoft OneDrive cloud storage with the Files app on their Chromebook, allowing them to easily open Microsoft 365 documents, attach files to email messages using drag-and-drop, and the like. Furthermore, IT can configure ChromeOS to automatically save all documents to OneDrive, including downloads and screenshots, and disable local storage completely.

Policy-based configuration. IT can use the Google Admin console to configure the features noted above, plus file type associations, the deactivation of the ChromeOS Basic Editor and Quick Office, and pin and pre-install the Microsoft 365 web apps to users’ taskbars.

You can learn more about these capabilities via Set up Office file handling for managed users and Use cloud storage as sole storage option on ChromeOS devices on the Google Support website.