Open and edit Office files on your Chromebook

On your Chromebook, you can open, edit, download and convert many Microsoft® Office files, such as Word, PowerPoint or Excel files.

Important: Before you edit Office files, check that your Chromebook software is up to date.

Option 1: Edit Office files on your Chromebook

You can edit most Microsoft® Office files on your Chromebook without the need to install any other apps, as long as you have the Office editing for Docs, Sheets and Slides extension.

1. If you haven’t yet, download the Office file to your Chromebook.
2. At the corner of your screen, click the Launcher . 
3. Find your file, and double-click it to open.
4. Edit your file.

Tip: You can also convert your file to Google Docs, Sheets or Slides and access all the collaboration features of Google’s Workspace products.

Work together on a file with others

You can convert Office files to Google Workspace to share them with others and work together to edit the content in real time.

1. Edit your Office file.
2. Save your file as Google Docs, Sheets or Slides.
3. Share your file, then begin to work with others.

Tip: Any updates made to the Google Docs, Sheets or Slides file won't carry over to the original Office file.

Option 2: Use Office to edit files

If you have a Microsoft® Office online account, you can edit your files with the Office online Chrome extension or with Office on the web.

Troubleshoot error messages

'Update your document' or 'Edits will not be automatically saved'

Follow the prompts to save your file as a newer version of Office (2007 or later).

Tip: Any updates made to the new file won't carry over to the original Office file.

File not supported or can’t open file

Make sure that your file is saved as one of these file types: .doc, .docx, .xls, .xlsx, .ppt, .pptx.

Also, make sure that your file isn't corrupted, password-protected or larger than the Google Drive file size limits.