ChromeOS and Microsoft 365 will finally work better together
As great as all ofour favorite Chromebooksare, the reality is that many of us rely on Microsoft Office (or Microsoft 365, as it’s now called) for our word processing and spreadsheeting needs.Google Workspacemay be a viable alternative, but if your school or company has you hooked up with Microsoft 365 and OneDrive, you’re out of luck. Fortunately, it looks like Microsoft and Google have finally teamed up to make Microsoft 365 a first-class experience on ChromeOS, with full OneDrive integration for the Files app in the cards, too.
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The latter part is particularly interesting, as it suggests that it will finally be possible to manage your OneDrive files in the native ChromeOS Files app, an option that has been missing for years. This has the potential to make Microsoft’s Office apps and its file storage solution a first-class citizen on Chromebooks, giving users more choice over which cloud service they want to use for their files. However, it’s unclear if this integration will give you full access to your OneDrive files, including the ability to copy, paste, and edit them, or if it will be read-only.
Based on the illustrative image Google added to the post, you’ll see a pop-up that allows you to add your Microsoft 365 account to your Chromebook. Once that’s done, you should see Microsoft OneDrive appear in the Files app’s sidebar, just below Google Drive. However, Google notes that the final design and workflow may look different.
If you want to sync your OneDrive files with the ChromeOS Files app right now, you’re able to either use the OneDrive Android app to get read-only access to files stored on your cloud storage solution, or you’ll have to rely onworkaround using a third-party appthat periodically syncs your files with your Chromebook. Both of these solutions have their own issues, which is why it would be great to see Microsoft integrating OneDrive in the Files app. After all, competitors like Dropbox have been doing this for years now.
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