(Clarification: Locally stored files and files housed in removable storage devices will continue to work as they do today.

So long as you have your compatible Office files set to open in Google Drive through your Chromebook’s Files app by default, they will automatically open in Office Editing Mode. Office Editing Mode is a major improvement over compatibility modeĪutomatic ‘Office Editing Mode’ solves a longstanding issue that Chromebook users have been facing for years – the ability to natively edit Microsoft Office files from their local Files app and removable storage devices without needing to use Microsoft’s Android apps! Soon, any time you open an Office file on the web from your Files app, it will open in ‘Office Editing Mode’ by default – no need for conversions or hassle at all. While this is momentous, it has much bigger implications for Chromebook. This is huge because Drive users will no longer be required to manually choose to open a document this way before editing. About this time last year, Google rolled out Office Editing Mode, which is an amazing improvement to compatibility mode, but this update makes it the default. xlsm) no longer requires any extra effort. Previously, double-clicking an Office file would just open a preview of it in Google Drive with options to download it, convert it to a Google Doc or open it in ‘Office compatibility mode’ – a band-aid solution with severely limited tools and janky formatting which had no autosave. It also comes with an expanded set of tools for manipulating the document and the ability to collaborate in real-time with others while auto-saving after each keystroke. Within the next two weeks, Google will begin rolling out a feature that is long overdue – Office files will now automatically open in ‘Office Editing Mode’ by default on the web! Office Editing Mode allows you to work on Microsoft Office files directly in Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, and Drawings without converting them and retains their formatting nicely too.

Openoffice documents only for chrome