Office On Chromebooks

Labyrinth Learning’s Microsoft Office 2019 & 365 titles are written for the full Office 2019 desktop software (static or via an Office 365 subscription plan) on a Windows-based PC. Individuals who choose to use a Chromebook with one of these titles should be aware of some key points, outlined below.

Microsoft Office Versions

Office 365/2019 Desktop

Full desktop versions of the software
Subscribe or buy once

Buy once: Traditional; pay in full for static software that does not change
Subscribe: Pay monthly or annually for the full software as well as have updates and fixes as they become available; includes access to the mobile apps

Computer requirements: Windows (1.6 GHz or faster, 2-core), macOS (Intel processor)
Use on Chromebooks is only possible through Parallels (requires setup by your institution's IT department)

Office 365/2019 Desktop

Offered as part of an Office 365 subscription (no separate subscription needed)
Can be used with iOS devices, Android devices, and Chromebooks
Limited features compared to the full desktop software; allows offline access

Office 365 Online

No subscription required (though a free MS account is required)
Accessed via a web browser (can be used with Chromebooks)
Limited features compared to the full desktop software; no offline access

The mobile and online versions are convenient, particularly when viewing or commenting on existing files; minor editing is also easy to do from these versions. They’re more suited for viewing existing files than for creating new, robust files. Compared to what’s offered in the full desktop software, major features and capabilities are not part of the mobile and online versions.

Chromebooks

Many K-12 schools are issuing Chromebooks to their students. As of this writing, the full desktop software is not compatible with or available via Chromebooks. This is because the Office desktop suite is associated with the Windows operating system (and macOS), while Chromebooks use the Chrome OS. The mobile apps can be used with a Chromebook, as can the web-based online versions.

	Office 365 Desktop	Office 365 Mobile	Office 365 Online
PC (Windows OS)	✔	✔	✔
Chromebook (Chrome OS)	Not available	✔	✔

Note: The Labyrinth Learning Office 2019 & 365 Series was written to the full desktop software. Students may not be able to complete all exercises exactly as written or in some cases at all using either mobile or online versions. And remember that there is no Access mobile app or online version.

In addition, the Chromebook keyboard can be different from a typical laptop/desktop computer keyboard; for example, depending on the model, the Home, End, Delete, and other keys may not be included on the Chromebook keyboard. Actions associated with those and other keys are possible on a Chromebook keyboard using different methods.

View Google's list of keyboard shortcuts

Mobile and Online Versions: What's Not Included

View the charts below to see some of the features not supported in the mobile and online apps that are available in the full desktop software. Some features may have limited functionality in the mobile or online app compared to the full desktop software. Sometimes a feature is rendered (viewable) in the mobile app and/or online but cannot be created from either. For example, you cannot generate an index from the Word mobile or online app, but you can view an index that was generated using the full desktop software from the mobile or online app. Similarly, you can view a PivotChart created using the full Excel desktop software from within the mobile or online app, but you cannot create a new PivotChart using the apps.

WORD	Desktop (full)	Mobile App	Online (web)
Alignment guides and live layout (ruler, guidelines)	Y	N	N
Captions	Y	N	N
Citations and bibliographies	Y	N	N
Collaboration (merge, compare, combine files)	Y	N	N
Cover pages	Y	N	N
Creating advanced document elements (AutoText, etc.)	Y	N	N
Document parts and themes (content controls, color and font schemes, graphic presets)	Y	N	N
Equations	Y	N	N
Index	Y	N	N
IRM and password-protection	Y	N	N
Learning tools (e.g., Immersive Reader)	Y	N	Y
Mail Merge	Y	N	N
Offline viewing and authoring	Y	Y	N
Page layout advanced tools (page borders, line numbers, etc.)	Y	N	N
Printing, advanced (print markup, document properties)	Y	N	N
Proofing tools, advanced (custom dictionaries, translation tools)	Y	N	N
Reference tools (bibliographies, TOC, index, etc.)	Y	N	N
Researcher	Y	N	N
Rich media (adding online, PPT video)	Y	N	N
SmartArt	Y	N	N

Excel
Application Feature	Desktop (full)	Mobile App	Online (web)
Advanced analysis views (Power View, Power Pivot, Slicers)	Y	N	N
Advanced time filtering (Timeline slicer)	Y	N	N
External data connections	Y	N	N
External references (links)	Y	Y	N
Formula tools, advanced (varies)	Y	Y	N
IRM and password-protection	Y	N	N
Macros (create, run with VBA)	Y	N	N
Offline viewing and authoring	Y	Y	N
PivotTables and PivotCharts (creation)	Y	N	Y
Recommended charts and formatting	Y	N	Y
Spreadsheet audit and compliance	Y	N	N
What-if analyses	Y	N	N

PowerPoint
Application Feature	Desktop (full)	Mobile App	Online (web)
Animations and transitions, full selection of	Y	N	N
Apply rich formatting to text, shapes, pictures (gradients, eyedropper, styles, etc.)	Y	N	N
Custom animation, creation of	Y	N	N
Design tools, advanced (slide masters, modify layouts, etc.)	Y	N	N
Excel integration for charts	Y	N	N
Full ink support	Y	N	N
Headers and footers, full options	Y	N	N
IRM and password-protection	Y	N	N
Offline viewing and authoring	Y	Y	N
Presenter view	Y	N	N
Reviewer tools, advanced	Y	N	N

Microsoft provides comprehensive, but not exhaustive, tables of feature availability between the desktop and online versions here. Cloud-based software can change at any time and some details may be different today (or tomorrow). As of this writing, no Access mobile or online app is available.

Visual Differences: The Ribbon

A picture is worth a thousand words! See below for screen grabs of the Ribbon in the various Office 365 options: desktop (subscription, static), mobile app, online.

Office 365/2019 Desktop – Word

In the full desktop version, the Ribbon is full and robust. Subscribers will have more commands than static users. Though there are visual differences, there is also high similarity.

Subscription

Static Installation

Office 365 Mobile App – Word
The Word mobile app has a smaller Ribbon. There are fewer tabs and on each, there are fewer commands and no grouping of related commands.

Office 365 Online – Word
The Word online version has a more robust Ribbon than what is seen on the mobile app but notice that compared to the full desktop software, there are missing tabs and commands.