Type in the following command - or copy it from here and then paste it into the Terminal app by right-clicking on the command prompt (or two-finger clicking, on a trackpad):ģ. (If you don't see the Terminal app, you still need to follow the steps in my getting started guide, as mentioned above.)Ģ. Open the Terminal app in your Chrome OS launcher - the app-drawer-like interface that comes up when you click the circle icon in the lower-left corner of the screen and then click the up-facing arrow on the partial shade that appears. There's not much LibreOffice can do that you couldn't also do in Docs or Word, but if you'd rather stick with a strictly local setup - and you don't have an Office 365 subscription to go the Microsoft Android app route - it's a fine alternative to the standard options.ġ. (Click any image in this article to enlarge it.) LibreOffice brings a polished local office suite to your Chrome OS device. The program gives you a polished and professional word processor, spreadsheet editor, and presentation editor - all of which have familiar-feeling interfaces and are easy to use.

If you have a paid Microsoft 365 subscription, you can even install the Office Android apps and use those on your Chrome OS device.įor folks who prefer a non-cloud-connected office suite, though, LibreOffice is the path to pursue. You can use Google's own Docs office suite, of course, or you can turn to Microsoft's web-based Office apps. Nowadays, you've got no shortage of options for word processing, spreadsheet work, and presentation creation on a Chromebook. LibreOffice: A fully featured local office suite

If you haven't yet done that, click over to my step-by-step guide to get started - then come back here once you've got everything up and running. These are the programs I'd recommend - and they're all completely free to use.īefore you begin, you'll need to confirm that your Chromebook is capable of running Linux apps and then set it up to do so.

Well, consider this your cheat sheet: I've spent ample time exploring and testing a variety of productivity-oriented Linux apps to see what works best and makes the most sense in the Chrome OS environment.

Audacity app for chromebook