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I'm having trouble opening files with the free Word Online, and the last tech support person I talked to ("Sabastian") suggested that I take it to the forum.
My problem is that I have an 11 " chromebook, that I just use while traveling. I understand that the Word Online app only works on screens 10" and smaller, so, for some time when I needed to edit a MS docx file, I would type in "office.com" into my Chrome browser and my OneDrive comes on, and I open a file to edit.
However, about two months ago it stopped doing that. Now when I go to my OneDrive, through my browser, and click on a file, I get a box saying "This file couldn't be opened, there are no apps installed that can open this kind of file." That's true, the Tech support people have told me that that my 11" screen is too large for the app, so I uninstalled it. It is because of the screen size limitation that I have been opening Word Online through a browser instead of an app. For a while that worked fine, but the browser version has stopped working now and so nothing works.
But what does it mean now to say that I don't have an app to open the online, app-free version of a word doc? The tech support guy suggested that I take my problem to you. Does anyone have any ideas or thoughts?
By the way, even though the tech people told me that the word online app will not work on my chromebook (because the screen is too large), I did try it a few times as a test. When I did so, I got a pop up saying "Open in Browser. This page can't be opened in the OneDrive app. Do you want to open it in a browser?" When I click yes, "open this item" I got sent to a list of my files, with a very brief pop up saying "To open this item, you need to install a browser." When it goes away, I see a list of my files again. If I click on one of my files this time, I get what appears to be a faint pdf version of the file I'm wanting, with the options to "Share, mark up, open or delete. If I click on "open," the file does open, but in "Read Only" mode, and with a pop up saying, "To edit and save, a Microsoft 365 subscription is required."
I realize that this is a very long question, but does anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks for anything you can come up with.
A family of Microsoft word processing software products for creating web, email, and print documents.
Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.
Try opening a Browser, such as Chrome. Then go to this page:
Microsoft Word Online - Work together on Word documents
Can you open your documents from there and edit?
If you have an Office 365 sub you download the various apps from the play store using your MS 365 account to verify them
Thanks, but I only need to open the free online version three or four times a year when I travel. That's not often enough to justify purchasing 365.
Incidentally, it seems odd that I would have to buy the 365 version so that I can use the "free" version. Are you sure?
If you have an Office 365 sub you download the various apps from the play store using your MS 365 account to verify them
Editing is not free on devices whose screens are larger than 10.1". However, you should still be able to open and view a document without a subscription.
Hi Stefan, good to hear from you again.
Yes, I know that the free version is not free (for anything but viewing) for devices larger than 10.1". You made that very clear when we exchanged notes last week. My apologies for not making it clear that I understood you.
My question now, however, is slightly different from that. For about two or three years I have accessed Word Online by way of my browser, not the app. For me it functioned just like the app, except it was more universal, that is, I could pick it up from a browser no matter what computer I was on.
However, about two or three months ago, it stopped working. No warning or explanation. Now when I go to my OneDrive, through my browser, and click on a file, I get a box saying "This file couldn't be opened, there are no apps installed that can open this kind of file." That's true, because of the screen size limitation, and that's why some time ago I uninstalled the free Word Online app and have been opening Word Online through a browser instead. But now the browser version has stopped working now and so nothing works.
What does it mean that I don't have an app to open the online, app-free, version of a word doc, from a browser?
Do you have any thoughts, suggestions, clues?
Thanks in advance,
Stan
Editing is not free on devices whose screens are larger than 10.1". However, you should still be able to open and view a document without a subscription.