Can you use Microsoft Access on a Chromebook?

Yes you can, running Microsoft Access on a Google Chromebook is straightforward and this article explains not only how to do it but also how you can use the same approach for any traditional Windows desktop application.

Chromebooks run Google’s Chrome OS operating system and it’s whole ethos is around running cloud based (web based) applications and saving data to cloud based services like Google Drive. Generally it is rare that applications need to be installed locally on Chromebooks, but some more recent devices have been able to download Android apps from the Google Play Store, and this has included the Android version of Microsoft Office.

However, there isn’t an Android version of Microsoft Access, Access isn’t available in Google Play and you cannot install Access on to a Chromebook. So how do you run Microsoft Access on a Chromebook? The answer is to run Access hosted on a remote desktop service, and connect to it from your Chromebook.

With a hosted remote desktop Access is running on a “cloud based” Windows server and you can now connect to these using modern HTML 5.0 browsers such as the version of Google Chrome running on Chromebooks. This uses a service called the Microsoft Remote Desktop Web Client.

Using Chromebooks to run Microsoft Access on a hosted remote desktop is a really cost effective way of sharing your line of business applications. Chromebooks are cheap to buy compared with Windows laptops as well as requiring much less support from your IT department. They are also generally more lightweight, easier to handle and less prone to viruses.

Of course you aren’t limited to running Access on your Chromebook, you can also run the full Windows version of Microsoft Office on your Chromebook, all via the hosted remote desktop service. Plus any other Windows application that you use in your business.

Many businesses want to reduce IT spend and support costs and look to using Chromebooks as a way to cut software costs and hours spent fixing IT issues; but are put off because of a reliance on specific Windows desktop applications. By moving desktop applications such as Microsoft Access to a hosted remote desktop service you can reliably use Chromebooks to run Microsoft Access and Office and make the savings you need.

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