The Office Online extension made its debut on Microsoft Edge browser in the release of Windows 10 Insider Builder 14366 for PCs. It’s advertised as the quickest ay to view, edit, create Office files in Microsoft Edge. It lets you “use Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and Sway Online without needing Office installed” and “access your recent files, thanks to integration with OneDrive and OneDrive for Business.”
Store link: https://aka.ms/msedge-office-store
Minimum: Windows 10 Build 14366
If you have this or later of the Windows 10 installed, you can install the Office Online extension right from the store link listed above directly.
After turning the extension on, the first thing it prompts when launched is to link to your OneDrive or OneDrive Business account.
Once signed in and authorizing the access, you will now see that the Office Online extension offers 4 main areas of exploration.
You can quickly see the last 7 Office Online documents you accessed with a “View more” link that opens the Recent documents view in OneDrive in the browser.
You can also create New document in Word Online, Excel Online, PowerPoint Online, OneNote Online, and Sway. Choosing any of the options opens the respective Office Online app in browser.
Open has two options: From OneDrive, which opens a browser tab displaying the Files view in OneDrive, and Browse, which opens a Windows 10 Open File dialog. That’s right, you can open a local file in the browser in Office Online.
Both Account and Settings don’t offer much in there. It’s pretty plain at the moment.
It’s more convenient to put the extension on the Address Bar if you need to access online file frequently by right-clicking the Extension icon and choosing “Show next to address bar“.
Overall, Office Online Extension is a simple extension that doesn’t actually offer much other than the convenient way opening or creating files in the free Microsoft Office Online service. Arguably, it seems only for one particular audience, those with OneDrive accounts who do not have an Office 365 subscription (or have separately purchased Office desktop applications).
There are a lot more that can be but yet done in this extension.