Use Teams on your Chromebook(1)

A new device Chromebook

With the spread of the new coronavirus and the rapid spread of telework, satellite offices, and online meetings, it is becoming more and more popular. is a Chromebook. Chromebooks were introduced 10 years ago, but I feel like they've gained a lot of popularity over the last couple of years.

It is located between the two, such as being difficult to input text on a tablet, and being heavy, bulky, difficult to carry around, and not having a long battery life on a PC. The Chromebook is a notebook PC and has a keyboard, so it is convenient to enter characters.

On the other hand, it is small and lightweight, and the battery life is very long, so you can use it all day long. The display is a touch panel, and it is also a great advantage that it can be used more intuitively than a mouse.

Since it is also equipped with voice input/output and a web camera, it is also suitable for the purpose of participating in online meetings anytime, anywhere.

Because it is intended to use cloud services, it does not require the same hardware specs as Windows PCs and Macintoshes, so it is much cheaper than Windows PCs and MacBooks.

On the other hand, since it uses Google Chrome OS as its OS, it has the disadvantage that it can only use apps for Chrome OS or Android apps. Since it is premised on the use of cloud services, it is also a drawback that it is not very useful in environments where it is not possible to connect to the network. As the name suggests, the system is configured around the Chrome web browser.

Chromebooks and Microsoft Teams

A Chromebook that is convenient to carry around, can be used all day without worrying about running out of battery when fully charged, and has a built-in webcam, microphone, and speaker. Of course, it can also be used for Teams online meetings.

When using Teams on a Chromebook, you can use the Teams web app version or the Android app version of Teams.

Chrome OS does not support Windows apps, but many Android apps are available. The Android version of Teams is also available on Chromebooks.

* Chromebooks can only use the Web version of Teams or the Android version of Teams. Please note that while the main functionality works fine, you won't be able to use the full functionality of Teams for Windows.

Google Accounts and Chromebooks

On the other hand, Chromebooks require a Google account.

If you set up your Chromebook with a Google account on an Android phone that already uses Teams for Android, it will sync with your phone and automatically install Teams as well. In that case, you can also use your smartphone for user authentication when logging into your Chromebook.

However, you need to be careful when using the Chromebook for work and using the Google account on your private smartphone. This is because personal information that is not related to work will be synced. Unless you have a special reason, you should keep your business Google account separate from your personal Google account.

Preparing to use Teams

First, before you start using Teams, it's a good idea to turn off Chrome's notification feature. Many Chromebooks have relatively small screens of about 10 to 13 inches, so if a pop-up notification (new information, etc.) from Chrome's web service is displayed during an online meeting, it will be a hindrance.

(1) Start Chrome on your Chromebook and click the "Chrome Settings" button. (2) Click the "Settings" menu

(3) Click "Security and Privacy". (4) Click "Site Settings".

(5) Click "Notification".

(6) Allow or reject notifications for each website (default setting). Continue to step (9). (7) Unconditionally reject all site notifications. (8) a list of sites that have allowed notifications;

To undo notifications for sites you previously allowed notifications for, remove the sites individually from your allowed notifications list.

(9) Click the "Settings" (:) button for the app you want to delete from the list of sites that allow notifications. (10) Click the "Delete" menu.

By disabling notifications from websites in advance like this, you can avoid panicking when unexpected notifications appear during an online meeting.

Next time, I'll show you how to install Teams on your Chromebook.