What to open on a Chromebook instead of hunting .exe installs
Locked-down Chromebook? Browser apps and the installable shelf beat .exe hunting. Photopea to VS Code for the Web, plus how to pin them.
You open the laptop. Someone sent a .psd. Someone else wants a PDF split. Your brain reaches for the old habit: find a Windows installer, download, hope the IT policy did not block it.
On a Chromebook that habit dies fast. There is no comfortable .exe lane. Linux apps exist on some devices, Android apps on others, and plenty of school or work profiles lock both. What still works, almost everywhere ChromeOS lets you browse, is the browser itself.
That is the whole pitch for an App Store for the web: tools that do the job in a tab, and (when they support it) install to the shelf like a real app. Linkstore catalogues hundreds of them across 15 categories, with a dedicated installable shelf. This piece is the Chromebook / locked-down-machine angle: what to open instead of hunting installs that will never land.
Why Chromebooks push you toward the web
ChromeOS is built around the browser. That used to feel limiting. Now it is often the saner path.
Native Windows software assumes an App Store account, admin rights, or a USB stick someone left in a drawer. School Chromebooks and managed work devices often say no to all three. Web apps skip that fight. You open a URL. If the app runs in the tab, you are done. If it is installable, Chrome can put it on the shelf with its own icon and window.
Installable is optional. Plenty of good tools stay as tabs. Install when you open something most days. Leave it alone when you do not.
One honest caveat: installable is not the same as offline. Offline needs caching that still works with the network cut. Some shelf apps go dark without Wi-Fi. Check both badges on the listing when that matters.
How to pin something on ChromeOS
1. Open the app in Chrome. 2. Look for the install icon in the address bar, or menu (⋮) → Install [app name] / Install this site as an app. 3. Confirm. Launch from the shelf like any other app.
If Install never shows, the site is not offering an installable app in that browser. Keep a pinned tab. Managed profiles sometimes hide the prompt; that is policy, not a broken listing.
Uninstall later from chrome://apps or by removing the shelf icon. No Play Store receipt to cancel.
A Chromebook shelf that covers real jobs
These are apps people keep opening when a desktop install is painful or impossible. Every link is a live listing. Most of them carry Installable.
Design: [Photopea](/apps/photopea-1751764074)
Photoshop-shaped editing in a tab: PSD, layers, masks. Free, installable, and the usual answer when a client dumps a .psd and you do not have Creative Cloud on this machine. Huge files bump into browser memory. For lighter graphics work, browse Design on the installable hub.
Compress images: [Squoosh](/apps/squoosh-3452018626)
Google's side-by-side compressor (WebP, AVIF, MozJPEG). Processing stays on the device. Free, offline-capable, installable. Permanent shelf resident if you ship images from a Chromebook. Listed under Developer Tools.
Whiteboard: [Excalidraw](/apps/excalidraw-7518537263)
Hand-drawn diagrams that feel cheap enough to throw away, which is why people actually use them. Free, open source, works offline for local boards, installable. Collaboration rooms need a network. See Productivity.
Tasks: Super Productivity
Local-first todo list and time tracker. Data stays on the device; Jira/GitHub hooks when you want them. Free, offline-capable, installable. Not a glossy team suite. On a locked-down laptop that is often the point.
PDF without uploads: BentoPDF
Merge, split, compress, sign, convert - client-side, no account. Installable Utilities pick when you do not want a random converter eating the file on a shared Chromebook.
Code: [VS Code for the Web](/apps/vscode-7103834097)
Visual Studio Code at vscode.dev: local folders via the File System Access API, or GitHub repos, with extensions and settings sync. Free, installable, online-only. It will not replace every native VS Code workflow, but on a Chromebook it is often the difference between "I can edit" and "I cannot."
Chess break: [Lichess](/apps/lichess-2624581975)
Free, open source, no ads, installable, solid offline study. If you only pin one game from Games, make it this.
Locked-down work machines (not only Chromebooks)
The same pattern shows up on corporate Windows or Mac laptops where you cannot install anything without a ticket. Browser apps are often the only software you can adopt the same day.
Rules of thumb:
- Prefer apps that run the job in the tab. If the page is mostly "Download for Windows," you are not solving the Chromebook problem.
- Prefer client-side tools when the file is sensitive and you share a device. Watch the Network tab if you care.
- Prefer installable when you live in the tool daily. Prefer a pinned tab when it is a one-off converter.
Category hubs are the aisles: Utilities, Productivity, Design, Developer Tools. Start from the job, open two listings, try the apps.
What this is not
It is not a promise that every web app works offline on a school Wi-Fi blip. It is not a claim that ChromeOS Linux or Android sideloads are useless (when your profile allows them, use them). It is not Product Hunt energy. The catalogue stays. Launch-week noise does not.
Featured and Sponsored placements on the homepage are labelled when paid. They are not a ranking of quality.
If you build web apps people open on Chromebooks
Ship something that actually runs in the browser. Earn Installable with a real manifest, not a press-kit claim. Submit free or check Pricing for paid options. Paying never buys approval. Already discovered? Claim from the listing.
Honest listings help the next person on a locked machine find you without hunting a .exe that was never going to install.
The point
A Chromebook is not a broken PC. It is a browser with a keyboard. The missing piece was never another Windows installer mirror. It was a lasting shelf of apps that work where you already are.
Pin two. Keep the one you open tomorrow.