How to Play ‘Minecraft’ on a School Chromebook

Since launching in 2011, Minecraft only seems to have grown more popular. The open-world game has received a few spin-offs (Minecraft Earth and Minecraft Dungeons), and the base game continues to evolve in exciting new ways.

Best of all, it’s playable on just about every platform under the sun. But how do you play Minecraft on your school Chromebook – which probably has restrictions on what can be installed?

The simplest way to play Minecraft on your school Chromebook is by downloading Minecraft: Education Edition. To do this, navigate to the Google Play Store and search for Minecraft: Education Edition. From there, you’ll be able to download the game and start playing.

Keep in mind that your school might need to purchase full access, otherwise, you’ll only get a free trial.

If the Play Store isn’t showing up, you can dive into the “Settings” menu and look for the “Google Play Store” option. Once you find this, simply toggle it to the “On” position. However, your administrator may have turned off your ability to download apps from the Play Store. If that’s the case, there’s not much you can do to get this version of Minecraft running on your Chromebook.

This version of the game is also a bit different from the base game, as it’s intended for educational purposes and removes most of the combat and violent mechanics not suitable for school.

While the above way is probably your best bet for playing Minecraft on your school Chromebook, there are a few other methods you can attempt. One of them is to simply install the Java Edition of Minecraft on your Chromebook.

This isn’t recommended, however, as there’s a good chance your Chromebook doesn’t have enough power to run the game properly.

Still want to give it a shot? Then you’ll first need to check out this guide on getting Linux set up on your Chromebook. Do this at your own risk, however, as messing with your school-issued Chromebook might open up a can of worms that isn’t worth dealing with.

Another option to consider is Minecraft Classic. This can be played directly in your browser, and you can even invite other players to your game. This version of Minecraft is stripped of much of its content, but it’s incredibly easy to get running on your Chromebook. Simply navigate to the Minecraft Classic website, and you’ll automatically launch into a game.