Chromebooks are wonderfully simple devices to use. There’s very little room for clutter, and that’s one of their main advantages over PC laptops. Still, sometimes you want to start fresh, and the best way to do so is to reset a Chromebook. In this article, we are going to talk about How to Reset Your Chromebook in Simple Steps. Let’s begin!
Maybe you have got troublesome cookies, favorites, and settings that just are not working for you. Or maybe you have inherited a Chromebook that you want to make your own. There are plenty of options for resetting your Chromebook. Here is a quick breakdown to give you all the best tips and tricks on how can you perform a Chromebook reset.
The good news is that it is rather easy to backup and also factory reset a Chromebook. And, because everything is tied to your Google account, as soon as you are logged back into your account. You will have access to every single app, extension, file, and folder attached to your Google profile. But how exactly do you reset your Chromebook?
Well, as with most functions on Google’s affordable laptop OS, restoring your Chromebook to its default state is near-effortless—in fact, there’s even a keyboard shortcut for the process. But before we get to that, let’s take care of a couple of data settings first, and back up your Chromebook
Contents
Backup your Chromebook
Before you reset your device, you will want to backup your data to avoid losing any important files. The Chromebook runs Chrome OS, an operating system based on Linux. It is stable and works well. That said, the Chromebook is not really intended for storing a lot of data.
Since most of your files are stored in the cloud using Google Drive. There is not much to back up within a Chromebook. Still, most of us keep the occasional local document, photo collection, and similar files on our devices. And it is worth taking a few minutes to dive into your local storage to check out what is stored on the device.
From the desktop of your Chromebook, either tap the small circle icon in the lower-left hand corner of your screen or hit the Search button on your Chromebook’s keyboard.
When you click the small circle icon in the lower left of your screen, the Chromebook launcher will load. Here, you can load your file browser either from the list of your recent applications or, if you haven’t accessed the file browser in a while, by clicking the “All Apps” icon at the bottom of the launcher and finding the “Files” app.
Once you have loaded into Files, you will see a traditional file browser that can display your several folders and content library. Along the left side of the browser, you will see various different menus, including your Google Drive account and your Downloads folder.
Ways
There are two main ways to back up these files:
- Google Drive: Any file that you upload to Google Drive will be available on any device your Google account is signed into.
- Storage Devices (USB, HDD, etc.): Plug your device into the USB port on your laptop, wait for your drive to appear along the left pane inside Files. And drag and drop your content to your drive. Just like with Google Drive above, the transfer process will be shown in the lower-left corner of the window.
Remember, for photo or video files, you can also use Google Photos to upload your content. Photos use your Google Drive storage or can replace your files with slightly-lesser quality versions. That won’t count against your storage.
Factory Reset a Chromebook
However, if you have been working on it for years then a factory reset can speed up your Chromebook significantly. Also, in case someone has created a user account on your Chromebook without your permission. You can factory reset to remove the account completely.
Once you have taken your files and storage from your Chromebook and placed them on another drive or storage service. It is time to reset your Chromebook.
And as usual with Google products, there are a couple of different ways to go about resetting a Chromebook.
Reset your Chromebook with Hotkeys
The reset will wipe all files, settings, and apps on your hard drive. So before resetting, sync your settings to your Google account and back up any important files to Google Drive. That is if you want to keep any of those.
- Start by signing out of your Chromebook by tapping the system information panel in the lower right-hand corner of your Chromebook’s display.
- Sign out of your Chromebook.
- Press and hold Ctrl > Alt > Shift > r simultaneously.
- Click “Restart.”
- A dialogue box will appear. Click “Reset.”
- Sign in with your Google account.
- Follow the steps for setting up a new Chromebook.
- Make sure whatever problem led you to reset your Chromebook has been resolved
Powerwashing your device is just another way of saying “factory data reset,”. So rest assured, this is the menu we are looking for. Click the “Powerwash” button or, if prompted, click the “Restart” button, allow your device to reboot, and then click “Powerwash”—to begin the reset process.
Google may then prompt you to confirm your choice to powerwash the device. If you still want to continue with the reset, simply accept the prompt. After about a minute, your Chromebook will reboot to the standard Chrome OS “Welcome!” display, and you can then re-setup your device.
The account you sign in will become the “owner” of the Chromebook. So if you are looking to sell your device, simply power off the machine to be used with its new owner. The new owner can then associate an account with their Chromebook.
Reset Your Chromebook From Settings
Again, make sure to sync your settings to your Google account and back up any important files to Google Drive before you reset Chromebook.
- Click the area in the bottom-right corner.
- Select the cog next to lock to go into “Settings.”
- Then click the hamburger menu icon on the top left.
- Go into “Advanced.”
- Click “Reset settings.”
- Select “Powerwash.”
- A dialogue box will appear. Click “Restart.”
- Sign in with your Google Account.
- Follow the steps for setting up a new Chromebook.
- Make sure to resolve whatever the problem that leads you to reset your Chromebook.
Last Lines
factory resetting (power washing) a Chromebook is easier than factory resetting many devices and computers.
And because Google’s operating system is so entwined with cloud services. Backing up the files on your device—no matter how few or how many only take a minute or two of your time. Since people tend to store a lot more files directly on a PC or Mac. Backing these machines up typically would take much longer than backing up a Chromebook.
Conclusion
Alright, That was all Folks! I hope you guys like this article and find it helpful to you. Give us your feedback on it. Also if you guys have further queries related to this article. Then let us know in the comments section below. We will get back to you shortly.
Have a Great Day!
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