How to Free Up Space on Your Chromebook

A problem for nearly every user

Despite being worthy laptop alternatives, there’s an aspect where many Chromebooks fall short: storage space. Although there are a few high-end Chromebooks with 128GB to 256GB of disk space, a large majority ofbudget Chromebooksdon’t have beyond 64GB of storage.

Sure, you can expand your Chromebook’s storage using compatible USB storage devices like thumb drives and external hard drives. But what if you don’t have an external storage device? Or you don’t like moving around with your flash drive? We’ll show you six effective ways to free up space on your Chromebook.

How Chromebooks Handle Low Storage

When your Chromebook is low on disk space, Chrome OS will display a constant reminder or notification informing that your “Device is low on space.” But you don’t have to wait until you get this error message before freeing up space on your Chromecast device.

Google warnsthat your Chromebook might automatically start deleting downloaded files, unused accounts, browsing data, etc. when it runs low on storage space. That highlights the importance of monitoring your Chromebook’s storage before it runs low. Free up storage space yourself, or your Chromebook will—maybe deleting important files in the process.

Check Your Chromebook’s Storage Status

The first step to freeing up space is knowing your Chromebook’s storage status. Fortunately, there’s a storage management tool embedded in the Chrome OS settings app.

Use the tool to monitor your Chromebook’s storage; it tells you how much storage is in use and how much is available. You can also use the storage management tool to perform a device cleanup.

Launch the Settings app, tapDeviceon the sidebar, and selectStorage management.

You can also launch the tool from the Files app. Tap thethree-dot menuicon and tap the storage meter at the bottom of the menu. That’ll redirect you to the storage management page.

At the top of the storage management page is a meter showing your Chromebook’s storage status. You’ll also find categories of components consuming storage space on your device.

My files:This describes the total storage space consumed by multimedia (audio, videos, images, recordings, screenshots, etc.) and downloaded files on your Chromebook. Selecting this option will open the Files app.

Browsing data:As you surf the internet on Chrome, the browser saves a bunch of data on your Chromebook—browsing history, website cookies, cached images, site settings, password, and so on. The “Browsing data” category is the accumulation of all Chrome’s data stored on your device.

Apps and extensions:This category includes the storage space used by the applications installed on your Chromebook, including their data and cache files.

Linux storage:This is the disk space allotted to the installation and running of Linux apps. You’ll find this option in the storage management menu if you have, at any point, set up theLinux development environmenton your Chromebook.

System:This is the storage space consumed by Chrome OS and other built-in applications. You cannot delete system files or apps.

You can also check available storage space using Chrome. Type or pastechrome://quota-internalsin the address bar and pressEnter. In the Summary tab, the “Free disk space for the profile directory” is your Chromebook’s available storage.

How to Free Up Space on Chromebook

You now understand how Chrome OS groups and manages disk storage. In the next section, we highlight some storage-saving tips that’ll help you free up space on your Chromebook.

Open the Files app and go through each folder. Look out for images, screenshots, screen recording, video, app setup files, and other documents that you no longer use or need.

Tap theSort options (AZ)icon and selectSize. That’ll arrange your files by their sizes in descending order; the largest files appear at the top.

With this order, you can easily identify heavy files taking up storage space on your Chromebook and delete the ones you don’t need.

Alternatively, you can back up your files in the cloud instead of deleting them. Move the files to theGoogle Drivefolder. If you’ve hit the 15GB free Google Drive storage quota, you can claimthis Google One perk (for Chromebooks). The perk grants you 100GB of free cloud storage for 12 months. That lets you free up storage space on your Chromebook without losing any files.

Applications create user data, cache data, and other junk files that eat up storage space. Keeping several apps that you don’t use can cause your Chromebook to quickly run low on disk space. Uninstall unneeded apps to free up storage. Head to the Chrome OS Storage management menu and selectApps and extensions.

Go through the list and note the apps or extensions that you barely use. Select an app you want to remove from your Chromebook and tap theUninstallbutton.

Note:You cannot uninstall core system applications like Chrome, the Files app, Play Store, Web Store, etc.

Not only is Chrome a memory hog, but the browser also creates and stores all kinds of data on your device. While some of this data is important, others you can do without. Clear some of this unneeded browsing data to free up space on your Chromebook.

Go toSettings>Device>Storage managementand selectBrowsing data. That’ll open a new tab where you can clear browsing data.

In the Basic section, checkCached images and files, set the Time range toAll time, and tap theClear databutton. You should then see how much space that would free up on your Chromebook.

If you still need to create more space, go to theAdvancedsection, select other unnecessary data items (e.g. Download history, Site settings, Cookies, etc.) that you want to delete, and tapClear data.

Note that clearing “Cookies and other site data” will free up a huge amount of storage space. However, the operation will sign you out of Google and other accounts connected to Chrome. What you should do instead is delete cookies for individual websites.

Open Chrome and go toSettings>Privacy and security>Cookies and other site data>See all cookies and site dataand select theBin iconnext to a site whose cookie you want to delete.

You should look out for sites with the following label:Local storage,Database Storage,File System, andService Workers. Those websites store persistent cookies and other data locally on your Chromebook.

When you enable offline availability for a Google Drive file or folder, Chrome OS downloads the file and saves it on your device (as a cache file). You’ll then be able to access the file(s) on your Chromebooks without an internet connection. The feature grants you offline access to your file but consumes your local storage in return.

If you enabled offline availability for large files or folders, remove them from your Chromebook and access them from the Google Drive folder instead. This could help you free up a lot of space on your Chromebook.

Open the Files app, expand theGoogle Drivecategory, and select theOfflinefolder. Afterward, select the folders or files and toggle off theAvailable offlineswitch on the menu bar.

Again, if you’re running out of Google Drive storage space, claim theGoogle One Chromebook perkthat grants you free 100GB cloud storage for 12 months.

Google recommends allotting at least 7.5GB for the Linux development area. But if you barely install or use Linux applications, you can free up space on your Chromebook by reducing the Linux storage. SelectLinux storagein the Storage management page and tap theChangebutton next toDisk size.

Move the slider to the left to reduce the Linux disk size to your preference (you can’t go below 4.1GB) and tapResize.

Remove the Linux development environmentif you won’t be installing or using any Linux app on your Chromebook.

There are cleaning apps that work wonders on Android devices. Many of these apps are also compatible with Chrome OS. Refer tothis listicle containing 10 effective cleaning appsto learn more. Open the Play Store, install any of the cleaning apps, and remove junk files from your Chromebook at the click of a button.

Get All the Space You Need

Freeing up space on your Chromebook boils down to deleting unneeded files and apps. Saving files to the cloud will also create extra storage space. You should also consider deleting user accounts that are no longer active or used. On your Chromebook’s sign-in screen, tap the drop-down icon next to the account and selectRemove this user.

Sodiq has written thousands of tutorials, guides, and explainers over the past 4 years to help people solve problems with Android, iOS, Mac, and Windows devices. He also enjoys reviewing consumer tech products (smartphones, smart home devices, accessories, etc.) and binge-watching comedy series in his spare time.Read Sodiq’s Full Bio

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