How To Powerwash (Factory Reset) a Chromebook

Tip: don’t use soap and water

Chromebooks are cheap, convenient, and free from the trappings of many other laptops. Chrome OS is loved by writers and developers alike for their long battery lives and compatibility withAndroidandLinux apps.

Unlike most other laptops, you don’t need to completely reinstall the operating system to perform a factory reset (sometimes known as Powerwash). If you buy a Chromebook second hand, or if something goes wrong with yours, it’s a quick and easy process to powerwash a Chromebook.

Powerwash a Chromebook: Things To Check First

If you get a Chromebook secondhand, you should always do a full reset to ensure nothing remains from the previous owner. If you already own the Chromebook and are trying to fix crashes or strange behavior with it, there are a few steps you can take first before you powerwash a Chromebook:

Perform a hardware reset:

Disable Chrome Extensions:

Confirm you are in ‘Stable Mode’:

These three methods, separately or in combination, solve most Chrome OS problems.

When To Powerwash a Chromebook?

Alongside buying a used machine, there are several reasons you should powerwash your Chromebook. The clearest indication that you need to perform a factory reset is an on-screen message reading“Reset this Chrome device.”

Persistent problems that don’t go away after rebooting, which cannot be fixed by the steps outlined above, are another good sign that it’s time to Powerwash your Chromebook and restore its factory settings.

How To Powerwash Your Chromebook

Before taking the next steps, make sure you back up any data via Google Drive or using anexternal hard drive.Performing a factory reset completely wipes the hard drive.

To powerwash your Chromebook, take the following steps:

After a factory reset, you’ll need to set up your Chromebook again, as you lose your user preferences along with your data. If you are a Google Chrome Sync user, you’ll find that your browser will already be customized. Any hardware preferences like local language or keyboard layouts will need changing in the Chrome OSSettings.

What To Do When a Chromebook Won’t Boot

Sometimes, a Chromebook can get so corrupted that it won’t boot at all. If you turn on your device to see a warning reading‘Chrome OS is missing or damaged,’you’ll need to recover the operating system.

Before starting, you’ll need a USB drive that can hold a minimum of 8 GB, that you are happy wiping. If your Chromebook has an SD or microSD slot, you can use that instead. You’ll also need another computer running theChrome browser, with theChromebook Recovery Utilityinstalled via the Chrome Web Store.

Beginning on the functional computer, take the following steps:

Now move over to the Chromebook with the error message and follow these steps:

A New Lease On Life

When you powerwash a Chromebook, it’s a great feeling. Chrome OS devices are designed with frequent resets in mind.Chromebook power userstake full advantage of an ‘online-only’ mentality, meaning their data is protected no matter what happens to their local device.

Knowing how to save a damaged system is an important skill, and each operating system requires different tools. Creating recovery media, or even booting from an external drive, can get you out of some tricky situations.

Ian is a British technology writer, maker, and musician living in Berlin, Germany. Obsessed with getting “under the hood” of everything he comes into contact with, you can find him scouring the internet for new and exciting ways to make our lives easier – and more enjoyable – with technology.Read Ian’s Full Bio

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How To Powerwash (Factory Reset) a Chromebook#

Powerwash a Chromebook: Things To Check First#

When To Powerwash a Chromebook?#

How To Powerwash Your Chromebook#

What To Do When a Chromebook Won’t Boot#

A New Lease On Life#

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