Chrome Os

The 20-infinitesimal Chromebook tune-upwardly

Make your Chromebook faster, smarter, and more pleasant to apply with these piece of cake-to-follow almanac steps.

As far as computers get, Chromebooks are almost shockingly low-maintenance. Google's Chrome Os operating system updates itself silently and automatically — as do most of the cadre apps associated with the platform — and information technology doesn't become gunked up and slowed down over time, as traditional operating systems tend to do. There's no antivirus software to fret over, either, and little in the fashion of complicated settings or compatibility concerns. By and large, things "just work" — like, for real.

Merely hey, you're a proactive person. You like knowing your tech is e'er in tip-top shape. Plus, you have impeccable tastes in tech-related reading material (clearly). Then permit me share a footling secret with you: Despite Chrome OS'south minimal-upkeep nature, in that location are some things you tin can do to clean up your Chromebook, articulate out its ataxia, and go along it primed for optimal productivity (and/or procrastination — every bit important, as far as I'yard concerned). And they don't take long at all to ability through.

Have a few minutes now to go through these steps, then rest like shooting fish in a barrel all year knowing your Chromebook is running at its all-time and ready to handle any tasks (and maybe even soft objects) you throw its way.

Step ane: Uninstall unnecessary Chrome apps and extensions

Time required: three minutes

If there'southward one factor that tin irksome a Chromebook downwards — non to mention open the door to unnecessary data sharing — it's having the system overloaded with apps and extensions yous don't actually need. Such programs accept the potential to run in the background, where they sometimes eat upward system resource faster than I eat upwards potatoes, and also to bog downward the actual loading of spider web pages (especially when it comes to extensions associated with the browser itself).

Beyond that, unneeded apps waste matter precious space in your device's local storage and clutter things up visually, making information technology tougher to find the stuff you lot actually apply on a regular basis. That'southward why assessing your app and extension state of affairs in one case a yr can go a long way in keeping your Chromebook cleaned up and capable of giving you the best possible feel, without any asterisks attached.

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Start by opening a new browser tab and typing chrome:extensions into the accost bar. Look at every particular on that folio and think advisedly about whether you really, truly still need information technology and how much value it adds to your life. For any items that no longer seem relevant, click the "Remove" button and ship 'em a-packin'.

If you aren't 100% sure whether something is worth keeping or not, try this: Uncheck the blueish toggle in the bottom-correct corner of its card. That'll deactivate information technology but leave it present, almost like a shell, with all of your preferences and history still intact. That style, you can go a day or two without it and see if you miss information technology or fifty-fifty notice its absence. If yous don't, go back and remove it entirely. If you do, go back and reactivate its toggle — no harm done.

Step 2: Bank check upward on your extension permissions

Time required: 5 minutes

At some point in the non-and then-distant past, Chrome gained a small-scale just incredibly consequential advanced option for decision-making your extensions: Instead of allowing an extension to run across what you're doing around the web just on a yes-or-no, all-or-null basis, yous can at present get more granular and specify exactly how and when an extension is (and isn't) authorized to access your browsing data.

If that sounds familiar, it should: Android saw a similar shift in its approach to apps and privacy just last year, with 2019's Android 10 release.

On the Chrome Os front end, your options now include allowing an extension to access your browsing data all the time, without any restrictions; allowing it to see what y'all're doing but on certain whitelisted sites; or assuasive information technology to see and alter what's in your browser merely after yous've actively clicked its icon to activate it. You can also, of course, opt tonever permit an extension to see what you're doing on the web — but with some extensions, a genuine need for that type of access exists.

Regardless of the specifics, you should exist the one to decide how much admission any given extension is immune — only it's up to you to go in and merits that level of command. To exercise so, once again typechrome:extensions into your browser's address bar. And so, one by i, click the Details box for every extension listed on the folio and expect for a line labeled "Site access" to see exactly what level of access the extension currently has.

If you lot run into whatsoever extension that enjoys a college level of access than y'all think seems necessary, change its setting accordingly, ideally whilst cackling for effect. Simply keep in mind that some extensions may non be able to perform their intended functions without a certain amount of admission, so if you run into a situation where an extension stops working (or keeps re-requesting a college level of permission) after you've knocked it down a notch, you'll have to make up one's mind if information technology's worth keeping information technology effectually or if you'd be more than comfortable bidding it adieu.

Step iii: Uninstall or update Android and Linux apps

Time required: 3 minutes

Chrome OS isn't simply about spider web apps anymore; these days, Chromebooks are capable of running both Android apps and Linux apps as well as the regular ol' spider web-centric items. If you've taken reward of either of those possibilities, practise the same affair we did in our first step and pore over your collection to see apps which you notwithstanding utilize and which oughta exist removed or, a new twist in this step, updated.

Start past looking in your Chromebook'south launcher — the "All Apps"-style drawer that comes up when you lot swipe up twice from the bottom of your screen or click the circle icon in the lower-left corner and then click the pointer in the fractional drawer that appears. For whatsoever apps y'all're no longer using, right-click or long-printing 'em and select "Uninstall" from the menu that appears. Dirge a little incantation for adept measure and then motion on with your newly lightened (and maybe also enlightened) life.

Got all that? Practiced. Now, for any Android or Linux apps yous do desire to keep, make sure they're up to date — because unlike regular web-axial apps, these programs don't always do that automatically. The Android one-half is easy: Just open the Play Shop, the same style yous would on your phone, and look for the "My apps & games" option in its main bill of fare. And then follow the prompts on the screen that comes upward to download and employ any awaiting updates.

Linux apps, equally usual, are a little less user-friendly: Y'all'll accept to go into your Chromebook'south Terminal app and type sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade into the prompt (totally intuitive, right?!). That'll seek out and utilize whatsoever available updates for any Linux programs you have in identify.

Step 4: Optimize your time-saving shortcuts

Time required: 4 minutes

Chrome OS is full of hidden shortcuts and time-saving possibilities — including some super-useful things that require just a few minutes of your time to fix once or revisit and so they'll piece of work to your greatest advantage.

Start upward is the system tray — that dock-like bar of shortcuts at the bottom of your screen. Take a moment to make sure the apps or processes you open up well-nigh often are in that area; if they aren't, drag 'em out of the launcher and put 'em in identify. And remember: The tray doesn't have to be limited just to formal apps. You lot can too add in shortcuts to a commonly accessed website (be information technology something like Gmail or Google Drive or fifty-fifty your company's internal content direction organization) by opening the site in a regular browser tab, clicking the 3-dot card icon in the upper-correct corner, and selecting "More tools" followed by "Create shortcut."

At present, the part most relevant to our purposes: Keep in heed that you tin open each item in that list from anywhere in your organisation by pressing Alt and then the number key respective with its position. Pretty handy, eh?

Next, save yourself even more than valuable seconds by setting upwards on-need shortcuts for your favorite spider web-based search functions. Y'all can practice that for most any site with a search option, whether it'south Google Images, Twitter, or Thesaurus.com.

Here's the trick: Go to the website in question and perform a search — then copy the URL that ends up in your accost bar with the results. With Thesaurus.com, for instance, if you search the site for "fish," you'll be taken to https://www.thesaurus.com/scan/fish.

Now blazon chrome:settings/searchEngines into your address bar to pull up Chrome'due south custom search engine settings. Click the "Add together" push button, blazon in the search engine proper noun (like "Thesaurus"), assign information technology to whatsoever keyword you want (similar "th"), and then paste that URL from a moment ago into the URL field — simply take out the bodily search term and replace it with %southward. So in our Thesaurus.com instance, you'd end up with https://www.thesaurus.com/browse/%s.

Chromebook Tune-up: Custom Search Engine JR

Once that's done, you can but blazon your keyword into Chrome's address bar, hitting Tab, and so type in whatever term you desire to search for — and as soon equally yous hit Enter, you'll be taken directly to the associated site'southward results page for that term. I utilise this constantly, for all sorts of purposes (such as searching for synonyms of "fish").

(Bonus tip: You can also set up a custom search engine without the search parameter in place to create a shortcut for any site or internal Chrome part. On every Chrome-including system I use, for example, I tin can type cs into the address bar to pull upward Chrome's settings in a jiff. I tin type c to pull up Computerworld.com or a to pull upwardly AndroidIntel.cyberspace. You get the thought.)

Finally, if you take certain words or phrases you lot find yourself typing over and over — addresses, phone numbers, recipes for baba ganoush, and so on — consider setting up a Chrome-Bone-friendly text replacement tool. That volition let you create custom keyboard shortcuts for all your favorite phrases and can save your stunning fingies from then much needless pecking. In that location's one app in particular that really does the job well.

Step 5: Set yourself upwardly for speedy universal phonation input

Time required: 1 minute

It's easy to get spoiled with the effectiveness of voice input on your phone — so why not bring that same speaking power to your Chromebook? Yes, indeedly: Chrome OS has a fiddling-known option for system-broad dictation, and it works whether you're using your device as a laptop or in a tablet-like state.

All you've gotta practice is enable information technology: Open upwardly your Chromebook's settings (by clicking the clock in the lower-right corner of the screen and and then clicking the gear icon in the console that pops up). Whorl all the way downwards to the lesser of the settings screen and tap "Advanced." See the "Accessibility" header? Click the "Manage accessibility features" option beneath that, then activate the toggle next to "Enable dictation (speak to type)."

And that's information technology: You'll at present see a pocket-sized microphone icon in the lower-right corner of your screen, adjacent to the notification panel. Tap it anywhere, anytime, and and then but start a-yammerin' abroad. Your words will show upwards on your screen — in whatever field you have focused, no matter what app or procedure you're using.

Step 6: Clean upwardly and connect your deject storage

Time required: iii minutes

Chromebooks don't tend to take a ton of local space, so take a minute to open up your device'southward Files app and clear out any clutter you no longer demand.

All set? Spectacular. This next part'southward equally easy: We're gonna connect your Chromebook's Downloads binder to the cloud and so that anything yous download will automatically sync with your Google Drive storage and thus be available wherever you might need it — on your Android phone, on a traditional desktop reckoner, or even on another Chrome Bone device. (Chrome OS is all about this kind of automated syncing and device-agnostic access in full general, but this is one area where information technology oddly doesn't exercise that past default.)

So here'southward the plan: Type chrome:settings into your browser's toolbar, select "Advanced," and so find the line labeled "Location" under the "Downloads" header. Click "Change" and select a folder (or make a new binder specifically for downloads) inside your Google Bulldoze storage.

Piece of cake, correct? There'south zero more than to it: Annihilation you download on your Chromebook will exist saved to Drive and bachelor anywhere else you sign in from this moment forward.

(Bonus tip: Yous tin can take this same concept a step further by setting up your Android phone and whatever other computers you use — Windows, Mac, any — to also sync their downloads with that same Drive binder. That'll create a single internet-based downloads folder that keeps everything you lot download in one universally accessible place, no matter what device yous're using. Go ahead and accept a moment to curiosity over what a wondrous notion that is, then make your merry fashion over to this guide of mine to get started.)

Step 7: Set up your eyes upward for success

Fourth dimension required: 1 infinitesimal

Final only not to the lowest degree, a quick bit of tune-up that'll take some of the strain off your peepers so you lot can better focus — on Very Important work documents, Very Important Winger videos, or whatever other Very Important content you might exist viewing. A relatively recent update to Chrome Bone added an incredibly benign Android-born visibility characteristic, y'see, and it's well worth your while to enable.

It's called Night Calorie-free, and information technology adjusts the temperature of your device's display to make it less bright-white and glary in the evening hours (or any other fourth dimension y'all find yourself in dimly lit conditions). Information technology's so impossibly sensible, you lot'll wonder how you ever lived without information technology.

You lot can activate Chrome OS'south Night Light mode with a fast tap in the Quick Settings console — the Android-reminiscent interface that appears whenever you click or tap the clock in the lower-right corner of the screen — but the more than advanced option resides deep within the bowels of the Chrome OS settings. (Apologies for the choice of phrase at that place. I promise it really isn't that bad.)

Just open up those trusty ol' system-level settings in one case more, and this time navigate to "Displays" (under the "Device" header) and look for the "Night Light" section at the lesser of that screen. There, you can fix an automatic schedule for when the Night Light mode should plow itself on — based on specific times of day or even on when the sun sets and rises. Your eyes will give thanks yous.

Chromebook Tune-up: Night Light JR

And with that, my dear comrade, your Chrome OS tune-up is complete. So what now? Well, goodness gracious, you've got no shortage of enticing options. If you're notwithstanding hungering for more fresh Chromebook knowledge, cheque out my recent collection of Chrome Bone Assistant tips. Or recollect well-nigh expanding your desktop horizons and taking the relatively new Chromebook Virtual Desktops feature out for a spin. Oh, and if you haven't yet tackled your almanac Android phone tune-upward, by golly, get to it.

Otherwise, sit down dorsum, relax, and relish your newly polished and optimized Chrome OS device. And go grab yourself a pastry, too, why don't ya? You deserve it.

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[Android Intelligence videos at Computerworld]

Contributing Editor JR Raphael serves up tasty morsels near the homo side of engineering. Hungry for more? Join him on Twitter or sign upward for his weekly newsletter to go fresh tips and insight in your inbox every Fri.

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