Everything used to work flawlessly on your Chromebook. The speed is fast. Your media plays perfectly. Now, you're experiencing lag, and you don't know what's wrong.
If you need to fix a specific issue without completely erasing your Chromebook, we provide separate guides on how to fix the most common problems. However, if resetting seems to be your only solution, we show you how to run your Chromebook like new.
Notes before entering
Chromebooks provide three ways to reset settings if a simple reboot doesn't work. The following is a brief explanation of each method:
- Hard reset: This simply resets hardware settings, such as keyboard and camera.
- Powerwash : This will reset the Chromebook to its factory settings, returning it to a ready-to-use state. After that, you have to link it to your account, re-download the app, and so on.
- Recovery: This reinstalls Chrome OS from an external source, such as a flash drive. Recovery is required when Chrome OS is corrupt/damaged and cannot be repaired.
- Now that you are familiar with this method, start your troubleshooting by doing a hard reset.
Hard reset Chromebook
It may not work, but it's worth a try before returning your Chromebook to its default settings.
Step 1: Turn off the Chromebook by holding down the Power button.
Step 2: Press and hold the Refresh button then tap the Power button.
Step 3: Once the Chromebook has started, release the Refresh button.
If your problem persists, continue to the next section.
Chromebook Powerwash
Powerwash is your next choice. This built-in tool completely resets all settings to return Chrome OS back to its ready-to-use state. That means it does the following:
- Removed all customizations — wallpaper, display resolution, homepage, themes, and extensions.
- Delete all user accounts and local files stored on the machine.
- Ignores all files stored on the inserted SD card.
This is a good choice if you want to get rid of clutter or fix annoying problems. However, your Chromebook will need to install all software updates once it reconnects to the internet. This method doesn't reinstall Chrome OS — you'll need a full recovery to repair or replace the operating system.
Here's how you can do this from within Chrome OS. You can also start the Powerwash sequence by pressing Ctrl + Alt + Shift + R keys at the login screen.
- Step 1: Click System Clock on the Rack and then the gear icon on the pop-up menu. This will open the Settings panel.
- Step 2: Click on Advanced listed on the left to expand the settings menu, followed by Reset Settings shown at the bottom.
- Step 3: Click the Reset button shown next to Powerwash.
- Step 4: Click the blue Restart button on the pop-up prompt to continue.
- Step 5: After your Chromebook reboots, Google presents the message shown in the screenshot below. To continue, click the blue Powerwash button.
- Step 6: Another last chance pop-up window appears. Click Continue.
Your Chromebook will reboot again. When turned back on, it will take a while to restore the default settings. You should then set it up again as if you had just bought a new Chromebook.
Recover Chromebook
If you can't reach the login screen or you see an error that Chrome OS is missing or corrupted, you'll need to do a full restore. This process completely wipes the device's internal storage making it completely unusable until recovery reinstalls Chrome OS. Google recommends that you take a few precautions first.
To restore your Chromebook, you'll need a second computer with Chrome installed and an external storage device such as a USB flash drive or SD card with 4GB or more of space. You'll also need to plug in the Chromebook's power cable.
- Step 1: Press Esc + Refresh key (circular arrow or F3) simultaneously. While still holding those buttons, press and release the Power button. Keep holding down the Esc + Refresh keys until you see a screen that says, “Chrome OS is missing or corrupted,” or “Please insert a recovery stick or USB card.”
- Step 2: On another computer, insert your USB drive or SD card, open Chrome, and install Google's Chromebook recovery utility.
- Step 3: Launch the utility and click the blue Start button.
- Step 4: Enter your Chromebook model, which should appear on the error screen — this is the text at the bottom. Make sure to copy the text exactly. Alternatively, you can click the Select a Model From a List option to select a manufacturer and product. Click the blue Continue button when you're ready.
- Step 5: On the following screen, select the USB drive or SD card you inserted earlier—make sure it's the correct one so you don't accidentally delete another drive connected to your computer. Click the blue Continue button.
- Step 6: Finally, click on the blue Create Now button to confirm the destination of the recovery image. Wait for the writing process to complete, and if the OS asks you to confirm the installation of any software, do so.
- Step 7: When the process is complete, click Finish and then remove the USB drive or SD card from your other computer.
- Step 8: Insert the recovery drive into your Chromebook. Your Chromebook will now restart and begin the recovery process.
- Step 9: Remove the USB drive or SD card from your Chromebook when the following message appears: “System restore completed.”
- Step 10: Your Chromebook will restart automatically. Sign in to your Google account to complete the setup. You need a secure Wi-Fi connection to get this done.
