How To Powerwash (Factory Reset) a Chromebook

Chromebooks are cheap, convenient, and free from the trappings of many other laptops. Chrome OS is loved by authors and developers alike for its long battery life and compatibility with Android and Linux apps.

Unlike most other laptops, you don't have to completely reinstall the operating system to perform a factory reset (sometime called a powerwash). If you're buying a second-hand Chromebook or something goes wrong with yours, you can quickly and easily clean a Chromebook with a Powerwash.

Powerwashing a Chromebook: Things to Check First

If you get a second-hand Chromebook, it's always a good idea to perform a full reset to make sure nothing is left of the previous owner. If you already own the Chromebook and are trying to troubleshoot crashes or strange behavior with it, there are a few steps you can take before powerwashing a Chromebook:

Perform a hardware reset:

  • Turn off the Chromebook
  • Shut Update (🔃) and turn it on
  • Release the refresh button

Disable Chrome Extensions:

  • Open minded chrome
  • press the three points at the top right of the screen
  • Under More tools click extensions
  • Turn off all your extensions
  • If that fixes the problem, turn the extensions back on one at a time until you find the extension that was causing errors

Confirm you are in "stable mode":

  • Open minded ideas > About ChromeOS
  • Open minded Additional details
  • click change channel
  • Make sure you use those Stable channel
  • Restart your device

These three methods, individually or in combination, solve most Chrome OS issues.

When should a Chromebook be cleaned with Powerwash?

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

Persistent issues that don't go away after the restart and can't be resolved by the steps above are another good sign that it's time to powerwash your Chromebook and do a factory reset.

How to wash your Chromebook with a Powerwash

Before taking the next steps, make sure you back up all data via Google Drive or an external hard drive. A factory reset will completely erase the hard drive.

Follow these steps to powerwash your Chromebook:

  • Sign out of your Chromebook user account
  • press and hold Ctrl + Alt + Shift + R
  • click reboot
  • If prompted, select Powerwash > Next
  • Follow the onscreen steps to create a new user account

After a factory reset, you'll need to set up your Chromebook again because you'll lose your user settings along with your data. If you are a Google Chrome Sync user, you will find that your browser is already customized. All hardware settings like local language or keyboard layouts need to be changed in Chrome OS Ideas.

What to do if a Chromebook won't boot?

Sometimes a Chromebook can become so corrupt that it won't boot at all. When you turn on your device, a warning message will appear "Chrome OS is missing or corrupted." You must restore the operating system.

Before you begin, you'll need a USB drive with at least 8GB capacity that you're happy to erase. If your Chromebook has an SD or microSD slot, you can use that instead. You will also need another computer running the Chrome browser and with the Chromebook recovery program installed from the Chrome Web Store.

From the working computer, do the following:

  • open that Chromebook Recovery Utility
  • click Getting started
  • Select a model from the list or enter your Chromebook model number (you can find this on the "Chrome OS is missing or corrupted" error screen)
  • click Continue
  • Enter your USB drive, microSD or SD card and select it from the drop-down menu
  • click Next > Create now
  • When the recovery media is ready, remove it from the Chromebook

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

  • Remove any attached peripherals such as USB hard drives, keyboards, or mice
  • press and hold Esc + Refresh (🔃) and press the power button
  • If prompted, enter the recovery USB stick or SD/microSD card
  • Follow the onscreen instructions to restore your Chromebook's operating system

A new way of life

When you powerwash a Chromebook, it's a great feeling. Chrome OS devices are designed for frequent resets. Chromebook power users are taking full advantage of the “online only” mentality, which means their data is protected no matter what happens to their local device.

Knowing how to salvage a corrupted 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.

By: How To Powerwash (Factory Reset) a Chromebook

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