Chrome Bone

The 20-minute Chromebook tune-upwards

Make your Chromebook faster, smarter, and more pleasant to use with these easy-to-follow annual steps.

As far as computers go, Chromebooks are virtually shockingly low-maintenance. Google'due south Chrome OS operating organization updates itself silently and automatically — as practice nearly of the core apps associated with the platform — and it doesn't get gunked up and slowed down over time, as traditional operating systems tend to do. There's no antivirus software to fret over, either, and footling in the mode of complicated settings or compatibility concerns. Generally, things "just piece of work" — like, for existent.

But hey, you're a proactive person. You like knowing your tech is always in tip-top shape. Plus, y'all have impeccable tastes in tech-related reading material (clearly). So permit me share a little secret with you lot: Despite Chrome OS'south minimal-upkeep nature, there are some things you tin can do to clean up your Chromebook, clear out its clutter, and keep it primed for optimal productivity (and/or procrastination — equally important, as far as I'm concerned). And they don't take long at all to power through.

Take a few minutes at present to go through these steps, then rest easy all year knowing your Chromebook is running at its best and ready to handle whatever tasks (and maybe even soft objects) you throw its way.

Footstep one: Uninstall unnecessary Chrome apps and extensions

Time required: 3 minutes

If in that location's i factor that can slow a Chromebook downwards — not to mention open the door to unnecessary data sharing — it's having the system overloaded with apps and extensions you lot don't actually need. Such programs accept the potential to run in the background, where they sometimes eat up system resource faster than I consume upwardly potatoes, and also to bog downwards the bodily loading of web pages (particularly when it comes to extensions associated with the browser itself).

Beyond that, unneeded apps waste product precious infinite in your device's local storage and clutter things up visually, making it tougher to find the stuff y'all actually use on a regular footing. That's why assessing your app and extension situation in one case a year tin can get a long manner in keeping your Chromebook cleaned up and capable of giving y'all the all-time possible experience, without any asterisks attached.

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Commencement past opening a new browser tab and typing chrome:extensions into the address bar. Wait at every item on that folio and think carefully near whether you actually, truly notwithstanding need it and how much value it adds to your life. For any items that no longer seem relevant, click the "Remove" push and transport 'em a-packin'.

If you aren't 100% sure whether something is worth keeping or not, endeavour this: Uncheck the blue toggle in the bottom-correct corner of its card. That'll deactivate information technology but go out it present, almost similar a trounce, with all of your preferences and history all the same intact. That way, yous tin can go a solar day or two without information technology and come across if y'all miss it or fifty-fifty notice its absence. If y'all don't, go back and remove information technology entirely. If you do, get dorsum and reactivate its toggle — no impairment done.

Step two: Check up on your extension permissions

Time required: 5 minutes

At some indicate in the not-so-distant by, Chrome gained a small simply incredibly consequential advanced option for controlling your extensions: Instead of allowing an extension to encounter what yous're doing effectually the spider web only on a yes-or-no, all-or-null basis, y'all can now become more than granular and specify exactly how and when an extension is (and isn't) authorized to access your browsing data.

If that sounds familiar, information technology should: Android saw a similar shift in its approach to apps and privacy merely final year, with 2019's Android 10 release.

On the Chrome Bone front, your options at present include allowing an extension to access your browsing information all the time, without whatever restrictions; assuasive it to run across what you're doing just on certain whitelisted sites; or allowing information technology to run across and change what'southward in your browser only after you've actively clicked its icon to activate information technology. You can too, of course, opt tonever allow an extension to see what you lot're doing on the web — merely with some extensions, a 18-carat need for that type of admission exists.

Regardless of the specifics, you should exist the i to determine how much access whatever given extension is allowed — but it's upwardly to you to go in and claim that level of control. To do so, once again typechrome:extensions into your browser's address bar. Then, one past ane, click the Details box for every extension listed on the page and look for a line labeled "Site admission" to see exactly what level of access the extension currently has.

If you come across whatsoever extension that enjoys a higher level of access than yous remember seems necessary, change its setting accordingly, ideally whilst cackling for effect. Merely proceed in mind that some extensions may non be able to perform their intended functions without a certain amount of access, then if you come across a situation where an extension stops working (or keeps re-requesting a higher level of permission) after you've knocked it downward a notch, you'll accept to make up one's mind if information technology's worth keeping it effectually or if you'd exist more comfortable bidding it goodbye.

Footstep 3: Uninstall or update Android and Linux apps

Fourth dimension required: three minutes

Chrome Bone isn't just most 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, do the aforementioned thing we did in our commencement stride and pore over your collection to encounter apps which you lot however use and which oughta be removed or, a new twist in this step, updated.

Start by looking in your Chromebook's launcher — the "All Apps"-manner drawer that comes upwards when you swipe upwardly twice from the bottom of your screen or click the circle icon in the lower-left corner and and so click the arrow in the fractional drawer that appears. For any apps you lot're no longer using, right-click or long-press 'em and select "Uninstall" from the menu that appears. Chant a little incantation for practiced measure and then move on with your newly lightened (and mayhap also enlightened) life.

Got all that? Good. Now, for any Android or Linux apps you exercise want to keep, make sure they're upward to date — considering unlike regular web-centric apps, these programs don't always do that automatically. The Android half is piece of cake: Only open up the Play Store, the aforementioned way you would on your phone, and wait for the "My apps & games" option in its chief carte. And then follow the prompts on the screen that comes upwardly to download and utilize whatever pending updates.

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

Step 4: Optimize your time-saving shortcuts

Time required: 4 minutes

Chrome Os is total of hidden shortcuts and time-saving possibilities — including some super-useful things that require merely a few minutes of your fourth dimension to set up once or revisit so they'll work to your greatest advantage.

First upwardly 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 most often are in that area; if they aren't, drag 'em out of the launcher and put 'em in place. And remember: The tray doesn't have to exist limited merely to formal apps. You can likewise add in shortcuts to a ordinarily accessed website (be it something like Gmail or Google Drive or even your company'due south internal content management organization) past opening the site in a regular browser tab, clicking the three-dot carte icon in the upper-correct corner, and selecting "More tools" followed by "Create shortcut."

Now, the role most relevant to our purposes: Keep in mind that you can open up each item in that list from anywhere in your organization past pressing Alt and then the number key corresponding with its position. Pretty handy, eh?

Next, salvage yourself fifty-fifty more valuable seconds by setting up on-demand shortcuts for your favorite web-based search functions. You can do that for nigh whatever site with a search option, whether it'due south Google Images, Twitter, or Thesaurus.com.

Hither'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 yous search the site for "fish," you'll be taken to https://world wide web.thesaurus.com/scan/fish.

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

Chromebook Tune-up: Custom Search Engine JR

Once that'south done, y'all tin just type your keyword into Chrome's address bar, striking Tab, and then type in whatever term you want to search for — and as soon as you hit Enter, you'll be taken directly to the associated site's results page for that term. I utilise this constantly, for all sorts of purposes (such every bit searching for synonyms of "fish").

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

Finally, if you lot have certain words or phrases you find yourself typing over and over — addresses, telephone numbers, recipes for baba ganoush, and so on — consider setting upward a Chrome-OS-friendly text replacement tool. That will allow you create custom keyboard shortcuts for all your favorite phrases and tin save your stunning fingies from and then much needless pecking. In that location's one app in particular that actually does the chore well.

Step 5: Set yourself up for speedy universal voice input

Fourth dimension required: ane infinitesimal

It's easy to get spoiled with the effectiveness of vocalisation input on your phone — so why not bring that aforementioned speaking ability to your Chromebook? Yes, indeedly: Chrome OS has a little-known option for organisation-broad dictation, and it works whether yous're using your device equally a laptop or in a tablet-similar state.

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

And that'southward information technology: You lot'll now run into a small microphone icon in the lower-correct corner of your screen, side by side to the notification console. Tap information technology anywhere, anytime, and and then just start a-yammerin' abroad. Your words will show up on your screen — in whatever field you have focused, no matter what app or process yous're using.

Step vi: Clean upward and connect your deject storage

Time required: 3 minutes

Chromebooks don't tend to have a ton of local space, and then take a minute to open your device's Files app and clear out any clutter yous no longer demand.

All set? Spectacular. This next part'southward equally like shooting fish in a barrel: Nosotros're gonna connect your Chromebook'due south Downloads folder to the deject so that anything you download will automatically sync with your Google Drive storage and thus exist available wherever y'all might need information technology — on your Android phone, on a traditional desktop estimator, or even on another Chrome OS device. (Chrome OS is all about this kind of automatic syncing and device-agnostic access in general, but this is i area where information technology oddly doesn't do that by default.)

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

Easy, right? There's zilch more than to it: Anything you download on your Chromebook will be saved to Drive and available anywhere else you sign in from this moment forrad.

(Bonus tip: You can take this same concept a step further by setting upwards your Android phone and any other computers y'all use — Windows, Mac, whatsoever — to besides 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 identify, no matter what device you're using. Become ahead and take a moment to marvel over what a wondrous notion that is, then make your merry way over to this guide of mine to become started.)

Stride 7: Set your optics upwards for success

Time required: one minute

Last but not to the lowest degree, a quick flake of tune-up that'll take some of the strain off your peepers so you tin can better focus — on Very Important work documents, Very Important Winger videos, or whatsoever other Very Important content you might be viewing. A relatively recent update to Chrome OS added an incredibly benign Android-built-in visibility feature, y'see, and information technology'due south well worth your while to enable.

It's called Night Light, and it adjusts the temperature of your device's brandish to make information technology less vivid-white and glary in the evening hours (or any other time you find yourself in dimly lit weather). It's so impossibly sensible, you'll wonder how y'all ever lived without it.

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

Only open up upwardly those trusty ol' arrangement-level settings one time more than, and this fourth dimension navigate to "Displays" (under the "Device" header) and look for the "Nighttime Lite" section at the lesser of that screen. In that location, you can gear up an automated schedule for when the Night Light way should plough itself on — based on specific times of solar day or fifty-fifty on when the sun sets and rises. Your eyes will thank you.

Chromebook Tune-up: Night Light JR

And with that, my dear comrade, your Chrome Os tune-upward is complete. So what now? Well, goodness gracious, you've got no shortage of enticing options. If you're still hungering for more fresh Chromebook knowledge, check out my contempo collection of Chrome Bone Assistant tips. Or remember near expanding your desktop horizons and taking the relatively new Chromebook Virtual Desktops feature out for a spin. Oh, and if yous haven't still tackled your annual Android phone melody-up, by golly, get to it.

Otherwise, sit dorsum, relax, and enjoy your newly polished and optimized Chrome Bone 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 nigh the human being side of engineering science. Hungry for more? Join him on Twitter or sign upwards for his weekly newsletter to become fresh tips and insight in your inbox every Friday.

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