Thursday, March 28, 2024

The best Chromebook and Chrome OS tips and tricks

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Chromebooks and other Chrome OS devices are great for cheap, easy-to-use access to the web. But as a stand-alone platform, Google’s Chrome OS hasn’t been around for all that long. If you’re a new user or looking for a new Chromebook, there are plenty of nooks and crannies of the operating system that it’s smart to familiarize yourself with for a better experience. Here are a few tips that will get you to “power user” status in no time.

A built-in shortcut map

We could fill up an entire post with Chrome OS’s many keyboard shortcuts, but why bother? You can see all of them for yourself at any time almost instantly. Press Ctrl + Alt + ? on your keyboard to see a pop-up map with all of the keyboard shortcuts available. You can open this tool at any time, on any screen in Chrome OS.

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To see modifier keys, just hold them down: hold down Ctrl to see all the Ctrl + [key] functions, hold down Ctrl and Shift for all the Ctrl + Shift + [key] shortcuts, et cetera. Remember that since all the apps and extensions in Chrome OS are running as a function of the Chrome browser, shortcut keys won’t change from app to app like they do on Windows or OS X. To close the shortcut map, just press Escape.

Access overview mode

Want to see exactly what windows/desktops you have open after a busy Chromebook session? Chromebook has an overview mode with a UI that’s improved greatly in past updates. Simply swipe three fingers down on your touchscreen or tracking pad to activate this mode and get a good look at all your open windows at once.

Make your own web apps

A lot of popular websites and web services (including practically everything from Google) are available as Chrome apps, which are usually just separate Chrome windows without the tab or navigation bar. If one of your favorite sites doesn’t have one of these apps, you can roll your own with a built-in tool.

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In a standard Chrome window, navigate to a page you want to use as an app. Click the menu button (the one with three horizontal bars to the right of the URL bar), then click “More tools,” then “Add to shelf.” This will put a shortcut in the taskbar and the app tray with the page’s favicon, or just a letter if the page doesn’t have one. Right-click or Alt-click the new shortcut, then click “Open as window.”

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Now whenever you click that shortcut in the task bar or search menu, it will open in its own minimal window with no tabs or URL bar. It’s a great way to separate tools or sites that you use often from primary Chrome windows. You can still get to the site by typing the URL bar in a normal tab. If you want to remove the shortcut, just right-click it in the apps tray or search bar and click “remove from Chrome.”

Pop up new desktops

Chromebooks now have the native ability to create simple new virtual desktops without too much strain. This allows you to assign different groups of windows to different desktops, arranging more complicated projects effortlessly without getting them too confused or overloading any single desktop. First, access desktop tools by using three fingers to swipe up on your touchscreen/trackpad, then choose the New Desk option at the top. This will launch a new desktop, and you can drag a window of your choice to that desktop to get started.

You can also press Shift, Search, and “=” keys at the same time to automatically create a new desktop, which is handy once you are used to the process.

Adjust resolution and zoom

If you find text or images a little too hard to see on your Chromebook (especially on newer high-resolution screens), you’ve got a couple of options. Open Chrome’s primary menu by clicking on the clock in the lower-right corner, then click “Settings.” Click “Display settings” to start.

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On this screen you can change the resolution of your monitor. Unlike Windows or OS X laptops, Chromebooks don’t actually change the resolution being fed to the screen itself. Instead they change the virtual resolution, which keeps all portions of the interface sharp but renders them larger or smaller. If you want to make everything on your Chromebook bigger, including menu bars and app shortcuts, click the “Resolution” drop-down menu and choose a lower value. The screen will change immediately, so try a few different values to find one that’s comfortable for you.

If Chrome’s menus and other interface elements look alright but you want to change the scale of text and images on websites, go back to the main Settings menu, then click “Show advanced settings.” Scroll down until you see “Web content.” Here you can change the font size and page zoom manually — selecting font alone will change text size, but zooming in or out will make entire pages large or smaller.

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These values in the Settings menu control sizes across all web pages. You can customize the zoom on individual pages even more. Just press Ctrl and the plus or minus buttons in the main Chrome window to make text and images larger or smaller. To get back to the default zoom level, press Ctrl + 0 (zero).

Multitask like a pro

Chrome excels at single dedicated tasks, but sometimes you just want to use that windowed interface for all that it’s worth. Chrome has a little baked-in functionality that makes it easy to split the screen in two and put one tab, browser window, or app on either side. In fact it works a lot like Aero Snap in Windows 7 and later: click and drag the title bar of any app or tab to one edge of the screen, then release the mouse or trackpad button. The window will automatically fill half of the available space. Do the same with another app on the opposite side of the screen and the two of them together will take up the entire viewing area. It’s perfect for copying information or taking notes.

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Want an even easier way to achieve this? Hold down the Alt key and press the left or right bracket button, [ or ]. The active window will automatically snap to the corresponding edge. Repeat the command and it will shrink further, taking up only about one-fifth of the screen’s width. Press Alt and the opposite bracket key and you can bring the window back into the full view. Practice these commands and you’ll be able to create an optimal window layout in seconds.

Snap a screenshot

Screenshots work a little bit differently on every operating system, which can get frustrating if you are switching to a Chromebook keyboard from another version. So let’s make it easy: You can take a screenshot any time pressing down the Control key and then pressing the Task Switch key.

For more help on taking a screenshot on a Chromebook, check out our dedicated guide.

Get your Caps Lock back

By default, Chromebooks replace the Caps Lock key in the standard keyboard layout with a Search button that activates the Google Search popup. If you rely on a conventional Caps Lock key (or you just like shouting at people with all-caps text), there’s an easy way to get it back. Go back to the Chrome settings menu by clicking the clock in the lower left corner, then clicking “Settings.” Click “Keyboard settings.”

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The first option is “Search.” Click the drop-down menu and you can re-assign the button: disable it entirely, create another Escape, Ctrl, or Alt key, or set it to Caps Lock to match standard keyboards. Make your selection, then click “OK.” Congratulations! you now have your Cruise Control for Cool button once again.

Try out some Chromebook Perks

Google offers a variety of perks just for buying a Chromebook these days, and they’re a great way to try out other services or apps and see if you like them. Perks can shift over time, but currently they include a free download for Stardew Valley, the note app INKredible for free, a free year of Google One, and other various free apps and games. Take a look and try them out!

Wipe your Chromebook for sale

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Time to factory reset your Chromebook for a sale or a complete start over? Chrome makes this easy too with a setting it calls Powerwash. Go to your Chromebook settings, select Advanced Settings, and scroll all the way down until you see the Powerwash option. Select it, confirm you really do want to do a factory reset, and Chromebook will reboot absolutely everything. Please save any important hard drive data first!

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