The Chromebook is designed to rely heavily on the Internet for most of its functionality. Instead of a large hard drive, Chromebook relies primarily on cloud-based storage.In place of many resident applications, Chromebook uses web-based applications that you access through the Google Web Store and Google Play Store.

From time to time, Google releases software updates for the Chrome OS that runs your Chromebook. Sometimes these software updates are security related, installing these updates when they’re available is always a good idea.To check for updates, follow these steps: Go to Settings.If a software update is available for your Chromebook, you see a message like the one shown below.

Sometimes it’s nice to have a clean start. Your Chromebook makes it easy for you to wipe the slate clean and start over. On the Chromebook, this is known as powerwashing. You may find doing so useful when you have too much junk on your device.Or maybe you want to reset your Chromebook to its default settings because you’re giving your Chromebook to another person.

The world is not quite paperless; sometimes you need a hard copy. For example, you may need to print and sign a legal agreement, or you might want to print a recipe to jot notes on. Lucky for you, it’s easy to connect a printer to your Chromebook. ©Shutterstock/FabrikaSimfMany kinds of printers are available, and you have several ways to set them up.

Cybercriminals are making good money, but let’s make sure that they don’t get any of yours! Having a Chromebook is a great start because the design of Chrome OS — the heart and soul of a Chromebook — has security strongly in mind.The nature of cybercrime makes it necessary for you to be vigilant, even when using the most secure laptop available.

A Chromebook is made to be easy to use right out of the box. It’s not a self-driving car, but it’s almost as easy. Get it out, plug it in, turn it on, and follow the prompts: You’ll be up and running in minutes.Still, even though Chromebook is very usable, you may want to do some further customization. This article contains ten tips, tricks, and shortcuts to make your Chromebook experience more productive — or at least a little more fun.

To unlock all the features that your Chromebook has to offer, you must first log in with a Google username and password. You can use your existing Google Account or create a new account at this time. Log in using an existing Google Account You can log in by using your Google Account username and password: Enter your Google Account username into the Username field.

Among the icons on the left side of the Chromebook screen is one icon that looks like a grid of nine boxes. This is your App Launcher icon, comparable to the Start button on Windows. When you click the App Launcher icon, you reveal the App Launcher, a pop-up window containing a number of applications. Until you add applications yourself, the only apps that appear here are the default ones that come with your machine and any apps already associated with your Google Account.