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.

The shelf is where all the magic happens on your Chromebook. Your shelf is customized specifically to you. In order to access it, however, you must first log in to your Chromebook with your Google username and password. Signing in takes you out of Guest mode. When you’re in Guest mode, you can’t install apps or permanently customize your Chromebook, so it’s of limited use.

Most Chromebook keyboards look a little different: If you're used to working on a Windows or Apple computer, you're probably familiar with the F-keys — from F1 through F12 — that appear at the top of your computer's keyboard. On most Chromebooks, however, these F-keys aren't included. They've been replaced by shortcut keys.