How to restart a chromebook

After the pandemic, school-issued Chromebooks have been a natural part of the education experience. Maintaining these laptops is important, and here is a step by step guide on how to restart a Chromebook.

Ways to Restart

There are 3 ways you can restart a Chromebook: The simple restart, the update restart, and the hard restart. The simple restart can help with minor problems Chromebooks may encounter, such as failing to connect to a Wi-Fi. If a Chromebook has an update, you can catch the laptop up to date by using the update restart. A hard restart may be needed if you encounter some more serious problems with your Chromebook.

The Simple Restart

The simple restart can be achieved in 3 simple steps.

  1. Find the power button on your computer, most likely on the side of the Chromebook.
  2. Press down the power button until the screen goes dark.
  3. Wait a couple of seconds before pressing the power button again to turn your Chromebook back on.

Restart to Update

You might need to check every now and then for an update. Here’s how you can check for changes and restart to update your Chromebook.

  1. Find the notification panel on the bottom right corner of your screen.
  2. Click on the panel and check if there is an update ready to be authorized. If there is, there will be a button that says Restart to Update.
  3. Click on this button and wait for the Chromebook to turn off and back on.

The Hard Restart

Always be cautious when hard restarting a Chromebook, as it may permanently delete files on your Chromebook.

  1. Press down the Power button until the screen goes dark.
  2. Find the Refresh key on the top of the keyboard. It should look like a circular arrow.
  3. Press down the power button again while simultaneously holding down the refresh key until the Chromebook starts back up.