How to update your Chromebook — a step by step guide

They don’t have the mass-market appeal of Macs or Windows machines, but Chromebooks are great alternatives. They boot up quickly, are safer, and are usually much less expensive than the competition. Chromebooks also have a leg-up on the competition in another area: updates. Not only is it easy to update your Chromebook, but updates only take a few minutes to download and install. By the time PCs and Macs finish updating, you’re up and running with your Chromebook. Not to mention direct updates from Google make it possible to get the most recent software quickly.

QUICK ANSWER

To update your Chromebook, open the Settings app, click About Chrome OS in the left pane, and click the Check for updates button in the right pane. Wait for the download to complete, and restart your Chromebook to finish the update when prompted.

How to do a Chromebook update

• Connect your Chrome OS device to the internet over Wi-Fi or ethernet.
• Click on the settings tray in the bottom-right corner of the screen.
• Enter the settings using the gear icon.
• Click on About Chrome OS at the bottom of the left column.
• Select the Check for updates option.
• If there is an update available, your Chromebook will begin downloading and installing it.
• Once the update finishes, click Restart.

Of course, this procedure is only needed if you want to accelerate the process and manually push an update. While the ability to do this is nice, it’s not always necessary. Chromebooks will get updated automatically. When this happens, you’ll see an Update Available notification. You can then click on Restart to update to finish the process.

Next: The best Chromebooks available today

FAQs

Can you update an old Chromebook?

If you see a message that says your Chromebook is too old to get updates, there is no way to force an update.

Is my Chromebook too old to update?

Chromebooks tend to get updates for longer than most computers, up to around five years. If your Chromebook is too old to update, you will see a message that says so.

How do I force my Chromebook to update?

Chromebooks usually auto-update and prompt for a restart when done. The method we have described above is the way to force an update if you haven’t received an update automatically.

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