What to do if your Chromebook is running slow

You're trying to send one quick email before lunch, but your Chromebook™ is taking forever to start up. You could cook an entire pot of pasta before the email even loads.

Before you give up and plop your laptop in the pasta water, take a deep breath. There are simple fixes to get your Chromebook working like new. We'll walk you through them.

At Asurion, we protect and fix all of your favorite tech, whether you need to repair your phone's headphone jack or your laptop mouse. Here's our guide on how to fix a slow Chromebook.

How to speed up your Chromebook

Chromebooks have a reputation for being low-maintenance, but even the most dependable devices need an occasional boost. Here's what to do if your Chromebook is slow:

Restart your Chromebook

To speed up your Chromebook, first try turning your device off and back on again. This quick reset will clear temporary files and shut down programs that are causing the problem.

Update your software

Outdated software can cause your Chromebook to lag, so make sure the operating system, ChromeOS®, is updated to the latest version. Here's how:

1. Open Settings.
2. Go to About ChromeOS > Check for updates.
3. If an update is available, your Chromebook will download and apply it automatically.
4. If your Chromebook ran an update, restart it.

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Check the Task Manager

If you still need to find out why your Chromebook is running slow, check the Task Manager on your device to find out which apps or extensions are using the most power.

1. Press Search + Esc on your keyboard to open the Task Manager.
2. Click Memory Footprint to see which apps are using the most RAM.
3. Click CPU to see if an app is using too much power.
4. Click Network to find apps running in the background.

If an app or extension is using too much juice, you may want to uninstall it.

Uninstall unnecessary apps and extensions

Running apps and extensions you don't need may slow down your Chromebook by taking up too much storage space and causing webpages to load sluggishly. Try this to uninstall unnecessary apps and extensions:

1. Open a new browser tab and type “chrome:extensions" into the address bar.
2. Review every app or extension listed. If you don't need it, click Remove.

Can't commit to deleting an app? Clear the blue box at the bottom right corner of the app's listing. It'll stop running but stay on your computer. If you decide to keep it, you can select the box again. If you want to get rid of it after all, follow the previous steps to delete it.

Get rid of old files

The hard drive on your Chromebook has limited storage space. It may speed up your computer if you delete files you don't need.

1. Click Launcher > Open Files.
2. Select the file or folder you want to delete.
3. Click Trash.
4. Files are permanently deleted from Trash after 30 days, or you can confirm that you want to permanently delete the files and they will be removed immediately.

Move files to another storage device or to the cloud

If you want to remove a file from your computer to make more space but don't want to delete it, you can transfer it to an external storage device. You can also move it onto a cloud file system, like Google Drive™. Here's how to do the latter:

1. Go to drive.google.com, and sign in to your account. If you don't have one, click Create account.
2. To add a file, click +New in the top-left corner > File Upload.
3. Select the files you'd like to upload, then click Open. To upload multiple files, highlight them in the window.

Remove Linux from your Chromebook

If you need a few gigabytes of space to help speed things up, try removing the Linux® operating system from your Chromebook. It's a good alternative to ChromeOS if you want to develop your own apps or run desktop programs, like the image editing software GIMP. If you don't use those programs or Linux itself, you probably don't need it. Here's how to remove it from your Chromebook:

1. From your App Drawer or by clicking the time in the bottom-right corner, open Settings > Advanced > Developers.
2. Click Linux development environment. Look for Remove Linux development environment, and click Remove.

Factory reset your Chromebook

Still having trouble? As a last resort, you can try to factory reset your Chromebook. This will wipe your computer and return it to its original settings. You'll lose any data you've added, so make sure to back up your files to your Google Drive before getting started.

Here's how to complete a factory reset:

1. Go to Settings.
2. In the left sidebar, click Advanced > Reset settings > Reset.