How to Restart a Chromebook

Every device needs to be restarted from time to time. It’s usually a pretty simple process that can solve little issues you’ve been having. How does it work for Chromebooks? Let’s take a look.

Strangely, there is no way to “restart” a Chromebook in the traditional sense. Restarting usually means the device will power off and back on by itself, but Chrome OS doesn’t do that. This is likely due to how quickly Chromebooks can shut down and boot up. There are two ways to do it.

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First, we’ll use the software controls. Click or tap the clock in the taskbar to open the Quick Settings panel.

Next, tap or click the power icon in the Quick Settings menu. This will immediately shut down your Chromebook.

Now you simply need to press the power button on your Chromebook to boot it back up. It may be a button on the side of the device or a key on the keyboard.

The second method uses that same power button to power off your Chromebook. You can either hold it down and wait for the device to shut down, or press it and then select “Shut Down” from the pop-up menu.

Now you can power it back on with the power button on the side of your Chromebook or on the keyboard.

That’s all there is to it! The vast majority of operating systems have an option to “Restart” the device, which makes it a little strange that Chrome OS doesn’t have that. Regardless, Chromebooks shut down and boot up so quickly that it doesn’t matter much.

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