You can then follow the on-screen steps to sign in with a Google Account.

In the box that appears, select Powerwash > Continue.

How to factory reset a Chromebookįirst, turn on your Chromebook and sign out of it. (Pocket-lint has a separate guide on how Google Drive works - if you'd like to know more about Google's cloud storage service.)Īnyway, factory resetting a Chrome OS machine can be done in a few quick steps and takes no time at all. Be sure to back up your files to the cloud, like Google Drive, or to an external drive if you prefer that method for storing your old photos, documents, or whatnot. So, if you're going to do factory reset on your Chromebook, here is your warning that all your data on the laptop itself will be forever lost.

Whatever the situation may be, just know that a factory reset erases all the information stored locally on your Chromebook's hard drive, including all the files in the Downloads folder. You may want to do a factory reset in that case. Or perhaps you want to give your old Chromebook to someone but need to wipe it first. Press a couple buttons to do what the phone thinks is a legitimate/authorized reset, and the phone reboots without tripping Factory Reset Protection.(Pocket-lint) - Do you want to make your Chromebook run like it's new again? There is an easy way to do that - by doing a factory reset. But since Samsung’s phones automatically pull up a file manager when you plug in an external storage device (even in the set up process, as you can see below), all you have to do is load an app file that lets you open up the stock Settings app. Obviously a thief wouldn’t be able to get around a password-secured phone, so a factory reset would require going to Android’s recovery menu after a reboot (as opposed to going into the Settings app and doing a factory reset fro there). Well, it appears that a flaw in Samsung’s phones lets potential thieves around this security measure, and it looks like the workaround (via RootJunky) takes just about five minutes to pull off… If someone steals your phone and wipes it, they need your Google account for it to be anything but a brick. The gist is that when you use Android recovery menu to reset a phone to factory settings, the phone will require upon reboot that you sign in using a Google account you previously used on the device before resetting it.

Factory Reset Protection was introduced with Android Lollipop, and, like Apple’s iCloud Activation Lock, it’s supposed to make it really hard to resell a stolen Android phone.

Factory reset google chrome laptop