Chromebook 101: how you can customise your Chromebook’s desktop

Chrome OS isn’t essentially the most option-packed working system round, however there are some issues you are able to do to make your Chromebook’s desktop look and work the best way you need.

Prepared?

Customise your Chromebook’s wallpaper

First, let’s deal with your desktop’s primary look:

• Proper-click wherever in your Chromebook’s desktop and choose Set wallpaper from the menu that seems.
• Click on on considered one of Google’s classes to see a number of preset photos, or click on the My Photos choice to decide on a picture from your individual native storage.
• If you’d like your wallpaper to vary to a brand new picture each day, click on the Change Each day button that’s out there on the prime of any of Google’s class pages. (That choice, sadly, isn’t presently out there with your individual photos.)

Customise your browser’s background

It’s also possible to personalize the web page that comes up each time you open a brand new tab in your browser:

• Open a brand new tab in Chrome and click on the Customise Chrome button (or the pencil icon) within the browser’s decrease proper nook.

• Choose Background to decide on a picture from Google’s assortment or Add from machine to select a picture from your individual native storage, then comply with the prompts to seek out and ensure the picture you need.
• Choose Colour and theme to vary the look of the border of your browser and its background. You possibly can select from plenty of preset themes, or click on on the circle with the dropper icon, and you may select customized colours.

Customise your Chromebook’s shelf

Final however not least, take management of the Chrome OS shelf — the dock-like row of shortcuts on the backside of your display screen. Begin by deciding on precisely what icons seem in that space:

• Open your app drawer (by clicking the circle icon within the lower-left nook of the display screen after which clicking the upward-facing arrow on the partial drawer that seems). Proper-click any merchandise within the record and choose Pin to shelf.

• If you wish to add a web site, open the positioning, click on the three-dot menu icon in Chrome’s higher proper nook, after which choose Extra instruments, adopted by Create shortcut.

If you’d like the positioning to open in an app-like window, with out the same old browser components on prime, click on the Open as window choice within the Create shortcut? pop-up window that seems. Then click on the blue Create button.

• Drag and drop any of the icons within the shelf to vary their place.
• Have you ever determined that you just don’t need the icon in your shelf in any case? Proper-click on the icon and choose Unpin.

And one closing pair of potentialities: If you’d like your shelf to look on the left or proper aspect of your display screen as an alternative of on the backside, right-click wherever inside it, choose Shelf place, then choose Left or Proper. And if you need your shelf to stay hidden by default and seem solely whenever you mouse over it, right-click the shelf and choose the Autohide shelf choice.

Replace Could twenty seventh, 2022, 9:30AM ET: This text was initially revealed on October twelfth, 2019, and has been up to date to account for slight adjustments within the OS.