Chromebooks are getting more and more popular as time goes by and it seems that Google finally started paying some attention to the platform. It’s really quite simple to adapt to ChromeOS, especially if you come from Windows and Android. However, there are some things that might confuse novel users, and one of them concerns backups. Today, we’ll try to explain how to back up your Chromebook and do you need to, in the first place.
Do you need to back up your Chromebook?
Yes and no. The majority of things back up automatically except App Data and files stored in the Download folder, which are saved locally on the internal storage.
That’s where you need to take things into your own hands. Of course, you’ll need to back up Linux and Linux apps manually, too.
By default, ChromeOS will back up automatically all system settings, apps, bookmarks, history, theme, wallpaper, etc. These backups are saved to Google Drive associated with your Google Account. The one you used to sign-in on your Chromebook.
You can download the Google One app to get a better hold of backups, and there’s no need to be a Google One subscriber to use it.
If you decide to Powerwash (factory reset) your Chromebook, all synced data will automatically restore. As soon as you sign in, of course.
You can check what exact categories sync to Google Drive from your Chromebook by following these steps:
- Open Settings.
- Select Account from the left pane.
- Choose Sync and Google services.
- Open Manage what you sync.
- Here, you can choose to Sync everything or Customize sync which allows you to select between categories.
On the other hand, to back up files from the internal storage, you’ll need to open Files and copy-paste them to Google Drive. Here’s how to back up Chromebook files to Google Drive in the simplest way possible:
- Open Files.
- Open Downloads or other folders. You can select multiple files by holding CTRL while clicking on them. The CTRL + A will select all files.
- After that, hold CTRL and press C to copy files.
- Open Google Drive from the left pane and navigate to a folder where you want to save your Chromebook files.
- Press CTRL + V to paste files.
You can back up photos and videos to Google Photos just like on Android or iOS. Just install the app and select the folders you want to back up.
That should do it. Since ChromeOS is mainly a network-dependent platform, to begin with, you can easily access your files in Google Drive, save them locally if needed, or share them.
With that said, we can conclude this article. Thank you for reading and make sure to share your thoughts and questions in the comments section below. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.
