Chromebooks are next-generation laptops that allow you to get things done faster. They are efficient, lightweight, and hence highly portable. Powered with Google’s best built-in features and multiple layers of security, the Chromebooks come with ChromeOS, which enables you to store data in Cloud.
Keep in mind that Chromebooks come with a limited onboard storage space, which is 64 GB in most cases. Most of the space is occupied by the operating system and the system files, so you won’t get ample storage space available to store data.
When working on these storage-less laptops, clearing cache on Chromebook becomes important to get optimized performance and higher productivity.
Let’s check the various ways to clear the cache on Chromebooks.
Ways to Clear Cache on ChromeOS
Clearing cache is important and easy, no matter what operating system you use. On ChromeOS, cleaning the cache and other unnecessary data items is even more important due to lower storage space. Here, we will discuss the steps to delete cache on Chromebooks.
Open Chrome browser.
Click on the three-dot icon displayed in the top-right corner of the screen. Hover the cursor over More Tools and click on Clear browsing data. Alternatively, hold down CTRL + Shift + Backspace keys altogether.
From the dropdown menu available at the top, pick the time range and untick the items that you don’t want to clear.
Lastly, click on Clear data.
Note: Toggle over the Advanced section in the Clear browsing data window, and you will get the option to clear passwords, autofill form data, sign-in data, hosted app data, and site settings.
Tips to Free Up Storage on Chromebook
If your Chromebook is running out of storage space or performing sluggishly, there are a few tips you can use to free up storage.
Tip 1. Move data to Google Drive on your Chromebook. Make sure to clean the hard drive regularly so that you never run out of storage space.
Tip 2. Uninstall apps that are no more required, as this will give you ample gigabytes of space to keep other files and folders.
Tip 3. Clear cookies and browsing data, and remove browsing history to optimize storage and speed up the Chromebook.
Tip 4. Remove additional user accounts from the ChromeBook without worrying about the bookmarks or other relevant information associated with the Google account, as it won’t get deleted from the device.
Tip 5. The OS hides system files and user data to prevent them from deleting accidentally. As you use your Chromebook, the system files and user data keep ballooning. Delete these files by following some of the tips mentioned here and keep your system running.
Why Do You Need to Clear Cache on Chromebook?
Caches are meant to streamline your internet browsing experience. Once you browse a website, the device stores a cache so that the site downloads faster the next time you visit it. Storing a lot of caches can make your Chromebook slower.
Due to the availability of fewer gigabytes on Chromebooks, storage management is not as organized, and you need to repeat the process of clearing cache on Chromebook often. As mentioned above, the onboard storage stores files, photos, videos, folders, and other data, leaving very little space for large files.
The operating system manages the internal storage; it starts deleting data automatically, particularly from the Downloads folder, on reaching the 80% storage mark. You need to be extra careful when saving data on the Chromebook drive.
So, if you select to save your important data on physical storage on Chromebook, make sure to move items to Cloud storage. Else the operating system will delete the files automatically, and you may lose access to data.
What Happens When You Run Out of Space?
When you’re about to reach the stipulated storage limit on your Chromebook, you will notice an error message that says, “Device is low on space: Free up space or select data may be automatically deleted.” If you keep ignoring the message, you will begin to experience issues while performing the following activities on your Chromebook.
- Loading webpages
- Downloading files
- Installing apps
- Configuring settings
- Using Android apps
- Adding new users
Powerwash Clears Storage: Important to Know
If you’re new to ChromeBook, Powerwash must be a new term for you. Powerwash is a process or term that you use when you hard reset or factory reset the Chromebook. It’s worth knowing that ChromeOS doesn’t allow you to reset the device without wiping data, unlike Windows and macOS, where you can keep the data when resetting the computer.
So, once you Powerwash a ChromeBook, all the data stored on the disk will be deleted forever. That’s also another reason why you must move your data to an external SSD or a Cloud drive to have a backup of important files you may need in the future. If you select Cloud storage solutions, Google Drive, One Drive, and Dropbox are ideal options.
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