Chromebooks have dependably been appreciated for being quick and easy to utilize devices yet they have also been searched for gold pressing awesome usefulness. In any case, that is going to change with the landing of Play Store and Android applications yet that likewise implies that Chrome OS devices will require significantly more stockpiling to suit the enormous Android applications and amusements. Presently, a large portion of the reasonable Chromebooks accompany 16 GB of capacity, while the top of the line ones pack in 32 or 64 GB of SSD storage. While it is sufficient for Chrome OS in its present frame, it won’t be sufficient when Android applications land for more Chromebooks.

Remembering that, we are here to tell you how you can free up capacity in Chrome OS. Before you start trying diverse approaches to clear up capacity on your Chromebook, here’s the manner by which you can check your devices free storage:

First, check your Chromebook’s free storage

It’s important to keep a tab on the capacity left in your Chromebook, so you can try the different techniques to free storage and see the changes. You can check your Chromebook’s free storage by setting off to the Files application. In the application, tap on the three-dot menu button, where you ought to see the free storage left.

Another way to check storage is by going to Chrome and entering “chrome://quota-internals” in the address bar. This should list the free disk space in your Chromebook.

After you have checked your Chromebook’s free storage, here are 8 ways to free up storage in Chrome OS you can try:

1. Move Files to Google Drive

Chrome OS depends on the rule that users will make utilization of the cloud services and web all the more, as opposed to depending on customary techniques to store files. In any case, odds are, there won’t be an approach to store Android applications in the cloud, at any rate not within a reasonable time-frame. Accordingly, to free up space, you should move your documents, media files stored locally to Google Drive. You can simply choose the files you need to move and simply drag and drop them to the Google Drive organizer or utilize the typical cut-glue technique. Google offers 100 GB of free Drive storage for Chromebook owners, so try not to come up short on space soon.

Be that as it may, if you do come up short on Google Drive space, you can simply buy another plan or include another cloud storage service. To do it, simply tap on the “Include new services” catch in the left panel of the Files application and install one of the cloud-based file systems like Dropbox, OneDrive and so forth.

2. Clean the Downloads folder

The Downloads folder on a Chromebook stores a huge amount of files that we download from Chrome for disconnected utilization. Besides, with the landing of Android applications, we will likewise be downloading APK records. Consequently, it’s imperative to keep a check on the Downloads envelope for useless and junk files. You can simply go to the Files application and afterward “Downloads”. Here, select the file(s) you don’t need, right tap on them and tap on “Erase”. Or, on the other hand if there are records you need to keep, you can move them over to a SD card, since most Chromebooks support a microSD card slot.

3. Clear browsing data and cache

When you are low on storage, even a couple of hundred megabytes feel like a great deal and that is the amount of storage you can free up by clearing program information on Chromebook. To do it, open Chrome and hit the menu button and snap “More Tools“, then tap on “Clear browsing data” or you can simply hit the key combo Ctrl+Shift+Backspace.

Another dialog box ought to pop up, where you can choose the data you need to clear, such as browsing history, download history, cookies, cached pictures and files, passwords, content licenses and then some. You can then choose the information you are alright separating with. Additionally, make a point to pick “Cached pictures and files”, since they take up the most storage space.

4. Clear local data

As you may have seen, there’s no real way to erase files that the OS caches for you in the “Disconnected” envelope. However, there’s a workaround to get rid of these local data files. You can open up Chrome and type “chrome://drive-internals” in the address bar. Here, you will discover an alternative to “Clear local data” under the Local Metadata segment. Simply tap on that and the OS will get rid of files already accessible in the cloud. This choice works well, if your Chromebook’s internal storage is almost full.

5. Clear app data and cache

In the event that you are an Android user, you’d realize that Android applications excessively tend, making it impossible to take a lot of storage. Along these lines, if your Chromebook bolsters Android applications and you have been utilizing them, you ought to clear application information and store to free up some space. To do it, go to Application Settings in Chrome OS Settings and here go to “Applications” and select the application, whose data and cache you need to clear. Inside the application information page, go to “Storage” and click on “Clear Data” and “Clear Cache”.

6. Remove unused user accounts

If you have a user account of a companion or relative, who just made an account to experiment with the Chromebook, you ought to remove them, as numerous user accounts do take up a great deal of account. There are two approaches to remove a user account. You can remove user accounts by going to Chrome OS Settings page and tap on “Manage other users” in the People section.

Another way to remove an account is by clicking on a user account in the login screen and hit the drop-down menu, where you will discover the “Remove user” choice. Once you have removed unused user accounts, you should see an increase in free storage on your Chromebook.

Also, in the event that you don’t plan on removing any user accounts, you ought to execute alternate approaches to free up storage on all accounts.

Note: You can just remove user accounts in the event that you are the owner of the Chromebook, who is the first user to sign in the device. To remove an owner user account, you should reset/powerwash your Chromebook.

7. Disable Developer Mode

While Developer Mode does provide a lot of goodies (read: ability to install APK files), it does provide a set of developer files that take up storage on Chrome OS. So, if you allowed developer mode on your Chromebook to just have some fun, you should deactivate it to free up some storage. Deactivating the developer mode will reset your device as well, so you will get a fresh new Chrome OS device.

To deactivate developer mode aka turn on OS verification, press the Space key when Chromebook is powering on and then, follow the on-screen instructions.

8. Uninstall Apps

Well, this is truly self-evident, would it say it isn’t? If you need to clear up a decent measure of capacity, you ought to uninstall applications that you don’t generally utilize much. Yes, we comprehend there are applications that we don’t utilize yet at the same time need to keep however you can simply have their web forms on Chrome, isn’t that so? Along these lines, you can just uninstall an application by going to “All Apps” and right tapping on an application and choosing “Remove from Chrome” or “Uninstall”.

Bonus: Powerwash your Chromebook

If none of the above-mentioned ways to free up storage on Chrome OS work for you, your last resort will have to be factory resetting your device. This will give you a brand new Chromebook with a lot of storage left and chances are, your important files are stored in Google Drive and your settings in your Google account, which means you can get them back with easy.

To powerwash (as Google likes to call factory reset), go to Chrome OS Settings->Show advanced settings and scroll down to the end and click on “Powerwash“.

Free up Space on Chromebook to make way for Android apps & games

The above-mentioned ways should ensure you have enough free local storage to install the extensive Android applications and games. So, try them out on your Chromebook and do let us know, if these ways worked out for you.