Need to know Chromebook basics: Free guide for students (and everyone else)

Since Chrome OS is decidedly different from traditional operating systems, some folks don’t “get it” quickly, which can lead to frustration or the false impression that Chrome OS is just a browser. This is especially true for students who have Chromebooks in the classroom but may have only seen their parent’s Windows or Mac computers.

Chrome Story published a handy, free guide to Chromebook basics that’s filled with good tips to help you get up to speed on your new Chromebook quickly. Ranging from shortcut tips to touchpad tricks and everything in between, this guide can fill you in on how Chrome OS works.

I’d also add that if you want to see all of the keyboard shortcuts in Chrome OS, and there’s a ton of them, just press ctrl+alt+? on your keyboard for an overlay of them. You can even press a key — such as Shift – and the overlay will change to show you all of the modifier shortcuts associated with that key.

About the author

Kevin C. Tofel has covered technology since 2004. He's used ChromeOS since Google debuted the CR-48 in 2010, reviewing dozens of Chromebooks since then. He worked for Google's Chrome Enterprise team from 2016 to 2017, supporting the launch of Android app support. In his free time, he uses Chromebooks to learn software engineering at Launch School. In 2019, Kevin joined the CS Curriculum Committee at his local community college.