Chromebooks turn out to be great alternatives to traditional laptops, and these little devices are more powerful than you think. They offer a lot of versatility, which is kind of their selling point. In other words, you can use a Chromebook for both work, school, and playing games.
But of course, it needs to be optimized just so you can get the optimal performance. Remember, these machines are not built for heavy processing, which is why you cannot push them to the limit.
With that said, a little optimization can go a long way, and by tweaking a few things you can make your Chromebook more versatile.
What are the first things you need to do in order to optimize your Chromebook for easy tasks like documents and playing games?
Speed Up Your Chromebook
The first step when optimizing your Chromebook is making sure that it uses its full capacity. In other words, you should make sure that the machine resources aren’t used for some unnecessary tasks. – Yep, it is time for a clean-up.
Have you noticed how after opening a bunch of tabs, your Chromebook starts panicking, making weird noises, and feels like it’s crawling in a quicksand? Yeah, we’ve all been there.
So, what’s the thing that eats most of its processing power? How can you make your Chromebook faster? After all, you’ll need speed if you want to play games, even if we are talking about simple web games like crypto roulette.
The first step is to go to your Chromebook’s task manager. This is a place where you can see what’s really going on with your Chromebook (much like a Windows PC). With the task manager, you can see those rogue processes that clog up and consume most of your CPU power.
Hit Shift + Esc, shot by CPU usage, and start analyzing which processes consume the most of your Chromebook’s processing power. Then if some of the processes are irrelevant you can simply start cleaning them.
Next, you should enable hyper-threading if you are working with an Intel-powered Chromebook. This is quite a handy trick that allows your CPU to juggle multiple tasks at the same time. Therefore, you can listen to a podcast in one tab, and work in another.
Just remember, it comes with a slight risk to security, so be careful what you click.
Activate GPU rasterization. This feature makes your GPU do some of the heavy lifting by rendering web pages faster and leaving your CPU to focus on other tasks. Go to chrome://flags and enable it. You’ll notice the difference right away.
Battery Optimization
The next thing we need to optimize is the battery. Chromebooks generally have a decent battery life, but if you are pushing it to the limit with multiple apps, and a bunch of tabs, you’ll drain the battery quicker than you can go to get your charging cable.
So, make sure to limit background processes and suspend tabs or apps that you don’t need. Also, you can turn off your Bluetooth and Wi-Fi if you are not using them.
Lastly, if you want to get the most out of your battery, you can dim the screen a few points.
No one wants to be stuck hunting for an outlet every few hours. Chromebooks are generally great with battery life, but if you’re pushing it with multiple apps, video calls, and a few dozen tabs open, you’re in trouble.
Enhance Productivity: Get Work Done Faster
Want your Chromebook to keep up with your work hustle? Here’s how to level up your productivity:
- Keyboard shortcuts are a game-changer. Instead of aimlessly clicking around, master a few Chromebook shortcuts like pressing Ctrl + Alt + ? to view a map of them all. It’s like unlocking a new layer of efficiency.
- Install Linux apps. Chromebooks now support Linux, so you can install full-fledged productivity tools like LibreOffice or even some code editors. Just head to your settings, enable Linux, and start working like a pro.
Optimize For Games
Let’s face it: after a long day of work, we all need some downtime. Whether it’s gaming or streaming your favorite shows, a few tweaks can turn your Chromebook into a powerhouse of fun.
- Free up storage space. Chromebooks can get bogged down with all the junk they accumulate – cached files, cookies, and unnecessary downloads. Regularly clear out old files, or better yet, get yourself a cloud storage subscription or external SD card for seamless file management.
- Boost streaming quality by enabling hardware-accelerated video decoding. It makes your Chromebook work smarter, not harder when handling HD or 4K video. You can also find this feature under the chrome://flags menu.
Advanced Tweaks: Going Pro with Your Chromebook
For the tech-savvy, here are a few more advanced tricks to squeeze even more performance out of your device.
- Install CloudReady: If your Chromebook is on its last legs and Chrome OS is just too heavy for it, try switching to CloudReady. It’s a lightweight, Chrome-based operating system owned by Google, but it skips the bloat of newer features that might be slowing you down. You’ll miss out on some perks like Android apps, but it’s a solid option for older devices.
- Regular updates. Sounds basic, but keep your Chromebook updated! New updates often include performance tweaks and security patches that can significantly enhance your device’s speed and stability(
Should You Overclock a Chromebook?
Short answer? No, just don’t. Chromebooks aren’t designed for overclocking like some gaming PCs, plus this isn’t relevant anymore. You’ll most likely end up with a fried motherboard, a device as good as a doorstop, and a hefty repair bill.
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