Google ChromeOS

ChromeOS is Google's cloud-connected desktop operating system (OS). The web-app-focused OS powers mostly inexpensive Chromebooks—low-cost laptops for people with basic computing needs. Because it's easy to use with tie-ins to Google's online apps, ChromeOS is excellent for education and light productivity. Android app compatibility enables access to millions of new software choices, too, though the implementation isn't perfect. ChromeOS isn't as powerful or functional as Windows 11 or macOS Sequoia, our Editors' Choice winners for desktop OSes, but it's still a worthwhile choice if you prefer a simpler and more streamlined experience.

What's New in ChromeOS?

The OS has come a long way since its beginning. When it first launched, ChromeOS was little more than a version of Ubuntu that ran just one app, the Chrome web browser. Google's desktop OS has added many capabilities since then, like resizable windows and decent printing options, in addition to Android app support. Using a Chromebook offline was problematic in the early days of the OS, but apps now work decently well without an internet connection. The OS has become more stable, and apps are less quirky, too. The company also has a Chromebook Plus class of computers with exclusive features.

ChromeOS has decent touch-screen support, though it still doesn’t deliver an ideal tablet experience. Google sells the Pixel Tablet but hasn't offered ChromeOS tablets since 2018's Pixel Slate. ChromeOS suports Android apps pretty well at this point, so the browser-based apps in the Chrome Web Store are largely unnecessary. The latter used to be the only kind the OS supported.

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The latest newsworthy update adds AI capability to ChromeOS. All Chromebooks now get Chat with Gemini for quick access to Google's generative AI. The new Welcome Recap feature gets you back to what you were doing, complete with activity suggestions and reminders. In the non-AI sphere, there is the ability to pin files (not just programs) to the Shelf and a Focus feature that helps you get things done without distractions.

Exclusive to Chromebook Plus computers (more on those below) are the new Help Me Read feature, which summarizes PDFs, articles, or websites; Live Translate for any on-screen text (very similar to a new Copilot+ PC feature); an AI rewriting tool (similar to what Apple announced for its Intelligence); gameplay recording; a Recorder app with transcriptions that identify speakers; and video call enhancements that remove background noise and improve lighting. Most other operating systems have introduced enhancements for video calls lately.

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What Devices Run ChromeOS?

Most computers that run ChromeOS fall into the Chromebook and Chromebox categories, but you may also encounter Chromebases and Chromebits. Chromebases are all-in-one PCs from Acer, HP, and LG; they no longer seem to be in production, but you can find them for sale at web retailers. Chromebits are very small units similar to the Intel Compute Stick; they plug into a TV to give it computing capabilities. In addition to the basic Chromebook, Google categorizes devices as Plus (including at least 64GB storage) and Premium (with at least 128GB). Premium Chromebooks are suitable for heavy multitasking and large videoconferences.

For this review, I tested ChromeOS on an Acer Chromebook Plus 515. It offers surprisingly strong capabilities for a laptop with a sub-$300 price tag.

Keyboard-less tablets running ChromeOS seem to have gone the way of the Passenger Pigeon. You can still find convertibles that switch between laptop and tablet mode, however, like the Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus.

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Since ChromeOS is primarily a cloud-connected OS, you can easily get a Chromebook with LTE connectivity. Some run on Arm processors, but most use Intel or AMD CPUs.

Google's Instant Tethering feature dispenses the need for a built-in mobile connection because it lets you tether your Android phone. Of course, if you use an iPhone, this doesn't help you.

Chromebook Plus: More Power, More Features

Last spring, Google unveiled the Chromebook Plus class of computers. These machines have higher specs than the typical Chromebook models but also benefit from exclusive features. A Chromebook Plus must have an Intel Core i3 or AMD Ryzen 3 7000-series or higher CPU, at least 8GB of RAM, 128GB of local storage, and a 1080p IPS or better screen. Existing computers that meet these minimums are automatically updated to Chromebook Plus status.

A recent update to the spec added a helpful Quick Insert key for entering emoji, recently viewed links, Google Drive-stored files, text generated by Gemini AI, and more. If you don't want to buy a new laptop just for this key, a shortcut key combination gets you the same functionality. I wish Google would make up its mind about the name for this key, which it called the Everything key, the Search key, and the Launcher key at various times.

These machines can run increasingly impressive cloud games from Nvidia GeForce Now, the new web version of Adobe Photoshop, and even web-based video editing with Kapwing, LumaFusion, and ClipChamp.

Chromebook Plus computers can use the Magic Eraser feature available for Google Pixel phones. This feature automatically selects people or objects in a photo and moves them around to your taste. It also blurs the background.

Additionally, Chromebook Plus computers get enhancements for video calls, such as background blur, noise cancellation, and auto-fixed lighting. The larger local storage requirement further enables a feature in Chromebook Plus computers to sync all the cloud files to the local machine. That means you can access them without an internet connection.

Can You Install ChromeOS on Your Own?

Google doesn't make ChromeOS installation media available the way Ubuntu and Windows 11 do. But ChromeOS Flex is an option that gets old PCs and Macs a reasonable facsimile of the full ChromeOS, minus the ability to run Android apps. It's intended mostly for business settings that use managed computers and virtual desktop infrastructure, but individuals can install it as well on Intel and AMD-based computers. Flex also doesn't support ChromeOS verified boot but can take advantage of UEFI Secure boot.

Since the operating system's code is open-source as part of the Chromium OS project, other developers have produced installers, such as Chromify/Project Croissant. You could, with a bit of gumption, try installing Chromium OS on standard PC hardware, but you might encounter hardware incompatibilities. The majority of users should buy hardware with the OS preinstalled.

How Does ChromeOS Work With Peripherals?

When it comes to peripherals, ChromeOS works with USB keyboards, mice, and hubs, as well as with Bluetooth peripherals (see below). Google's Works With Chromebook program is an effort to make it easier for users to find compatible devices. ChromeOS supports monitors via DisplayPort, DVI, HDMI, or VGA.

Storage

When I plugged in a USB thumb drive, the OS correctly identified it and opened a file-browsing window. Note that the OS mimics Apple's macOS in that it annoyingly displays a notification whenever you unplug the USB key without first telling the OS you want to eject it. (Windows just deals with it.) ChromeOS supports the SMB 3.0 protocol, which means you can use network storage like that found in any of the popular Synology NAS devices, for example. It's especially important for people or organizations with large media needs like photo, video, and audio files that they want to store locally for fast access.

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Printers

Google has made efforts to beef up printer support, but it still trails Windows and even macOS in the range of printers it supports. If it doesn’t find your Wi-Fi-connected printer automatically, you can manually enter an IP address and download a driver. I'm disappointed that a ChromeOS driver is not available for our workplace's Brother HL-4150CDN printer. ChromeOS does support five Internet Printing Protocols as well as Line Printer Daemon. It connected and printed via Wi-Fi to my home Epson XP-6100 without any issues.

ChromeOS now has basic printer management functionality like that found on other desktop OSes. Settings entries let you see current print jobs, cancel them, and manage saved printers.

Bluetooth and Miracast

In testing, my Chromebook identified mice, smartphones, PCs, TVs, speakers, headphones, and more over Bluetooth. Displaying your Chromebook or box's screen on a large TV is a cinch. Just choose the Cast Devices Available option from the status tray menu at the lower right.

Support for Fast Pair worked extremely well in testing. Connecting a pair of Between Pro earbuds and a Logitech MX Vertical mouse took nothing more than a tap on the peripheral's entry in the Bluetooth panel.

Setting Up ChromeOS

To get going with ChromeOS, you simply charge your Chromebook and hit the power button. The opening screen has you choose your language and accessibility options. The next one includes options for ChromeVox (spoken feedback), a large mouse cursor, high-contrast mode, a screen magnifier, and an on-screen keyboard.

As expected, you have to connect to the internet, agree to the license terms, and decide whether you want to send usage data back to Google. I opted out. Google knows plenty about me already. The setup wizard then checks for and installs updates.

Next, you have to sign in to a Google account. Windows, Mac, and Ubuntu all let you use the computer without an account (though the first two make it harder). There's no workaround with ChromeOS. So, if you're hesitant to have all your activity stored on Google's servers, another OS is probably better for you.

After logging into a Gmail account, I saw a message that my settings would be synced and that my browsing history would be used to "personalize Search, ads, and other Google services." You can change these settings in your Google Activity Controls.

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During setup, Google Assistant requests a few more privacy permissions. One is to allow the tool to create a unique sonic model of your voice, using what it calls Voice Match. After allowing Assistant, ChromeOS takes you through a brief but enjoyable tour of all its charms, highlighting areas of interest along the way.

One feather in ChromeOS's cap is the ease with which you can switch users, though macOS and Windows also make it easy. ChromeOS adds the ability to easily log in as a Guest account. At the bottom of the lock screen are choices for Browse as Guest and Add Person. Guests cannot install apps, either web or Android, though they can download files.

Like some Windows and macOS laptops, a few Chromebooks support fingerprint biometric login. You can use a PIN to unlock the computer, which I like to see, or you can do the same with an Android phone. But you still must sign in with a full password on startup. Surprisingly, the PIN and passwords you choose have no security requirements. I was able to set mine as 123456 and 111111. Use a more secure password, please!

Once you're up and running, a well-designed and thorough Explore app can assist you in moving to, setting up, and using your ChromeOS machine.

Can You Use ChromeOS With Multiboot or Virtual Machines?

You can boot Windows on an Intel-based Mac using Boot Camp or Ubuntu on a Windows PC. Very brave and savvy users can even try to get macOS running on a Windows machine. ChromeOS doesn't officially support any form of multi-booting, though you can find workarounds online. Some of these workarounds and third-party utilities can produce multibooting, but the capability is not part of the official OS. You don't need to multiboot Linux since ChromeOS runs on top of Linux; a developer setting lets you run Linux apps alongside ChromeOS apps.

Running guest OSes in virtual machines in ChromeOS is another thing that doesn't have Google's blessing, but again, wise developers have figured out workarounds. In truth, both multibooting and virtual machines are antithetical to the intention of ChromeOS: to be a simple computing platform. Nevertheless, its ability to run Linux apps makes the OS a possibility for developers.

Interface and Windowing: Getting Around ChromeOS

As you might expect from Google, the OS's interface is centered around search and the browser. Unlike most desktop operating systems, ChromeOS doesn't let you pin icons for apps and files onto the desktop. Instead, you use the Everything Button, the Launcher, and the Shelf. I discuss each of those three important interface elements below.

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ChromeOS benefits from a couple of Microsoft Windows-style features that are still missing in macOS: Clipboard History is accessible with the circular Launcher Button-V or Search key-V. And the operating system gets its own form of Snap layouts that, just like in Windows 11, appear when you hover the mouse over the Maximize button at the top right of a window. (You can also get to the options with Launcher-Z)

The Shelf

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The dock or taskbar along the bottom of the screen, which Google calls the Shelf, contains only some Google apps by default. In its last major UI update, Google changes the shelf icons to be center-aligned rather than left-aligned, a layout now shared with Windows 11 (though Windows lets you left-align it, too). After you run an app, whether it's a native Chrome browser app or an Android app, an icon appears for it in the Shelf. Icons for running apps get the tiniest of faint gray underlines, which indicates that they are indeed running. You can unpin any app icon except for the Chrome browser.

Aside from the tiny underline to indicate an app is active, these shelf icons offer no functionality to speak of. In Windows, by contrast, you can pause or skip back and forward from the Spotify app's taskbar icon or see the last several documents you opened in a productivity app with Jump Lists. In ChromeOS, the only choices are pinning the app and autohiding the shelf. You can position the shelf along the left or right screen edges if you prefer. I like that tapping a shelf icon a second time minimizes the app, a convenience not available in macOS but long present in Windows. Two-finger tapping an app icon in the shelf lets you see its info or uninstall it.

The Launcher

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The Launcher opens via the Everything Button or when you click its circular icon. This panel, similar to the Windows Start menu, offers quick access to apps and searches. But ChromeOS's Launcher is less functional than Windows' Start menu, which also gives access to settings, power, and recommended apps and documents. I wish that the Launcher had separate sections for Android apps and web apps, especially for cases in which both types exist, such as Netflix and Spotify. You can group app icons by dragging one atop another. Another nice thing about it is that scrolling down takes you through your whole library of apps. In Windows 11, you have to press another arrow button for that.

The Files Window

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ChromeOS's Files window shows local files in the Downloads folder. That goes even for files that you never downloaded, such as screenshots. I wish Google would simply call this section Local Files. There’s also a Play files folder, where Android apps may store their data in subfolders. The Files window helpfully shows a Recent section at the top, similar to Windows’ Home section, which I find indispensable. Unlike in macOS and Windows 11, the Files window doesn't feature tabs for multiple folder viewing.

The Everything Button

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The Everything button (also sometimes called the Launcher key or Search Key) opens the Launcher panel, as described above. But the Launcher key's existence means that you don't get a CapsLock key by default on Chromebooks.

Quick Insert Key

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Some new Chromebooks, like the Lenovo Duet Chromebook 11 and Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus, have a dedicated Quick Insert key, but other Chromebook users can type F while holding down the Everything button to get the same result. The key or key combination opens a small panel with options for emoji, Caps Lock, and Help Me Write. That last one generates text based on your text prompt (which must be four words or more). It doesn't, unfortunately, suggest edits and rewrites as Copilot does. The Quick Insert panel may also offer recently visited web links, Google Drive searching, and a calculator that does unit conversion.

The Status Tray Menu

The status tray menu all the way to the right of the Shelf shows the time, Wi-Fi status, and battery status. Clicking it lets you adjust volume and brightness, shut down or sign out of your account, connect or disconnect Wi-Fi, snap a screenshot, turn on Do Not Disturb, and see the VPN status (if you have one installed). It also has Cast Screen and Settings buttons. Hardwired keyboard buttons, like those on Macs, make functions like adjusting volume and brightness easy. I especially like the Full-screen and Screenshot keys. Windows adds configurable Quick action tiles for making on-the-fly setting changes, such as airplane mode, and a dozen more options, which I prefer.

Keyboard Shortcuts

The operating system supports most of the standard keyboard shortcuts, like Ctrl-F for find, Ctrl-Z to undo, and Ctrl-V to paste. The Everything Button opens Google Assistant, but it doesn't show recent and often-used apps as the Windows key does, let alone open a touch-friendly tile menu. Two excellent keys are the Show Windows and Full Screen. macOS has the former, but the latter is unique and a great idea. Everything Button-Esc takes you to the task manager, where you can shut down misbehaving programs.

Taking Screenshots

Taking screenshots is as easy as it is in the two leading desktop OSes. Press the dedicated Screenshot key or Ctrl-Show Windows, and a thumbnail appears in the lower-right corner, letting you open, annotate, or copy the resulting image to the clipboard. You can select a specific rectangle for the screenshot but not a freeform shape as Windows allows. ChromeOS's tool offers screen recording, with or without narration and pointer indicators.

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Moving Parts and Customization

Window Manipulation Isn't Always Straightforward

Window behavior and manipulation work differently depending on whether you're running a Chrome or Android app. For Chrome apps, you usually see browser tabs, though you can full-screen the view so the app looks like its own entity without the browser tabs and menu. Compatible Android apps can run full-screen, though you need to choose Resizable from a top selector when you start them. Doing so, however, comes with a warning dialog box stating that some apps don't play well with the resizable choice.

You can drag Chrome app windows against the edge of the screen to fill half of it exactly, but not so with most Android apps. And there's no quarter-screen view like you get with Windows by dragging a window header to any corner, let alone Snap Layouts. You can't drag a full-screen app down from its header, either. When you use the app switcher (Alt-Tab), the app tiles don't fan out as in Windows and macOS. Instead, they scroll out of view.

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Desks: Virtual Desktops

ChromeOS offers multiple virtual desktops like those long present in macOS and Windows. To be special and friendlier, Google calls them Desks instead of desktops. Switching between multiple Desks is a snap, with either a keyboard shortcut or a four-finger sideways swipe on the trackpad (but not on the touch screen). Unlike macOS and Windows, however, there's no on-screen button that shows you desktop creation and switching.

Wallpaper Theme and Night Light

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As with all consumer OSes, you get to pick your desktop wallpaper. You get a choice of personalization by choosing Light, Dark, or Auto theme (which switches to dark at sunset). A night view, similar to Apple's Night Shift and Windows' Night Light, saves your eyes from sleep-ruining blue light. No shortcut or control lets you show the desktop without the running apps, though that's not as significant here since you can't pin icons for apps or documents to the desktop anyway. Still, when you have a lot of apps open, sometimes you want to minimize them all.

Touch Screen and Pen Support

In Windows, I appreciate being able to tap a button on a touch screen now and then, saving me from the carpal tunnel stress of moving the mouse to just the right spot and executing yet another click of the mouse button. That's not an option on macOS, but ChromeOS and iPads offer that convenience.

I would, however, like to see more useful gestures, such as swiping in from the sides of the screen. Windows and iPadOS offer convenient swiping in gestures from the screen edges, while ChromeOS does not. Chrome gestures just go forward and back in browser history, which you can also do by swiping within the browser window in both of the other OSes. ChromeOS also lacks useful multi-finger gestures, aside from pinch and unpinch, to zoom out and in. Note also that touchpad gestures differ from touch-screen gestures.

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I appreciate that the on-screen keyboard for tablet touch input supports swipe text entry and offers voice input. However, I wish there was a split keyboard layout option, which is easier to use when holding the computer as a tablet with two hands.

ChromeOS supports the cross-platform Universal Stylus Initiative, and some Chromebooks can take advantage of that protocol. I tested the OS's stylus capability with the $99 Pixelbook Pen. (That model is no longer available, but you can find styli from the likes of Amazon, Lenovo, and others.) The system's handwriting recognition is on par with that of Windows, and it works with any app. You can also use the pen to circle on-screen objects to get info from Google Assistant about them. You can start a Google Keep note with the pen, even from the lock screen.

As for more artistic pen work, the Infinite Painter Android app shows ChromeOS is up to the latest standards of computer drawing, matching the pens for Surface Pro and iPad Pros devices, though I'm no artist. The app offers a wide variety of brush types.

Search, Voice Assistant, and Gemini AI

Like Apple's Siri, Google Assistant lets you use your voice to play music and podcasts, ask general knowledge questions, and check the weather, calendar, stock quotes, or sports scores. Both are more than what Windows offers now, with Cortana retired and Copilot no longer doing computer control. You can open ChromeOS apps as either their web or Android versions—the Assistant's sidebar lets you choose. In testing, composing and sending an email with the Assistant worked flawlessly, an improvement over the last time I tested it, which required installing the Android Gmail app.

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You can control all your smart home devices as you can with other digital assistants such as Alexa, Cortana, and Siri. Google Assistant also lets you set reminders and timers.

A setting in Google Assistant enables it to always listen for the "OK, Google" command, equaling the capability of Siri on macOS and Microsoft's Cortana. Unfortunately, Google Assistant often simply loads a few web results rather than answering questions or generating text the way Copilot and ChatGPT can.

Gemini Now Included

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ChromeOS now includes a Gemini app by default, accessible from the now-familiar star-shaped icon. It's the same experience you get with Gemini on the web: Type or speak text, click the send button, and you'll see text answers in the window. It's a more computery, less human-style interaction than you get with Microsoft Copilot on Windows, which greets you and responds to you conversationally, even despite interruptions and word stumbles.

Live Translation

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Another AI feature, this one exclusive to Chromebook Plus models, is Live Translate. It resembles the Live Captions features in Windows and macOS, though the latter doesn't include translations. It's not on by default; you must go into Settings to turn on Live Captions and enable translations. As with Copilot's live translation feature, you have to download language packs for the languages you want the system to understand. I tried using it on an Italian-language video in Vimeo (using Firefox, since Chrome has its own built-in captioning). Before downloading the Italian pack, the result was gibberish. Once I enabled everything and downloaded the language pack, I got the result in the above screenshot. It was acceptable, though sometimes the translations didn't make sense in English. You can resize and move the text box and get good control over text formatting.

Help Me Read

Finally, among the new AI features is Help Me Read. I wasn't able to test this myself, but PCMag's Matthew Buzzi tried it on a Chromebook Plus. This was his take: "[Help Me Read] allows you to select pages of text and call on the AI cloud service to condense and summarize the page. You can turn one or many pages into a single paragraph or less to drill down to the key takeaways. Then, you can prompt the AI with additional questions or cut it down further. While no doubt convenient, I have reservations over this feature's impact. It’s similar in spirit to the Google AI summaries at the top of search results, which, to varying degrees, you can’t necessarily trust."

What Web Apps Can ChromeOS Run?

ChromeOS has two types of apps and two app stores (technically three if you go into developer settings and enable Linux app support), which sometimes leads to weird behaviors. Installing a web and Android version of the same app results in two similar icons. An option in a ChromeOS app's Settings panel lets you open Chrome apps in a window rather than a browser tab (à la progressive web apps), but it sometimes shows the address bar at the top, destroying the illusion of it being a true app. Sometimes, clicking an option in such an app goes back to opening the browser.

Just about any web app works on a Chromebook, but sometimes web apps aren't as full-featured as the installed applications. For example, though Microsoft offers a near-parity version of Word on the web, there are a few details that make the installed version preferable. You can't zoom in on documents with the mouse wheel in a web-based document editor, for instance; instead, the whole interface zooms. The same holds for Google Docs on any platform.

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Bona fide Chrome apps in the store are few and far between, and even fewer are of AAA quality. There's also no way to sort by most popular or newest apps. I suppose Google feels that it must keep the Chrome Web Store up for backward compatibility, but some feel that it would do better just to ditch ChromeOS apps and stick to Android apps.

The browser is the centerpiece of ChromeOS, and while Chrome is a top choice among web browsers, there are occasions in which you might want an alternative. You can get Firefox in the Android store, but it's not as functional as the desktop version on Macs and PCs. Edge, Firefox, and Safari also offer distraction-free reading modes for cluttered web pages. (Google has announced a sort-of Reading Mode sidebar feature, but it's not quite the same in terms of distraction-free reading.) You can set a non-Chrome browser as the default, but any Google apps, like Docs and Gmail, still open webpages in Chrome.

Mail

An important built-in app in a desktop operating system is email. Windows and macOS both include polished apps that let you manage and view multiple mail accounts, but ChromeOS points you to the browser by default. Of course, a wealth of Android mail clients stand ready to augment it.

Photo Editing

ChromeOS boasts two photo apps, the basic Photo Gallery, for quick brightness, contrast, rotation, and slideshow adjustments, and the well-known Google Photos. Chromebook Plus computers get extra Google Photos capabilities, such as background removal and blur and an HDR effect. The Magic Eraser tool isn't as effective at removing backgrounds as Adobe's tools for that task are, but the program did a fine job of blurring backgrounds and fixing a portrait's lighting.

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It's easy enough to install Google Photos from the Play Store, and you can even set it as the default photo editor and viewer. macOS and Windows come with powerful Photo editing apps. There's an impressive, if not quite full-featured, web version of Photoshop you can run on ChromeOS, as well as one of Lightroom. Plenty of online photo editing apps, some of which are surprisingly powerful, can serve you on ChromeOS.

Android photo apps are also available. The reasonably powerful Befunky, Polarr, and Fotor are in the Play Store. If you just want to snap a photo or video from your ChromeOS computer, the included Camera app can do the job, even though it's more basic than what you get with macOS or Windows.

Music and Video

The operating system comes with a basic music player, which started playing my MP3s from a USB drive without any fuss. You can also use YouTube Music to stream cloud-stored music. To play a downloaded M4A file, I had to install a separate Music Player for the Google Drive web app. Of course, you can watch Netflix and Hulu and listen to Pandora, Qobuz, and Spotify all through their web interfaces or Android apps.

ChromeOS preloads entertainment media stores, including Play Movies & TV and Play Books. I appreciate that Google's bookstore offers audiobooks in addition to books you have to read yourself. However, Apple is the leader in terms of media stores on the desktop.

Chromebooks simply aren't great for video editing, though you can find some web and Android apps that may serve your needs. A choice Google highlights that's available in the Chrome Web store is the web-based ClipChamp, which can join clips, apply transitions and effects, and more. Others include LumaFusion and Kapwing. The Android app store offers more potential for would-be ChromeOS video editors than the Chrome Web Store does. There, you can find lightweight versions of PowerDirector, Filmora, and NCH VideoPad. But none of those options is even nearly as powerful as video editing apps you can run on macOS or Windows, such as Adobe Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve.

Video Calling

Windows has Teams, macOS has FaceTime, and ChromeOS has Google Meet for video calling. The service also connects voice calls to standard phones and mobiles, just like Teams and Skype, but only for Workspace accounts. You can't start a call using the voice-responding Assistant. It says, "Sorry, I can't make calls yet," holding out the hope that one day it will be able to, though it's been over 10 years.

Offline Usage

Originally, ChromeOS' Achilles' heel was its lack of offline functionality. In the past, ChromeOS devices were little more than a paperweight if you had no internet connection, or at least you had to jump through hoops to get offline functionality. The addition of Android apps and better offline support for Chrome Web apps address that issue. Right-click on a file in the Files app, and you see an Available Offline choice.

Google's apps, including Drive and Gmail, have been updated for offline use. You can also play locally downloaded or USB-connected media. In the Chrome Web app store, you can filter results by Runs Offline, though the only recognizable names I saw there were Pocket, useful for reading webpages offline, and Polarr.

The emergence of progressive web apps, or PWAs, supported by many modern browsers, is a boon to ChromeOS. These standard web apps take advantage of offline support, notifications, and custom window interfaces. And you can use Android apps with offline functionality.

Running Android Apps in ChromeOS

The Google Play store is far more robust than the Web Store in terms of the number and quality of apps. Installing Android apps from the Google Play store on ChromeOS is a cinch, and thankfully, the store that appears on the desktop OS is customized for it.

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A well-thought-out convenience when dealing with the two app types is that when you run an app that has both types, such as Word, you see a message asking which you want to run.

The window size issue for Android apps on ChromeOS has greatly improved. This time, I didn't encounter apps that require a restart just to switch between full-screen and windowed modes, as I did the last time I reviewed the OS. And none displayed a blank white window.

A minor quibble is that the back arrow at the top left in most app windows closes the app—not good if you expect it to work like every other such arrow and take you back. Another is that Android apps usually assume they're running on a phone, so you likely need to use touch input rather than the keyboard. There are other minor irritations, mostly concerning awkward layouts in apps not designed for desktop screens.

Linux on ChromeOS

ChromeOS is based on Linux (on Ubuntu in particular), and it offers an option to run Linux software. The feature is intended for developers, as the help documentation states, “You can install Linux command line tools, code editors, and IDEs on your Chromebook. These can be used to write code, create apps, and more.” The feature is no longer in beta, and installing it is quite simple, though it takes a good chunk of your storage—10GB was the suggested size when I tried. There are other ways for tech-savvy users to get Linux on a Chromebook and even to multiboot.

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ChromeOS Integration With Phones

When it comes to integration between mobile and desktop, Apple's strong ties with iOS and Windows Phone Link set the bar high, but Google is right there with them. As mentioned, ChromeOS lets Android users log in to their computers with their phones and access the internet via tethering. But the support goes beyond that. When you link a phone to your Chromebook, you see a phone icon on the Shelf on the right side, which pops up the Phone Hub. From the Phone Hub, you can access any photos on the phone, silence the phone, enable its hotspot, or locate it. Google is even working on an upcoming version that will let you do the entire Chromebook setup process using your phone by scanning a QR code.

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If you use Chrome as your web browser, you can sync bookmarks, history, and more. Nearly everything in your Google account (mail, docs, and YouTube videos) carries over between your Android phone and ChromeOS computer. Android text messaging from ChromeOS is only possible if you use Google Messages as your default texting app, and you need to open the Messages app on the computer. It's not a part of the mobile panel shown above. I actually prefer using Windows' Phone Link with my Android phone because all the phone functionality—including texting, calling, and even streaming multiple apps—happens in the same app.

Notifications from the phone do helpfully show up on your linked Chromebook. Using certain Android phone models from Google, Nothing, and Xiaomi adds the ability to stream mobile apps from the phone to the ChromeOS screen as you can with Windows 11. As mentioned, ChromeOS already runs many Android apps by itself. If you use an iPhone, ChromeOS doesn't offer you any connection options at all, unless you use cross-platform apps like WhatsApp and Google Photos. With Windows Phone Link, you can at least see notifications, text, and make calls with a connected iPhone.

Privacy and Security

Google states that ChromeOS has several levels of security, starting with verified boot, automatic updates, and sandboxing (running apps in a container that doesn't have access to the rest of the system). That last one applies to both web and Android apps. Recent Chromebooks include the Google Security Chip, which encrypts data on the computer. Web apps take advantage of encryption, and simply having an app store like the Android one means that apps are vetted for security. Though OS updates take place automatically, you can check the Settings About panel to see if your version is the latest.

The fact that ChromeOS devices aren't a very large attack surface, with only about 4% of the worldwide desktop computer market, offers a degree of safety. But no platform is 100% secure, and the addition of the Android capability adds threats, as evidenced by Google's occasionally purging rogue Android apps from the store. Those and Chrome extensions are the most likely malware vectors. A few third-party security programs specifically support ChromeOS now. Malwarebytes' Android version is also designed to run on ChromeOS, and I successfully installed and scanned with Android malware protection from AVG, which offers Android app install protection and phishing protection.

What happens if your computer is lost or stolen? ChromeOS features a decent set of recovery tools. If you lose your machine, you can find all your cloud-synced files and apps by simply signing into your Google account. That doesn't include locally downloaded files, however. You can wipe the device remotely and remove it from your Google account, but you can't pinpoint its exact location, as you can with Android phones, Apple devices, and Microsoft Surface computers. You can see where it was last used based on IP address, which is not at all precise.

The Powerwash option, like Windows Refresh, clears out unnecessary muck in the system accrued over a period of computing, something lacking in macOS. There's also a Reset option that removes all account and personalization info.

VPNs are a hot topic in security, and we've shown you how to use a VPN with ChromeOS. The picture has improved, with the operating system offering built-in support for several VPN protocols. Nevertheless, Google's support pages indicate that you get more advanced features using Android VPN apps, and I find that using an Android app for your VPN works best on ChromeOS.

Reliability is related to security, and ChromeOS feels more stable than it has in the past. Occasionally, however, I open an app or Settings page to find a blank white screen, or an app or game quits unexpectedly. One unique reliability characteristic of ChromeOS is that, as stated in the Google Blog, "ChromeOS devices always have two images of the system software on separate partitions," so after an update, the startup partition switches for fast booting.

For troubleshooting and recovery, ChromeOS offers an app that lets you create recovery media should the system become unusable. A task manager, accessible with Everything Button-Esc, shows you memory, disk, and network usage for all running processes and lets you hard shut them down if you see something behaving badly.

Gaming on ChromeOS

Android app support has been a boon to ChromeOS gaming. The Stadia streaming game service held out even greater promise, but the service sadly no longer exists. There is a selection of casual games on the Chrome Web Store, but the Play Store adds a vastly larger set. They are mostly not the AAA titles you find on consoles and PCs. Some games only appear in vertical mobile format, and Mortal Kombat kicked an "isn't responding" error soon after I started it. If games like Among Us, Minecraft, Roblox, or Candy Crush are all you need, you'll be fine with a Chromebook. You can also play games via GeForce Now. You can now install a beta of Steam, too, so long as your Chrome device has at least an Intel i3 or Ryzen 3 CPU, 8GB RAM, and 128GB storage. To install, you have to search for "Steam" from the Launcher.

(Credit: Google/PCMag)

As is the case with macOS, forget about VR gaming on a Chromebook: It won't support your Oculus Rift or HTC Vive, though Google is still experimenting with adding AR to the web via its long-gestating ARCore technology. Don't expect to be able to use the latest graphics cards or ray tracing, though the OS does support some game controllers.

I recommend sticking with apps designed for tablets (you can filter these in Google Play). Even better, only install those sporting the store's Editors' Choice designation. Some games simply don't play nice on ChromeOS since they assume you are using a smartphone. For more help, read how to play games on your Chromebook.

Managing a Fleet of ChromeOS Machines

ChromeOS is particularly popular in the education market and as such, you can easily manage multiple computers using the OS. The Admin Console lets managers set policies for all Chromebooks in their domain, but it requires a Chrome Enterprise or Google Workspace for Education license for the group. Google now even offers a Professional ChromeOS Administrator certification. Admins can force or restrict the installation of Android apps—a must, given the store's huge selection of apps, not all of which are benign. Google has published a deployment document for managers who need these functionalities.

Windows has a long head start in machine management with granular control using Windows Domains and Active Directory, while the more recent Apple Business Manager works with Apple devices.

Another variety of management is that of parents managing their children's computing activities. The cheap price of Chromebooks makes them appealing for supplying kids with computers, so strong parental controls would seem a must.

Parents can create child accounts in Google's Family Link service or upon initial setup of the Chromebook and then sign them into the ChromeOS computer using those accounts. This way, the child can't install any apps from either app store, can't use private browsing mode, and can't view adult sites that Google is able to block. The parent can also use an allow list to only allow the child to visit specific sites. As for monitoring, you can see the child's Chrome history and Android app usage with Google's parental controls.

Accessibility Features

ChromeOS is admirably equipped with accessibility features. Navigate to Settings > Advanced > Accessibility to get started. Here, you can enable text-to-speech with ChromeVox, which reads everything on the screen; ultra-high-contrast screen mode; screen zoom; sticky keys; and automatic clicking when the mouse cursor rests. But you can't control the computer entirely with your voice, as you can with macOS and Windows.

You can add a few more accessibility features, such as caret browsing, from the Chrome Web store. The OS also supports switches and braille readers, though information on these isn't as detailed as what you find for macOS and Windows. Google does have live Disability support staff and a Belonging website that explains all the company's accessibility options.

Verdict: A Web-Centric OS That Prioritizes Ease of Use

If you don't care about AAA gaming, don't need to do intense computing work like pro video editing, and you're not already very comfortable with macOS or Windows, ChromeOS should suit your needs perfectly well. Its simple interface, seamless setup and updating processes, good selection of apps, and Android support are all points in its favor, as is the low cost of compatible hardware. It's a fine choice for browsing the web, using online productivity tools, composing emails, and playing casual games. For their larger hardware and software ecosystems and more extensive capabilities, Apple macOS Sequoia and Microsoft Windows 11 remain our Editors' Choice desktop operating systems.