A few years ago, I was shopping for a Chromebook to take on a business trip. I wanted something lightweight enough to carry around all day and inexpensive enough that I wouldn’t mind as much when I spilled coffee on the keyboard. I was considering two different models when a sales rep came over to see if I needed help. “You’re aware,” he said, “that these are Chromebooks, right? They only work online; you can’t save any files to the hard drive.” Show
It wasn’t the first time I’ve caught a sales rep in a mistake, of course. But this is a mistake that seems to have persisted. Yes, Chromebooks were created to be used predominantly online. In fact, when the first Chrome OS laptops were introduced in 2011, there were very few apps that could be used offline, which was a major flaw. But that was then, and this is now. Related
Currently, apps such as Google Docs and Sheets (which are the basic apps for Chrome OS) can be used both online and off. In addition, you can save files locally to the laptop’s SSD or, with some models, an SD memory card. If you’ve just bought your first Chromebook or are considering one, here are the basics of how to save your files on your Chromebook and find them again. Save your filesSaving a file in a Chromebook is pretty much like saving a file in macOS or Windows. You can save a file in one of two ways:
Either way, you’ll bring up the Files app (the equivalent of the Mac’s Finder or Window’s File Explorer). Select which folder you want to save your file to from the listing on the left, and then click on the Save button in the bottom-right corner. (If you want to change the name of the file, you can do that in the field to the left of the Save button.) You can also save and retrieve files from Google Drive from here. The Files app comes preloaded with a Downloads folder, but you can easily create your own folders by clicking on the New Folder button in the bottom-left corner. Find your filesTo find your saved files, here’s what to do:
The Files app also automatically organizes your files into Recent, Audio, Images, and Videos folders to make those types of files easier to find. Keep in mind that while you can save a reasonable number of files, most Chromebooks come with a relatively small amount of storage. Most offer anywhere from 64GB to 256GB, although there are still some lower-cost machines with 32GB and some premium systems with 512GB. You won’t have the same capacity as you would on a typical Mac or Windows system, but since most Chromebook users tend to save their content in the cloud rather than on their local systems, this shouldn’t be much of an issue. Update June 7th, 2022, 3:53PM ET: This article was originally published on September 27th, 2019, and has been updated to account for an increase in the amount of storage included in most Chromebooks. Join the conversation Most Popular
Verge Deals/ Sign up for Verge Deals to get deals on products we've tested sent to your inbox daily. Email (required)Sign up By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Why can't i find my files on Chromebook?Find your Chromebook's local storage
Look for the Files app. If you don't see it, click All Apps and find the Files app listed among all of your Chromebook's apps. From the Files window, click Downloads from the left panel. The files in this Downloads folder are stored locally on your Chromebook.
How do I open the Files app on my Chromebook?How to open the Files app on a Chromebook. Click on the launcher icon in the bottom left corner and click the up arrow to open the app launcher.. Scroll to the Files app and double-click to open it.. Where do I find my files?View your files. On your Android device, open Files by Google .. On the bottom, tap Browse .. Tap a category. You'll see files from that category in a list.. To change how the files display, tap Grid view . To go back to a list, tap List view .. Optional: To sort your files, on the top right, tap More . Select Sort by.. Are files stored locally on Chromebook?Cloud-based software
Chromebooks are cloud-based, which means instead of storing programs and applications on an internal hard drive like most laptops, a majority of its apps run from the cloud. This often makes Chromebooks very lightweight because they don't need as much processing power and memory.
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