Chromebooks are designed to be fast, lightweight, and cloud-focused, which means most of your data is already synced online. Still, that doesn’t mean you should ignore backups altogether. Whether you’re switching devices, troubleshooting issues, or preparing for a reset, having a proper backup ensures you don’t lose important files or settings.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through how to back up and restore your Chromebook. Before you begin, make sure you have a stable internet connection and external storage available to save important files.
How to Back Up Your Chromebook
While ChromeOS automatically syncs apps, settings, bookmarks, passwords, and browsing data through your Google account, local files and certain environments still need to be backed up manually.
1. Back Up Photos and Videos to Google Photos
If you store photos and videos locally on your Chromebook, uploading them to Google Photos is one of the easiest ways to keep them safe and accessible across devices. To do this, install the Google Photos app on your Chromebook, then follow these steps:
1. Open the Google Photos app.
2. Sign in with your Google account, click your profile icon, and select the Backup option.
3. Turn on Back up photos and videos on this device automatically. Once enabled, all your photos and videos will start uploading to Google Photos.
4. If you do not want to enable automatic backup, you can manually upload your photos and videos instead. Simply open the Chrome browser and visit Google Photos, then sign in with your Google account if prompted. Next, click the Upload button in the top-right corner, navigate to the folder where your photos and videos are stored, such as Downloads, and select the files you want to upload.
Once uploaded, your media will be securely backed up in the cloud and can be restored anytime by signing in to Google Photos.
2. Backup Local Important Files to Google Drive
Google Photos only backs up photos and videos, so it won’t save PDFs, documents, or other file types. To keep those files safe, you should manually upload or move them to Google Drive.
1. Open the Files app on your Chromebook.
2. Click Downloads or another local folder from the left sidebar.
3. Select the files or folders you want to back up.
4. Drag and drop them into Google Drive in the sidebar.
5. Your files will begin uploading immediately and will remain synced with your Google account.
You can also back up files to an external USB drive or SD card if you prefer an offline backup. Connect the external device to your Chromebook, access it through the Files app, and simply move your files there for safekeeping.
3. Backup Your Linux Environment
If you have set up the Linux development environment, ChromeOS allows you to manually back up and restore your Linux environment. There are a few different ways to back up your Linux files. You can copy important files from the Linux Files folder to Google Drive, or use the built-in Linux backup tool in Settings to create a manual backup of your Linux apps and files.
If you use Linux apps on your Chromebook, we recommend creating a separate backup of your Linux container before resetting your device. Here’s how to back up your Linux environment:
1. Open Settings.
2. Click About ChromeOS in the left sidebar, then select Linux development environment.
3. This will open the Linux settings page. Here, look for the Backup & restore option and open it.
4. To create a backup, select Back up Linux apps and files.
5. Choose the location where you want to save the backup, give it a name, and click Save. This will create a backup file that you can move to Google Drive or external storage for safekeeping.
How to Restore Backup After Performing a Factory Reset
After performing a factory reset or setting up a new Chromebook, restoring your backup is fairly simple. Start by turning on your Chromebook and connecting it to Wi-Fi. Then, sign in using the same Google account you used previously. Once you sign in, your synced data, including bookmarks, apps, extensions, and settings, should automatically restore.
Next, open the Files app and download your files from Google Drive, or copy them back from your external drive. If you created a backup of your Linux environment, go to Settings > About ChromeOS > Linux development environment > Backup and restore, then select Restore and choose your backup file. To restore your photos and videos, open Google Photos and download any media you want to store locally.
Wrapping Up
And there you have it; that’s how you can back up and restore your Chromebook. Since ChromeOS automatically handles much of the syncing for you, the main things you need to focus on are backing up your local files, media, and Linux environment. Taking a few minutes to create a proper backup can save you a lot of trouble if you ever need to reset your device or switch to a new Chromebook.
