Chromebook 101: Customize Your Chromebook Desktop

Chrome OS isn’t the most populous option, but there are a few things you can do to make your Chromebook desktop look and function the way you want.

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Customize your Chromebook wallpaper

First, let’s take a look at the basic look and feel of your desktop:

• Right-click anywhere on the Chromebook desktop and select set wallpaper from the menu that appears.
• Click a Google category to see a selection of pre-selected photos, or click the My Pictures option to choose an image from your local storage.
• To change your wallpaper to a new wallpaper every day, tap daily change The button at the top of any of the Google Categories pages. (Unfortunately, this option is not currently available with your own photos.)

Customize your browser wallpaper

You can also customize the page that appears each time you open a new tab in your browser:

• Open a new tab in Chrome and click Chrome customization The button (or the pencil icon) is in the lower right corner of the browser.

• Choose my knowledge Choose a photo from a Google group or Download from the device To choose an image from your local storage, follow the instructions to select and confirm the desired image.
• Choose color and theme To change the appearance and background of browser borders. You can choose from a number of pre-set themes, or you can click on the circle with the drop icon and you can choose custom colors.

Customize Chromebook Rack

Last but not least, take control of the Chrome OS shelf – the row of shortcuts that looks like a dock at the bottom of the screen. Start by identifying the exact symbols that appear in that area:

• Open the app drawer (by clicking the circle icon in the lower left corner of the screen and then clicking the up arrow in the partial drawer that appears). Right-click on an item in the list and select Install on the rack†

• To add a website, open the site, click the three-dotted menu icon in the upper right corner of Chrome, and select More toolsfollowed by create Shortcut†

If you want the site to open in an app-like window, without the usual browser items at the top, click Open like a window option in create Shortcut? The popup that appears. Then press the blue button To make or to invent Knob.

• Drag an icon on the shelf to change its position.
• Have you decided that you don’t want the icon in your shelf after all? Right click on the icon and select untie†

And one of the last few possibilities: If you want your shelf to appear on the left or right side of your screen instead of at the bottom, right-click anywhere inside and select rack locationthen select the left or Turn right† And if you want your shelf to remain hidden by default and only appear when you hover over it, right-click on the shelf and select Auto Hide Shelf Selection.

Update May 27, 2022 at 9:30AM ET: This article was originally published on October 12, 2019 and has been updated to reflect minor changes in the operating system.