How To's & Tips

GOOGLE TIPS

~Students can sign in to their account on any device that has internet access. If they, by accident, leave their Chromebook at school, they can still get homework completed at home. Just go to mail.google.com and sign in (full email required). They can do this with any browser, Chrome, Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari.

~When creating a document, slide show or spreadsheet, ALWAYS, give it a title or name. That way it is easier to find. Otherwise it shows as "Untitled" in your google drive.

~Search for images or documents you've stored in Google Drive by describing or naming what's in them. You can do this using the "Search box" at the top of Google Drive, Google docs, and other Google apps for education.


HOW TO USE YOUR CHROMEBOOK TOUCHPAD

You can use your Chromebook's touchpad to right-click, scroll, and more.

Here's how it works:


Move the pointer

Move your finger across the touchpad.

Click

Press or tap the lower half of the touchpad.

Right-click

Press or tap the touchpad with two fingers. You can also press Alt, then click with one finger.

Scroll

Place two fingers on the touchpad and move them up and down to scroll vertically, or left and right to scroll horizontally.

Close a tab

Point to the tab, then tap or click the touchpad with three fingers.

Move between pages

To go back to a page you were just on, swipe left with two fingers. To go forward to a page you were just on, swipe right with two fingers.

See all open windows

Swipe up or down with three fingers.

Open a link in a new tab

Point to the link, then tap or click the touchpad with three fingers.

Switch between tabs

If you have multiple browser tabs open, swipe left and right with three fingers.

Drag and drop

Using one finger, click and hold the item you want to move. Drag the item to its new spot, then release your finger.

KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS

Chrome OS is full of handy keyboard shortcuts for things like reloading a page or going to your home page in the browser. In fact, there are so many it's almost impossible to keep track of them all. Finding out just what you can do so you know which ones to remember is easy.

Press Ctrl + Alt + ? and you'll see a list or an overlay of all of the keyboard functions and shortcuts.

Chromebook Printing from Home

ADD A CURRENT WIRELESS PRINTER

Provided you have a reasonably recent printer that’s capable of connecting to the internet, you should be able to add it directly to your Chromebook without the need for supplementary services.

First, make sure the printer is on and connected to the same Wi-Fi network as your computer. The procedure for connecting a printer to Wi-Fi varies from one model to the next, but there’s generally a “Wi-Fi” or “internet” option somewhere on the printer’s display, either as an icon on the main screen or as an option in its settings menu. This should walk you through the process.

Got the printer online and ready? Here’s what to do next:

  • Click the clock in the lower-right corner of your Chromebook’s screen. Then click the gear-shaped icon to open its settings.

  • Type “print” into the search box at the top of the settings panel.

  • Select “Printers,” then click the blue “Add Printer” button.

  • Click on your printer’s name in the list that appears, and click the blue “Add” button to finish the pairing.

ADD AN OLDER WIRELESS PRINTER

If your printer doesn’t appear in the list (which may happen if it’s an older device), you’ll need to click the “Add Manually” button that appears on the lower left corner of that window.

  • Give the printer any name you want.

  • Type its IP address into the “Address” box. (You can usually find the IP address somewhere in the printer’s display menu. Try looking in its settings for a section about network or wireless configuration.)

  • Leave the other two fields as they are, and click the blue “Add” button. Type in your printer’s manufacturer (e.g., “HP”) and model (e.g., “Officejet Pro 8600”), and select the appropriate options as they appear. Click the blue “Add” button when you’re done.

CONNECT A PRINTER PHYSICALLY TO YOUR CHROMEBOOK

If you’re using a much older printer that isn’t internet-capable, or if it is internet-capable but you’re having trouble connecting it manually as described above, don’t fret. You can connect your printer physically to a Chromebook using a USB cable.

  • Plug the cable into your printer, and then plug the other end into your Chromebook. (You may need an adapter, depending on what kind of cable you have and what kind of ports your Chromebook provides.)

  • Open your Chromebook’s settings and type “print” into the search box.

  • Select “Printers,” and then click the blue “Add Printer” button.

  • Click on your printer’s name, and click the blue “Add” button to finish.

That’s it! Now just hit Ctrl-P from any browser tab or look for the “Print” command in any app, and prepare to print to your heart’s content.