Powerwash is Google's built-in factory reset tool for Chromebooks. Here's how to find the AUE from Google and in your Chromebook. The AUE can also be found in your Chromebook's settings.

Google maintains an AUE list, so finding the date your Chromebook will stop receiving updates is as easy as locating your model on that list. Current models receive updates for eight years older models could potentially be a year or two away from reaching their AUE. Every device has a date on which it stops receiving updates, aka its AUE date. Google only guarantees Chrome OS and browser feature support on non-Google hardware for so long. Check the AUE firstīefore you even consider gifting an old Chromebook, check its auto-update expiration. Google also makes it extremely easy to wipe your data and securely clean the internal storage as well as remove the Chromebook from your Google account. That's mainly because of their cloud-based design. Click it and you're done.Ĭhromebooks are the easiest to refresh. Find the laptop that you're gifting on the list of devices, and at the bottom of the listing, you'll see the option to remove the device. Sign in to your account from another computer and click on the Devices tab at the top of the page. If you used a Microsoft account to sign in to the laptop, the last thing you'll want to do is remove the laptop from that account. You can then stop and shut it down for a fresh-out-of-the-box experience or do some setup, which is a nice touch, especially if it's going to a family member so they can use it right away. When it's done, the laptop will start in its setup assistant mode.

After that, Windows cleans the drive of all software, settings and data. From there, you can select to reinstall Windows from the local drive or download it from the cloud. Click on Get Started and select Remove Everything from the box that appears. At the top of the window, you'll see Reset this PC. Ready to clean the drive and reinstall Windows? Go to Settings > System > Recovery.

Reset computer to factory settings