When your Chromebook just won’t move
It always happens at the worst time. You’re halfway through a report, watching a video, or chatting with friends… and suddenly the screen stops responding. The cursor won’t move, clicking does nothing, and you’re left staring at a frozen screen.
The first thing to remember? Don’t panic. Most of the time, your Chromebook isn’t broken — it’s just stuck, and you can bring it back to life in a few quick steps. In this guide, I’ll walk you through exactly what to do when your Chromebook freezes, starting with the simplest fixes and working up to the heavy-duty options.
How to Fix a Frozen Chromebook: Quick Steps
- Simple Restart: Hold the power button.
- Soft Reset: Press
Refresh+Power. - Hard Reset: Press
Refresh+Poweron a turned-off device. - Troubleshoot: Check tabs, extensions, and updates.
- Powerwash: Perform a factory reset as a last resort.
Start with a quick restart
Think of this as giving your Chromebook a quick “wake-up shake.” If the system is unresponsive, a restart can often clear the problem.
Here’s how:
- Press and hold the power button until the screen goes black.
- Wait about 5 seconds.
- Press the power button again to turn it back on.
If your Chromebook won’t even turn off when you tap the power button, keep it held down for 6–8 seconds. That’s the “force shutdown” trick.
Try a soft reset with a keyboard shortcut
If the cursor is frozen but you can still see the clock ticking in the corner, a soft reset is worth a try. This doesn’t erase any files — it’s more like closing the lid and opening it again, but with extra kick.
Do this:
- Hold down the refresh key (the circular arrow above the number 3 or 4).
- While holding it, tap the power button once.
- Release both keys and let the Chromebook restart.
Many people don’t know about this combo, but it can save you from bigger resets later.
Go for a hard reset if nothing else works
Sometimes your Chromebook needs a deeper refresh — this is called a hard reset, and it resets the tiny “traffic controller” inside (the embedded controller) without touching your files.
Steps:
- Turn off your Chromebook.
- Hold the refresh key, then press and hold the power button.
- Release them when the device starts up.
On certain models, there’s a little reset button or pinhole on the underside. If you can’t get the key combo to work, check your model’s manual or the Google support page.
Figure out why it froze in the first place
Fixing the freeze is one thing — but if you want to stop it from happening again, you need to find the cause.
Too many open tabs or apps
Chromebooks have limited memory, and 20 open tabs plus a few streaming videos can be too much. Press Search + Esc to open Task Manager and close anything hogging memory.
Problematic extensions
Some Chrome extensions eat up resources or just don’t play nice. Type chrome://extensions into your address bar, turn off suspicious ones, and see if the freezing stops.
Outdated Chrome OS
Old software can cause weird bugs. Click the clock, go to settings → About Chrome OS, and check for updates.
External devices
A faulty USB drive or accessory can lock things up. Unplug everything, restart, and see if it runs normally.
When all else fails: do a Powerwash
This is the nuclear option. A Powerwash resets your Chromebook to factory settings. It will erase everything stored locally, so back up anything important to Google Drive or an external device first.
To Powerwash:
- Sign out of your Chromebook.
- Press Ctrl + Alt + Shift + R.
- Choose restart.
- When prompted, select Powerwash → Continue.
It’ll be like having a brand-new Chromebook — without the old glitches.
Final thoughts
If your Chromebook freezes, start small: restart it, try a soft reset, and move up to a hard reset if needed. Most freezes are caused by simple overloads — too many tabs, an outdated update, or a troublesome extension.
Save the Powerwash for last. And if you’ve tried everything and it still locks up, it might be time to contact Google support or your device manufacturer.
The key is not to let frustration take over — in most cases, you can have your Chromebook back to normal in less than 10 minutes.
Find more helpful tips in our Technics and Gadgets category.
Another overlooked step is checking for peripheral issues. Once my Chromebook froze every time I plugged in a particular USB mouse. I thought the laptop was broken, but it turned out the mouse was faulty. So if you’re stuck with repeated freezes, try disconnecting everything and testing the Chromebook “bare.” Sometimes it’s the accessory, not the computer.
Something that saved me a lot of headaches was disabling unnecessary extensions. I used to have 15+ Chrome extensions running all the time — many I didn’t even use. After I turned most of them off, my Chromebook stopped freezing as often. So if you’re troubleshooting, don’t forget to look at those little icons next to your address bar!
For students like me, a frozen Chromebook in the middle of an online test is the worst nightmare. What I learned is that you can also log in as a Guest if your main account keeps glitching — that way, you can at least get through your work while you figure out the problem later. It’s not a permanent fix, but it can be a lifesaver in the moment.
One tip I’d add: if your Chromebook keeps freezing after you restart it, check how much storage is left. Chromebooks don’t have huge drives, and when the local storage is almost full, the system can slow down and lock up. I had this issue until I moved files to Google Drive and freed up about 5GB — since then, no more random freezes.