There is a high chance you will lose all your unsaved progress if you have a Chromebook or any computer that is frozen. The only way to recover a frozen computer is by force restarting it. Therefore, only consider a force restart as the last resort.
Laptops with Windows OS and MacBook offer a force restart by holding the power button for five to ten seconds, it’s not a different story for Chromebook users too.
This article explains ways you can restart a Chromebook when frozen. But first, let us look at what causes Chromebook to freeze.
Table of Contents
What Stops a Chromebook From Responding?
Multiple processes running in the background may cause high resource usage stopping your Chromebook from responding. Besides this, here are a few other reasons causing the issue.
- ChromeOS issues
- Internal/External hardware Problem
- An issue with recently installed application
What Can I Do If My Chromebook Freezes?
Multiple heavy processes running in the background can freeze the Chromebook. So, the first thing you would want to do is let it sit for some time.
Another thing you do to check if you have a frozen Chromebook is by pressing the num lock key. The LED light on the keyboard, or the key itself, should not respond if the Chromebook is frozen.
If nothing responds, the only thing you can do is perform a hard restart.
Restart Your Chromebook
Force restarting the Chromebook will make you lose all unsaved work. So, before performing a shutdown, make sure that you save all your tasks. Here are a few ways you can restart your Chromebook.
Using the Power Button
One simple way to force shut down a PC is by pressing and holding the Power button for three to five seconds. The power button/key can be located on or just above the keyboard.
Some Chromebook might have the power button on their side. If you don’t have any power button on the keyboard, check for any circular button on either side of your Chromebook.
The power button will have an LED light turned on. However, if you have a power key on your keyboard, it will have a power sign. Both the power button/key are easily accessible, so they are hard to miss.
Using Refresh And the Power Button
You can find the refresh key usually above numeric keys 3 and 4 on your Chromebook. The power button, as discussed above, can either be located near the keyboard or even maybe on the sides.
Press and hold the refresh button for four to five seconds, then press the power button. This will directly restart your Chromebook.
Normal Shutdown
If your Chromebook is not completely frozen but has a delayed response, we recommend you save all your tasks and perform a normal shutdown. Only perform force shutdown when absolutely necessary.
Follow the steps to perform a normal shutdown. Note that this step will only work if your Chromebook is slow.
- Press the notification button on the bottom right of the screen.
- Click on the Power button to shut it down.
Once the laptop restarts, try running it for a few hours. If you face frequent system crashes/freezes, perform the necessary steps mentioned below.
Remove Connected Hardware
Firstly, remove any peripheral devices such as USB mouse, keyboard, or any storage device from the Chromebook. Peripheral devices are known to cause compatibility issues. Remove these devices and try using the laptop.
End Application Process
Most likely, you are facing a frozen screen due to tasks taking huge resources. If that’s the case, you can try stopping the background process.
- Press the Search + Esc simultaneously to open Task Manager.
- Click on the process with high RAM and CPU usage, then click on End Process.
Uninstall Application
Certain programs are known to cause various system malfunctions, such as system freeze. So, try uninstalling any suspicious application that could be causing the issue. If you start facing the issue after installing any application, it is best that you uninstall them right away.
- Click on the round icon on the bottom left of the screen.
- Click on the Up arrow.
- Here, search for the application you want to be uninstalled.
- Right-click on it and select Uninstall.
- Click Uninstall/Remove.
Drain Battery
You can try draining the battery fully if your Chromebook keeps freezing. First, drain the battery by leaving it on for a few hours. Once the battery drains, press the power button four to five times to drain all the capacitors.
Now, let the Chromebook sit for about an hour to let all the components cool down. Once all the parts are cool, join the charger and turn on the laptop.
Start Chromebook Without Battery
To start a Chromebook without a battery, you first need to remove the back panel. Remove the battery, connect the charger and turn on the laptop. Your laptop will turn on as long as you have the power chord connected to it. You might need to replace the batteries if the laptop freezing issue stops.
If the laptop still freezes, it might need a factory reset.
Perform Factory Reset
If nothing works and Chromebook freezing stops you from entering the OS, perform a factory reset. However, resetting the OS will delete all applications, including personal files and folders. Therefore, only perform a factory reset as a last resort.
- Restart the Chromebook and Press Ctrl + Alt + Shift + R key simultaneously on the login screen.
- Once the Reset window opens, click on Powerwash and Revert.
- Now follow the reset process to wipe out your Chromebook completely.
Repair Chromebook
If your Chromebook still suffers from random freezes, it might be that some internal component is defective. Therefore, if none of the above solutions fix your Chromebook, check if the laptop still has a warranty. If so, you can repair these defective parts for free.
In case the laptop’s warranty is expired, you can simply take it to the nearby laptop repair shop to fix the freezing issue.
