If you’re doing this on a Chromebook Pixel, change it to: Next, run the following command to install Crouton: Press Ctrl+Alt+T to bring up a terminal on your Chromebook.Īt the Terminal, run the following command to enter a Ubuntu shell:

To do so, follow these instructions:ĭownload Crouton from the top of this page (or by clicking here) and save it in your Downloads folder. Next, we’re going to install Crouton and get Ubuntu up and running. If you aren’t sure, look up instructions for your specific device on enabling Developer Mode.

Note that some older Chromebooks have a physical switch that you’ll have to flip in order to turn on Developer Mode. Leave it alone until it reboots into Chrome OS. When it’s done, it will return to the screen with the red exclamation point.

This may take a little while (about 15 minutes or so), and will wipe your local information. It’ll pop up with a new screen for a few moments, then reboot and go through the process of enabling Developer Mode. Press Enter to continue, then give it some time.This will bring up a prompt asking if you want to turn on Developer Mode. As soon as you see Recovery Mode pop up-the screen with the yellow exclamation point-press Ctrl+D.This will reboot your Chromebook into Recovery Mode. Press and hold the Esc and Refresh keys together, then press the Power button (while still holding the other two keys).To put your Chromebook in Developer Mode: This will wipe your local data, so make sure to back anything up that you don’t have stored in the cloud. Chrubuntu needs you to reboot to switch the OS but it might have a better performance in case of older machines. If you prefer a more traditional dual-boot environment, check out ChrUbuntu instead. It’s speedy, powerful, and there only when you need it. Unlike dual-booting, that means you can switch between Chrome OS and Ubuntu with a quick keyboard shortcut, no reboots necessary, which is awesome. We’re going to use a tool called Crouton to install Ubuntu, which uses the chroot command to run Ubuntu on top of Chrome OS, which is already based on Linux. Enter Ubuntu: with just a few minutes of work, you can get a full-fledged Linux desktop up and running on some solid Chromebook hardware, making for a pretty great laptop. But sometimes, you just need a full desktop to get things done. Here’s how to install Ubuntu and get more out of your Chromebook.Ĭhrome OS isn’t bad, and you can actually do a lot of work with the great Chrome apps out there.

There are some Chromebooks with awesome hardware out there, like the beautiful Chromebook Pixel, but they don’t quite hit their full potential with Chrome OS.

Ubuntu on chromebook