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How to delete files on a Chromebook

Zak Islam
By

Among operating systems, Google's Chrome OS is the most unique. It's far more focused on using online services and is built around the Chrome browser. One way Chromebook differentiates itself from the rest is its lack of a recycle bin, though that’s not to say you aren’t able to delete any of your files on the system.

If you're having a bit of trouble removing unwanted files, here's how to delete files on a Chromebook.

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Difficulty

Easy

Duration

5 minutes

What You Need

  • Any Chromebook system

How to delete files via My Files

Step 1: Open My Files.

The My Files option on a Chromebook.

Step 2: Right-click on the file you want to remove from the system and select the Delete option.

It should be stressed that, as we touched on earlier, a Chromebook-based machine doesn’t have a recycle bin. As such, once you delete any file, it can’t be recovered and will be removed from the system completely.

Deleting a file or folder on a Chromebook.
Related

How to delete images on Chromebook

If you’re attempting to delete images on Chromebook, it can only be achieved through a specific method. You won’t be able to delete them via the Images folder. Similarly, files from the Recent or Video folders cannot be deleted. Instead, locate them through My Files and delete them there.

Step 1: Open My Files.

Step 2: Now open the location the images were originally placed in. If it’s situated within the Downloads folder, open that and proceed to delete the image(s).

Deleting an image on a Chromebook.

How to delete downloads on Chromebook

As Chromebook systems don’t typically come with a huge amount of local storage space, files within the Download folder are subjected to automatic deletion if the system is running out of the space it needs to function.

As such, you may want to delete or back up certain files and folders in Downloads before that happens, or you simply may no longer have any use for those files.

Step 1: Select the My Files folder.

Step 2: Select Downloads.

Step 3: Choose the files and folders you want to remove from the system by right-clicking on them, and then choose the Delete option.

Deleting files from the Downloads folder on a Chromebook.

For more helpful guides on Chromebook, especially if you’re a new user to the ecosystem, then check out our tutorials on how to add, disable, and remove apps in Chrome OS, and how to zip and unzip files.

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Topics
Zak Islam
Zak Islam
Computing Writer
Zak Islam was a freelance writer at Digital Trends covering the latest news in the technology world, particularly the…
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