Chromebook Tips

The Chromebook has ports for peripherals, storage cards and more.

• Headphone/External Speaker Port: A pair of headphones or external speakers that utilize a 3.5mm mini-stereo connection can be connected here.
• Micro SD Card Slot: A Micro Secure Digital card can be inserted here to access data.
• USB Port: A variety of devices that utilize the USB interface can be connected here, for example a mouse. There is a USB port on each side of the Chromebook.
• USB-C Port: The Chromebook utilizes USB-C ports for charging. In addition to charging, a variety of devices that utilize the USB-C interface. There is a USB-C port on each side of the Chromebook.
• The Chromebook also has a built-in webcam and microphone located at the top of the screen. The built-in speakers are located on the bottom of the Chromebook.

The power button to turn on/off the Chromebook is located on the upper-right corner of the Chromebook keyboard above the backspace key.
Please note: Your Chromebook may start/resume automatically upon opening the lid.

The Chromebook utilizes a touchpad for moving and manipulating the on-screen cursor.

TouchPad Gestures:

• Tap one finger on the TouchPad to make a selection (clicking).

• Tap two fingers on the TouchPad to bring up a context-sensitive menu (right-clicking).

• Place two fingers slightly apart on the Touchpad and drag them across the TouchPad in an  up, down, left or right motion.

• Slide three fingers left or right on the TouchPad to scroll between open tabs in the Chrome browser.

General Care and Precautions

• Do not place anything on top of the Chromebook.

• When transporting, always carry the Chromebook in the bag.

• Do not mark or attempt to remove any asset tags, serial labels or any other  equipment identification on the Chromebook. 

Charging

• Your Chromebook can be actively used without the need to recharge for about eight hours.

• Please charge the Chromebook overnight to ensure it will have the maximum battery life for the next day. 

 Storage

• When not in use or being charged, your Chromebook should be stored in its bag.

General Cleaning

• When cleaning any part of the Chromebook, make sure the Chromebook is powered down.

• Never spray or pour liquid directly on any part of the device. 

Screen Cleaning

• The screen should be cleaned with a microfiber cloth. Do not use excessive force.

• If marks remain after using the microfiber cloth, moisten it with water and wipe again.

• Allow the screen to dry before closing the lid.

• Never use an alcohol or ammonia-based cleaner on the screen.

Keyboard Cleaning

• A lightly moistened soft cloth or wipe can be used to wipe the keytop surface only. 

• Ensure no liquid drips between the keys.

Outer Chromebook Cleaning

• A lightly moistened soft cloth or wipe can be used to wipe the outside of the Chromebook.

• Do not allow any liquid to drip into the ports of the device.

Sign in with your Naugatuck Public Schools (last name & initial of first name @naugatuck.k12.ct.us) (Doej@naugatuck.k12.ct.us for student John Doe) account.

1. Turn on the Chromebook if it’s not already on.

2. If your Chromebook is signed in to another account when you turn it on/open it for the first time, you will need to log out of the account it is currently logged in to before logging yourself in.

3. If you have already signed in to the chromebook before you will see this screen with your name and picture asking for your password (You will need to enter your district password each time you log in to the computer).

4. If you have never signed in to the chromebook before you will need to click on the “add person” tab at the bottom of the chromebook homescreen. Once you click on this tab you will see the following screen (You only need to enter your last name & initial of first name here as the @naugatuck.k12.ct.us is automatically populated!)

5. Enter your district password in the Password box.

If you are unable to sign in, please reach out to your classroom teacher.

Shelf

The Shelf is the bottom bar that holds the Apps Launcher, pinned app shortcut icons and the status bar. This area is similar to the taskbar in Windows or the dock on Mac OSX.

Apps Launcher

The circle in the bottom-left corner is known as the Apps Launcher. Clicking it will pull up a Search menu that you can use to quickly find an App. If you click the upwards arrow, all available Apps will be displayed. The Apps Launcher button is similar to the Start Button in Windows.

How To Pin An App To the Shelf

1. Locate the App you want to pin in the Apps Launcher.

2. Right-click (two finger tap on touchpad) on the App you want to pin and select Pin to Shelf.

The status area is located on the bottom-right corner of the screen. This status area lets you see your network connection status, battery life, which account is logged in and more.

Clicking on the status area pulls up a menu that can be expanded or collapsed to show more/less information.

The status area is where you:

• Sign out of the Chromebook.

• Shutdown the Chromebook.

• View your WiFi connection information as well as connect to another WiFi network.

• Check your battery percentage/time left.

• See today’s date.

• Adjust volume settings.

• Adjust brightness settings.

• Adjust notifications settings.

• Enable/disable Night Light. (Makes screen easier to see in dim light.)

• Cast your screen to a compatible device.

• Enable/disable Bluetooth.

1. Click the Status Area (clock area in bottom-right corner).

2. If you are in the smaller, collapsed view, click the upwards arrow to expand to the full view.

3. Click “Not connected”.

4. Select the WiFi network you want to connect to. If it is a secured network, you will be prompted for your WiFi password.

You can view, edit, and create new Google Docs, Sheets, Slides and Drawings while offline.

In order to work offline, you must enable the Offline setting for Google Drive while still connected to the Internet. This only needs to be done once.

An example scenario would be: You want to work offline at home.

To accomplish this: You must enable the Offline setting for Google Drive while still at school.

Enable Offline Setting (Must be done on the Chromebook)

1. Go to your Google Drive: Click the Drive icon located in the shelf, Apps Launcher or in the Google “9 Square” menu of any Google service site.

2. Next, click the Gear icon in the upper-right corner of the Google Drive page and select Settings.

3. Click the checkbox “Sync Google Docs, Sheets, Slides & Drawings files to this computer so that you can edit offline” in the Offline area.

Signing Into The Chromebook Offline

1. Startup the Chromebook. You will be taken to a screen that says “Network not available.”

2. Click the blue hyperlink at the bottom that says “Sign in as an existing user”

3. Click the Google Drive App icon in the Apps Launcher area like usual  to access and work with your files offline.

Your files will automatically sync once a WiFi connection is re-established.

To sign out of your Chromebook without powering it off:

1. Click on the status area.

2. Select Sign out.

1. Click on the status area.

2. Select shutdown. You can also press and hold the power button on the upper-right corner of the keyboard above backspace until the Chromebook powers down.

3. 

Files downloaded from the Internet appear in the Downloads area of the Files app.

1. Click the Apps Launcher button in the lower-left corner of the screen.

2. Click the upwards arrow to display All Apps.

3. Click Files.

4. Click Downloads if it doesn’t already take you there.

Your Chromebook automatically checks for updates when it is connected to a network. If there is an available update, there will be an up arrow update icon in the status area.

To Install An Automatic Update

1. Click the up arrow update icon in the status area.

2. Click Restart to update.

3. The Chromebook will restart and apply the update.

It’s best practice to shutdown your Chromebook at the end of the day so that available updates can be installed.

General Keyboard Shortcuts

• Take a screenshot: Press Ctrl + Show windows (or Ctrl + F5).

• Take a partial screenshot: Press Shift + Ctrl + Show windows (or Shift + Ctrl + F5), then click and drag.

• Lock your screen: Press Search + L.

• Sign out of your Google Account: Press Shift + Ctrl + q (twice).

Text Editing Keyboard Shortcuts

• Turn Caps Lock on or off: Search+ Alt

• Select everything on the page: Ctrl + a

• Select the content in the address bar: Ctrl + L or Alt + d

• Select the next word or letter: Shift + Ctrl + Right arrow

• Select text to the end of the line: Search+ Shift + Right arrow

• Select text to the beginning of the line: Search+ Shift + Left arrow

• Select previous word or letter: Shift + Ctrl + Left arrow

• Move to the end of the next word: Ctrl + Right arrow

• Move to the start of the previous word: Ctrl + Left arrow

• Move to the beginning of the line: Search + Left arrow

• Move to the end of the line: Search+ Shift + Right arrow

• Go to the end of the document: Search+ Ctrl + Right arrow

• Go to the beginning of the document: Search+ Ctrl + Left arrow

• Copy selected content to the clipboard: Ctrl + c

• Paste content from the clipboard: Ctrl + v

• Paste content from the clipboard as plain text: Shift + Ctrl + v

• Cut: Ctrl + x

• Delete the previous word: Ctrl + Backspace

• Delete the next letter (forward delete): Alt + Backspace

• Undo your last action: Ctrl + z

• Redo your last action: Shift + Ctrl + z

The web-based applications that students and staff use with their Chromebooks that include Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Classroom, Forms and more are called Google Apps for Education or G Suite. These web applications feature real-time collaboration where up to 50 users can simultaneously edit a document from anywhere.

• Google Classroom: Web service for creating, distributing, grading and collaborating on assignments in a paperless way.

• Google Docs: Word processing web application.

• Google Sheets: Spreadsheet web application.

• Google Slides: Presentation creation web application.

•    Google Drive: The cloud-based storage where Google Apps and other documents and files are stored.         

• Google Forms: Forms, quizzes, surveys web application.

• Google Mail (Gmail): Email web application.

•  Google Calendar: Calendar web application.

1. Open the file you’d like to share in your Google Drive.

2. Click Share.

3. Click Advanced to see the complete share options, as well as to verify sharing permissions.

4. You can either share with specific people or create a shareable link where anyone who has the link can access the file. 

5. You can control whether the people you are sharing with can only just access the document or if they can also edit it by clicking the pencil icon and choosing their access level when inviting them to the document via the invite people box.

6. You can also change their access after the fact, by clicking the pencil icon next to their name.