Troubleshooting

All of the websites I go to take a really long time to load (but they do eventually load).

• Check your WiFi source and strength by clicking the WiFi icon in the lower-right corner of your shelf/taskbar. If it is not a strong signal, this may be the issue. If possible, move closer to your WiFi source or disconnect other devices connected to that source.

• Make sure your Operating System (OS) is up to date.

  • Look for a system notification in the lower-right corner of your shelf/taskbar saying that you need to restart your device. Follow the instructions to restart.

  • In the lower-right corner of your shelf/taskbar, click on your avatar and select the gear icon to open your system settings menu. Click on About Chrome, and at the top of the window you should see an option to check for updates. If there is an update available, it will start loading the update. Once it finishes, a button will appear to restart your Chromebook and finish the update.

• If none of this works, the problem may be your internal WiFi antenna, which requires repair.

None of my websites load when I'm at home, but work fine at school.

• Check your WiFi strength and source. You can also disconnect, forget, and reconnect to a WiFi source to confirm the network password.

  • If you have a mesh network in your home, make sure you are connected to the 2.4 Ghz signal, NOT the 5 Ghz signal. (The stronger signal is for the WiFi points to connect to the router. The lower signal is for devices to connect to the network.)

• Make sure you authenticate your WiFi source. And remember: it can time out!

My sound isn't working on one site, but is okay on others.

• In the top bar of your browser, two-finger/right-click the tab you don't have sound on. This should pop up a menu. If you see "Unmute site", click it and try the sound again.

• If it's a video or audio player, you should also check that the player's volume setting is not muted.

My speakers won't play audio, but my headphones will.

• Open the volume control by clicking on the lower-right corner of your screen. Look to the right of the volume control for an icon that looks like headphones. If you see one, click on it to disable headphones and switch to internal speakers.

My headphones won't play audio, but my speakers will.

• Open the volume control by clicking on the lower-right corner of your screen. Check the audio output setting to see if the internal speakers are selected. If they are, select the headphones instead.

My headphones are only playing audio in one ear.

• If they are plugged into your device, make sure the headphone jack is plugged in all the way. If it's not, this may be why you're having problems.

• If the jack is plugged in all the way, or your headphones are wireless, it may just be a problem with the headphones themselves. Test them on another device playing the same audio to check whether they're working.

The text on my screen is too large *or* I have a message saying my screen resolution is not correct.

• Press ctrl + shift + 0 to reset your display size to default.

My screen is super zoomed in and moves around when I move my mouse.

• Oops! Somewhere along the way, you turned on the magnifying accessibility feature. Go to your settings menu in the lower-right corner of your screen, select "Accessibility" and turn off the magnify function.

My apostrophe isn't working/looks weird *or* my punctuation marks aren't working as they should.

• You need to adjust your keyboard language settings. Chances are very good that if you look to the lower-right corner of your screen, you will see INTL (this means your "International" keyboard is selected, and allows for accents and other punctuation over letters -- handy for Spanish class, not so great for Language Arts.) Press ctrl + spacebar until you see US in the lower-right corner to reset.

My Chromebook didn't charge at home, but it charges fine at school.

• Check all of the plugs and outlets. Make sure it's all the way plugged into your charge port (on the side of the Chromebook), at the adapter (aka "the brick"), and at the wall outlet. If it is still not charging, move to a different outlet that you know works. It's helpful to test the outlet with something like a hair dryer or phone charger.

• If those don't work, it might be your charger itself. Bring it to school with you to trade out for another. If it's just not working and was nothing you caused, you can trade it out at no cost. If it's damaged due to a bent USB-C plug or exposed cables, you will have to pay for a new charger ($30.74).