Skip to main content

How to delete files on a Chromebook

HP Dragonfly Pro Chromebook top down view showing keyboard and touchpad.
Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

Your Chromebook has quickly become your everyday computer. Using it for just about everything, including web browsing, word processing, gaming, and social media, we bet there’s going to come a time when you need to delete some files from your PC. Doing so will not only allow you to store more media locally, but it should also help to improve the performance of your go-to Chromebook device.

Recommended Videos

Difficulty

Easy

Duration

5 minutes

What You Need

  • Any Chromebook system

Deleting your Chromebook files is very easy, and we’ve put together this guide to help you through the process.

How to delete files via My Files

Step 1: Open My Files.

The My Files option on a Chromebook.
screenshot / Digital Trends

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

It should be stressed that 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.
screenshot / Digital Trends

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.
screenshot / Digital Trends

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.
screenshot / Digital Trends

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.

Zak Islam
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Zak Islam was a freelance writer at Digital Trends covering the latest news in the technology world, particularly the…
Lenovo Chromebook Duet 11 vs. iPad: another failed attempt
The Lenovo Chromebook Duet 11 on a table.

If you're looking for a very inexpensive tablet, your choices among 2-in-1 laptops is limited. Certainly, you won't be buying a Windows tablet for under $500, at least not from a name brand. That leaves you with just a few choices, including tablets running Chrome OS and iPadOS.

I recently reviewed the Lenovo Chromebook Duet 11, which comes in at $400 or less. That pits it directly against the Apple iPad 10th generation that also starts at under $400. Which is the better affordable tablet for you?
Specs and configurations

Read more
Google may finally bring back the Pixelbook, but not how you think
google pixelbook i7 price cut amazon

One of Google’s upcoming big projects could be a high-end laptop slated to be the next rival of the MacBook Pro.

An internal email obtained by Android Headlines detailed that Google has greenlit a project for a device codenamed “Snowy.” The email suggests the device is a laptop with premium specifications similar to the Dell XPS, Microsoft Surface Laptop, the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook, and the brand’s largest competitor, Apple’s MacBook Pro. With the project past the concept phase, it would likely be quickly expanded into a viable product under the Pixel line.

Read more
Cyber Week Lenovo Laptop deals: Get 58% off the brand’s best offerings
Lenovo Legion Pro 7i on a desktop surface outside.

Bye, bye Cyber Monday, and hello Cyber Week! Lenovo is one of the best laptop brands if you’re looking to land a significant deal throughout the year, and with Cyber Week deals now having officially started, we’re seeing some of the best Lenovo laptop deals of the year. We’ve rounded up all of the best Cyber Week Lenovo laptop deals we can get our eyes on, and you can find those details below. There are plenty of other Cyber Week laptop deals to take a look at as well, including Cyber Week MacBook deals, Cyber Week HP laptop deals, Cyber Week Dell laptop deals, and Cyber Week gaming laptop deals.
Our Top Pick: Lenovo Slim 7i -- $715 $1,130 36% off

The Lenovo Slim 7i is a great mid-range work option if you want something relatively portable. It has a mid-range Intel Core Ultra 5 125H processor, 16GB of RAM, and a substantial 1TB SSD, as well as a 1080P FHD camera which is great for those who have online meetings. The 36% discount is also pretty great.

Read more