How to Powerwash a Chromebook (and What Happens to Your Extensions)

What Happens to Your Extensions When You Powerwash a Chromebook?

A powerwash is Chrome OS's built-in factory reset. It erases everything stored locally on the device — files, downloads, settings, and any extension that isn't tied to your signed-in Google Account — then reboots the Chromebook straight to the out-of-box setup screen. If you lean on extensions for productivity work, the short version is this: most of what matters survives a powerwash, but only if Chrome sync was turned on before you started, and only after you sign back into the same account. People usually reach for a powerwash for one of three reasons — a Chromebook that's gotten sluggish or glitchy, getting a device ready to sell or pass along, or clearing it out before returning it to a school or employer — and each of those changes what's actually worth backing up first.

Powerwash

Chrome OS's factory reset. It wipes internal storage and reinstalls a clean copy of the operating system, removing every user account, file and setting from the device itself.

Chrome sync

The setting that copies your bookmarks, extensions, saved passwords, history and open tabs to your Google Account, so they reappear when you sign in on any device, including a freshly reset one.

Local extension data

Settings, saved sessions or files an extension keeps only on this device rather than in its own cloud account. A powerwash deletes this permanently unless you export or back it up first.

Before You Powerwash: What to Back Up First

Powerwash doesn't ask twice. Once the reset starts, there's no pause button and no recovery for anything that lived only on the device. Spend five minutes on this checklist first, especially if you've never actually checked whether sync is on — it's easy to assume it is and be wrong.

1. Turn on Chrome sync and confirm Extensions and Bookmarks are included in what syncs, not just Apps and Wi-Fi passwords.
2. Open each password manager extension you use and confirm you can sign into its cloud vault — that's what actually restores your passwords, not Chrome sync.
3. Export bookmarks you don't fully trust to sync: go to chrome://bookmarks, open the three-dot menu, and choose Export bookmarks, or run them through the bookmarks converter tool if you're changing formats or browsers.
4. Save your open tabs and windows if you have a research project or dozens of tabs you don't want to hunt down from history afterward.
5. Move files out of Downloads and into Google Drive or an external drive — powerwash deletes the Downloads folder completely, with no recycle bin.
6. Write down which extensions you actually use day to day, plus any Android or Linux apps, since those don't reinstall the same automatic way.

How to Powerwash a Chromebook from Settings

This is the normal path when your Chromebook boots fine and you can reach Settings. It works the same whether you're clearing out a slow device, fixing something that's misbehaving, or getting a Chromebook ready to sell — the only difference is what you backed up beforehand.

1. Click the clock in the bottom-right corner of the screen, then click the gear icon to open Settings.
2. Scroll down the left-hand menu and click Advanced to expand the advanced settings section.
3. Under Reset settings, click Powerwash.
4. Click Restart in the confirmation window that pops up.
5. On the powerwash screen that appears after restart, click Powerwash again, then Continue.
6. Wait while the Chromebook resets and reboots into the initial setup screen — this typically takes just a few minutes.

How Do You Powerwash a Chromebook You Can't Sign Into?

Use this route when Settings isn't reachable — a forgotten password, a Chromebook so slow it won't respond, or a device you're taking over from someone else. It resets the machine straight from the sign-in screen, without ever opening the OS itself.

1. On the Chromebook sign-in (lock) screen, press and hold Ctrl + Alt + Shift + R at the same time.
2. Click Restart in the box that appears over the sign-in screen.
3. After it reboots, click Powerwash, then Continue to confirm.
4. Once setup finishes, sign in with a Google Account to trigger sync and start pulling your data back.

Powerwashing a Chromebook Before You Sell, Donate, or Recycle It

If you're passing a Chromebook on to someone else, powerwash it first — it's the same reset covered above, just with privacy as the goal instead of troubleshooting. Sign out of every account, then powerwash from Settings so no cached credentials or extension data linger for the next owner. It's worth knowing what an extension could see before you hand the device over; see are Chrome extensions safe for what permissions actually mean in practice.

A powerwash removes local files and settings, but it doesn't undo a school or work enrollment on its own. If the Chromebook was ever managed by an organization, get it deregistered by an admin first, otherwise it can re-enroll itself to that same organization the moment it reconnects to Wi-Fi during setup.

Will My Extensions Come Back Automatically After a Powerwash?

Whether your extensions reappear depends less on the powerwash itself and more on what was set up beforehand. Chrome doesn't back anything up during the reset — it only restores what your account already had saved from before.

The practical takeaway: sync is the setting doing all the work, not the powerwash. If you're not sure it was on before you reset, assume it wasn't and plan to reinstall extensions from the Chrome Web Store by hand — it's slower, but nothing is actually lost as long as you still know which extensions you used and can sign back into any that have their own account.

What Happens to Password Manager Extensions After a Powerwash?

Password manager extensions are the one category where sync barely matters. Your vault lives on the provider's servers, not on the Chromebook, so a password manager survives a powerwash no matter what your sync settings were. Reinstall the extension from the Chrome Web Store, sign back into your account, and your saved logins, passkeys and secure notes are all still there. Comparing Bitwarden against 1Password mostly comes down to price and features, not what survives a reset — both restore the same way.

New Tab, Dashboard, and Session Extensions After Reset

Not every extension bounces back looking the same. New-tab and dashboard extensions often store your layout locally rather than in an account, so a powerwash can quietly reset them to their default look even though the extension itself reinstalls fine. Check these before assuming everything looks the way it did.

For a broader shortlist beyond what's covered here, the best Chromebook extensions guide rounds up picks across categories, not just backup and password tools.

Troubleshooting: Powerwash Stuck or Extensions Missing After Reset

Most powerwash problems trace back to a managed device or a sync setting nobody checked beforehand. Here's what to do about the common ones, in the order they're worth checking, before you assume something is actually broken.

Extensions didn't come back after signing in

Open Settings, find sign in and sync, and check that Extensions and Apps are both switched on individually — sync can be on for some categories and quietly off for others.

Stuck on the powerwash screen for a long time

Give it ten to fifteen minutes before assuming it's frozen. If nothing changes after that, hold the power button for about ten seconds to force a restart, then try the reset again.

Android or Linux apps missing after reset

These reinstall through the Play Store and the Linux setup separately from Chrome extensions, so reopen those settings and reinstall each one on its own rather than expecting sync to cover them.

You need to remove just one extension instead of resetting everything

A full powerwash is overkill for one problem extension; see how to remove a Chrome extension for the faster fix.