Android the Space Hog
The whole idea behind Chrome OS was to create a platform that supports web-based apps. You didn’t need to download and install these apps, which required relatively no space on the Chromebook’s local drive. The internal storage, instead, hosted the operating system and your files. Now that Google Play appears on most modern Chromebooks, Android apps go directly to the internal storage, meaning you need additional space to house your downloaded media, photos, and files. That’s where external storage comes in. Here are the supported file systems, according to Google:
FAT (FAT16, FAT32, exFAT) HFS+ (read-only on journaled HFS+) ISO9660 (read-only) MTP NTFS UDF (read-only)
As shown above, your Chromebook can read and write to any external drive formatted on a Windows-based PC. It can also read a drive formatted on a Mac, but it can’t write. It also supports the Media Transfer Protocol used by media devices, like DSLRs and mobile devices. Here are the types of external drives supported by Chrome OS:
USB hard drives (HDD or SSD) USB thumb drives USB CD-ROM (read-only) USB DVD-ROM (read-only) SD Card MicroSD Card
How to Connect Chromebook to External Storage
There are four ways to connect an external drive, depending on your Chromebook’s configuration:
USB-A: The older, rectangular USB port with square corners. You can only insert the male connector one way.USB-C: The newer, smaller USB port with rounded corners. You can insert the male connector up or down.SD card slot: This thin slot typically measures 24mm across. You can use a MicroSD card, but it requires an adapter.MicroSD card slot: This thin slot typically measures 11mm across.
How to Access an External Drive on Chromebook
As long as you have an external storage device that has the connections mentioned above, you can connect your drive to your Chromebook. Here’s how:
How to Use Your Chromebook External Hard Drive
With the Files app open, locate your external drive listed on the left. In this example, both a MicroSD card and a thumb drive are available. Select the listed external drive to view its contents. You can move files to and from the new drive just like you can in Windows using the mouse or keyboard commands. For example, here’s how to move screenshots from the Chromebook’s external storage to a USB thumb drive.
How to Format the External Storage Drive With Chromebook
If you want to wipe the new drive before transferring your Chromebook’s files, formatting is easy. Here’s what you need to do Release the mouse button to complete the selection.
How to Check the Drive’s Capacity
Unlike Windows, Chrome OS doesn’t provide a visual measurement of the drive’s storage capacity within the Files app. That said, you can still find out how much space you have left.
Properly Eject a Drive
While you can certainly remove the device at any time, data loss may occur. Instead, you should be sure to properly eject the device to ensure Chrome OS isn’t writing to the drive.
