
When you choose the ‘Power off’ option from the quick settings section of your Chromebook shelf, or even if you press and hold the hardware power button, ChromeOS will shut down entirely. Duh, right? Well, the reason I mention such an obvious thing is because anyone who wants to simply reboot their device is forced to use the same method as someone shutting down their work for the day.
While it may seem like a standard thing to have baked into the operating system, a dedicated ‘Restart’ button has never been present. Such a feature would save users the time of waiting until their device is completely powered off, checking, and pressing the button again to turn it back on. I know, I know, first-world problems. However, that minor moment of mental capacity between off and on states and the need to check is one of those things that should simply be automated.
First spotted by our friend C2 Productions on Twitter, a new ‘Quick Settings Revamp Flag’ has appeared (not on Stable) and when enabled, reveals said ‘Restart’ button on the sub-menu of the software power button! What I like about this is that it’s not taking up extra space on the core quick settings real estate and only shows up when needed.
Special thanks to all of the hard work C2 has been doing as of late. You can follow their Twitter if you’d like to see special Chromium commits and upcoming features sometimes even before we get an opportunity to report on them! Are you excited about the potential for an upcoming ‘Restart’ button on ChromeOS? Let us know in the comments!
Join Chrome Unboxed Plus
Introducing Chrome Unboxed Plus – our revamped membership community. Join today at just $2 / month to get access to our private Discord, exclusive giveaways, AMAs, an ad-free website, ad-free podcast experience and more.
Plus Monthly
$2/mo. after 7-day free trial
Pay monthly to support our independent coverage and get access to exclusive benefits.
Plus Annual
$20/yr. after 7-day free trial
Pay yearly to support our independent coverage and get access to exclusive benefits.
Our newsletters are also a great way to get connected. Subscribe here!
Click here to learn more and for membership FAQ