Chromebook Factory Reset

It is sometimes necessary to resent Chromebooks back to their factory settings. It may be time to refresh the whole fleet, or a Chromebook is not receiving the same settings as other Chromebooks in an OU. In years past, you might have collected Chromebooks individually or in a return event, wiped them down, checked for damage, and power-washed them.

Instead, you can digitally clean Chromebooks while they stay with users. 
Recently, Google updated the Admin console to provide more controls for resetting devices. If you navigate into the Admin console and head to Devices > Chrome > Devices, you will see a list of the devices in your console.

There are several ways to access reset for a single or multiple devices:

• Click on a serial number to open a specific device, and click Reset at the left.
• Hover over a device, click the 3 dots at the right, then Reset.
• Check the checkbox next to one or more devices you want to reset, and click more at the top, then Reset.

You will see the following prompt.

The first option clears user-profiles and purge logins in order to free up space locally. This option can be helpful after a long break or before a testing window.

The second option gives you the equivalent of a power wash. It shows a warning about making sure the device is setup for auto re-enrollment, which is a setting you can enable in the Admin console. 

Checking Forced or Auto Re-enrollment

Let’s make sure the is auto re-enrollment setting is configured correctly.

Head into the Admin console and navigate to Devices > Chrome > Settings > Device Settings.

The first setting you see on this screen is called Forced re-enrollment and should be set to Force device to automatically re-enroll after wiping. This ensures that any power wash done to the device will result in full re-enrollment even if a user doesn’t sign into the device right away. This setting is essential for ensuring devices stay enrolled in your domain during the power wash process. Another caveat is that pre-configured Wi-Fi settings are removed with a power wash and devices need access to a network to grab those policies again. Make sure your device has access to a network to regain these policies.

Click on the setting to make changes. 

Once you have all of your settings configured, you are free to remotely power wash your devices to your heart’s content! You can refresh your devices and trust that they will end up enrolled right where you expected them to be. Happy refreshing!