Reset and/or Restart a Chromebook

If your District device is damaged (e.g. broken screen, keyboard, water damage) or lost/stolen, please contact your student's home school to coordinate an exchange.

For all other issues, please review the following troubleshooting steps before submitting a support request for the District device.

If you have tried all the troubleshooting options below and are unable to resolve the device issue, please see the “Submit a request” link in the top right corner of our knowledge base pages to submit a support request, or leave a message at our support desk at 208 854-6670.

See the following sections to troubleshoot in succession:

• Hardware Reset

• Browser Reset

• Factory Reset

• Wireless/Internet Issues

• District Hotspot

Hardware/OS or Hard Reset: This resets the hardware:

• Keyboard
• Touchpad
• Speakers
• Microphone etc.

While logged in, hold the keys; Ctrl+Reload+Power, this will reboot the device and the hardware, the device should now function normally.

If the Chromebook is powered off, Press and hold Reload + tap Power, when the Chromebook starts up, release the Reload key and the device should now function normally.

Browser Reset: Resets the Chrome browser, (Does NOT remove browsing DATA, click here to clean up data). 

• At the recovery mode screen, press Ctrl + D.
• Press enter (turns off OS verification) the screen will go black momentarily.
• Press enter, (confirms turning on OS verification- OS verification is on will confirm then the chromebook will reboot, you will see the Chrome icon, please be patient as the device reboots.
• Click the blue Get started button, you may hear 'Do you want to activate ChromeVox, the built-in screen reader for Chrome OS?' Select No, continue without ChromeVox - this setting can be utilized for accessibility purposes.
• Click the blue Get started button.
  • You will then see a screen to select a wireless connection; 
    • • • At home users Enter your wireless information. (online school students if you are using a District hot spot enter the hot spot credentials.)
        • At school users, Select BSD-Guest wireless.
• At the Terms and Agreement screen hold the Ctrl and press the letter 'e' key on the keyboard (you will not see anything happen). Uncheck the Optional: Help to remove.....
• Click the Accept and continue blue button.
• Click "Done".
• Sign into the Chromebook.

Note: If you have a login screen with @boiseschools.org pre-filled in the user name box - request assistance from the District Help Desk 208-854-6670.

As a precaution, click here to also refer to our article on Chrome browser maintenance.

If there are still connection issues here are a few things that can be checked at home:

Home DSL or Cable Internet

If the DSL or Cable modem is in the same room as the student, 5G connections work great.  If it's in another room, use the 2G.  For example in the list of available Wi-Fi you may see something like CenturyLink5161-5G and CenturyLink5161-2G.   5G does not go around corners or through walls as well as 2G, which does much better at permeating walls and turning corners.

If the students are getting kicked from meets daily, it is very possible it could be related to the home internet connection.  When a student Chromebook internet connection drops even briefly, Google Meets sees that the same way it would if the instructor removed the student from the class and it will not let the Chromebook rejoin the meeting without a new invite.  If a student leaves a meet, they can come back.

Because the student Chromebook must be re-invited, it may be a connection problem.  Confirm with the instructor. 

Older DSL cabling in neighborhoods can have issues especially if there is rain or melting snow on the ground, this is particularly evident around Fairmont Junior High School.

If the household internet is on a lower DSL or Cable internet level, for example 20mbps or lower, we suggest not using other devices for streaming content such as, TV services/movies, YouTube etc. at the same time as student Google Meets to reduce interruption.

To troubleshoot:  Connect to a different wireless source such as a cell phone hot spot, if using a District hotspot, try the home internet, if available try a friends/family internet, a new connection temporarily while you are testing connection.  If the District Chromebook connects to another device try resetting the current connection you are using.  If the student is using a District hotspot and is able to connect to an alternate/temporary internet connection try resetting the District Hotspot click here for steps.  

Boise School District T-Mobile Hotspots (BOES/BOSS students)

The icon which shows 4 vertical bars represents cellular signal, the icon shaped more like a baseball field represents WiFi.  If less than 4 bars of cellular strength showing on the hotspot, try moving the hotspot to a window or another location where it may get a better signal.  Keep the Mobile Hotspot within about 10 feet of the laptop.  The hotspots are designed to have on the table in front of you, connectivity weakens the further away the hotspot is from the device using the WiFi.

At anytime we invite you to contact the help desk 208-854-6670 for assistance.

See also how to clear Google account Chrome browser data

Reset District Hotspot