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How to Open Crosh Developer Shell on a Chromebook Device

The Crosh shell, also known as the Chrome OS developer shell, is a powerful command-line interface built into Chrome OS that allows advanced users and developers to access diagnostic tools, system information, and low-level settings on a Chromebook.

While Crosh is hidden by default, it can be easily accessed by pressing a simple keyboard shortcut. This article provides step-by-step instructions on how to open Crosh on a Chromebook.

What is Crosh?

Crosh stands for “Chrome Operating Shell”. As the name suggests, it is a shell environment specific to the Chrome OS operating system.

Some key things to know about Crosh:

  • Provides terminal access to the underlying Chrome OS Linux system
  • Includes various debugging and troubleshooting commands
  • Allows adjustment of Chromebook hardware settings
  • Available on all Chrome OS devices, even without developer mode enabled

In short, Crosh lets technically-inclined users tap into advanced functions and configurations that normally are not available through the standard Chrome OS graphical interface.

Why Open Crosh on a Chromebook?

There are several reasons why you may want to access the Crosh shell on your Chromebook:

  • Troubleshoot problems: Crosh provides diagnostics commands to help debug Chrome OS issues. For example, you can check detailed system information, network connectivity status, perform hardware tests, and more.
  • Tweak hidden settings: Crosh grants access to normally hidden Chromebook settings, like touchpad sensitivity, display settings, power management options, etc.
  • Developer tasks: Developers can utilize Crosh to assist with coding projects, install various developer tools, and test things on a Chromebook.
  • Fun and learning: For Linux and terminal fans, Crosh allows you to flex some command line muscles and explore what’s possible on Chrome OS.

So whether you need to troubleshoot a finicky Wi-Fi connection or want to tweak the screen brightness, Crosh is your gateway to unlocking additional capabilities.

Accessing Crosh on a Chromebook

Opening Crosh on a Chromebook is extremely simple:

  1. First, ensure your Chromebook is turned on and a browser window is open.
  2. Next press the Ctrl + Alt + T keyboard shortcut. This will open Crosh in a new browser tab.

That’s it! You now have access to the Crosh shell environment.

A prompt should display like:

chronos@localhost / $

This indicates you are logged in as the default chronos user on the Chromebook itself.

Note: Your Chromebook does NOT need to be in Developer Mode to open Crosh. It is available on all Chrome OS devices.

Running Crosh Commands

Now that you have accessed Crosh, here are some useful commands you can try running:

  • help – Displays available built-in commands
  • ssh – Starts SSH client to connect to remote servers
  • top – Displays running processes and resource usage
  • uptime – Shows how long the Chromebook has been running
  • ping – Sends ping packets to test network connectivity
  • set_time – Manually sets system date and time
  • battery_test – Runs test on the battery
  • memtest – Performs memory diagnostic

And many more!

For example, to ping google.com, you would run:

ping google.com

You can press Ctrl + C at any time to stop running commands.

Closing Crosh

When you are finished using Crosh, simply enter the exit command or close the browser tab to terminate the session.

exit

The next time you need to access Crosh again, just repeat the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Alt + T from any browser window.

Tips for Using Crosh

Here are some handy tips to keep in mind when working in Crosh:

  • Run help_advanced to see additional advanced debugging commands
  • Most Linux terminal commands like ls, cd, etc. also work in Crosh
  • You don’t need to enable Developer mode, Crosh is available normally
  • Avoid running commands that could break Chrome OS functionality
  • Crosh access requires a browser window, it can’t run standalone
  • Press Tab for auto-complete suggestions when typing commands

Conclusion

Accessing the Crosh shell opens up additional possibilities on your Chromebook that normally are hidden from users. With just the simple Ctrl + Alt + T keyboard shortcut, you can tap into handy troubleshooting tools, tweaks, network tests, and more.

So whether you just enjoy tinkering in a terminal or need to configure a tricky setting on your Chromebook, the Crosh developer shell is readily available to help you out. Just open it up in the Chrome browser and start running commands to unveil advanced functions.

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