Work With Google Drive While Offline
One misconception about the Chromebook is that it cannot work without a network connection. The ability to function offline is crucial, especially if you travel with your Chromebook or are in situations where there’s no internet connection. Here’s how to work with your Chromebook when you don’t have a network connection: You can now work with Google Drive while offline.
Pin Apps to the Taskbar
Like most operating systems, you can pin apps to the Chromebook taskbar. It’s more efficient to launch those apps (instead of going through the Menu to find one). To pin an app to the taskbar, follow these steps:
Add a Website Shortcut to the Taskbar
Similar to adding apps to the taskbar, you can add websites to the taskbar and add sites to run in their application windows (as opposed to tabs in Chrome). This option is convenient when you have a site you frequently use for productivity (for example, a CMS tool, your banking site, or a social media site). Here are the steps to make this happen: The above steps create the shortcut and pin the shortcut to the taskbar. When you click that shortcut, it opens the site in its particular app window (without the standard toolbars and other features of the regular Chrome browser).
Use the Overview
The Chromebook includes an overview feature that displays a thumbnail of each of your currently running apps and windows. To use this feature, tap the square button with the two vertical lines. The Overview allows you to select which app to work with (by clicking the app) or closing an app or window (by clicking the associated X in the upper-right corner of the app or window).
Dictate to Google Docs
Google has one of the best speech-to-text engines on the market. You can take advantage of that by dictating your work into Google Docs for hands-free writing. To make this happen, first enable the on-screen keyboard. To do that, follow these steps: Now open Google Drive, create a new document, and follow these steps:
Enjoy Better Productivity on Your Chromebook
With these five quick tips, you should experience a more efficient level of productivity on your Chromebook. Never let anyone tell you again that a Chromebook is nothing more than a web browser.
