If you’ve been using Chromebooks for a while, you may know that ChromeOS lacks personality. It seems Google is putting effort into turning it into a top-tier operating systemwith top-tier devices. The new Personalization Hub is the most visible example of that. It lets you switch between light and dark mode and add custom wallpapers and screen savers.
How to open the Personalization Hub
Many people might not know about the Personalization Hub because they haven’t seen it. It’s easy to access, and there are a few ways to do it.
Open the Personalization Hub from your launcher
Open the Personalization Hub from your settings
Open the Personalization Hub from your Chrome browser
How to customize your Chromebook’s wallpaper with the Personalization Hub
The easiest and most obvious way to personalize your computer is to change the wallpaper to an elegant gradient, a photo of your family, or an image of your latest anime friend. Whatever your preference, the Personalization Hub has several options to choose from.
ClickWallpaperto use an image stored on your Chromebook, Google Photos account (check outour detailed guide), or one of the Google-curated categories. Select a category to choose an individual image to display or display a new wallpaper every day from within that category.
When you’ve settled on a wallpaper, choose one of four colors or four color palettes to accent your user interface. The accent colors highlight UI parts such as buttons and selected menu items. You can flip the toggle to apply a palette of accent colors preselected to complement your wallpaper.
You can also choose light or dark mode for your UI or have it change based on the time of day. Select Auto mode to switch modes at your local sunrise and sunset times. There isn’t a way to customize when it switches modes.
How to customize your Chromebook’s screen saver with the Personalization Hub
Screen savers are another way to give your computer a personal flair. Chromebook screen savers display a simple animation overlaid with the time and local temperature. Go to the Screen saver menu to turn the screen saver on and off, change the screen saver animation, change the image source for your screen saver’s animations, and change the display temperature from Fahrenheit to Celsius.
There are three options for the screen saver animation:
You’ll control the source of the images in your screen saver from the next section:
Whether you source your images from Google Photos or Google’s curated imagery, you’re able to choose more than one album to populate your screen saver. You can’t use albums from both sources at the same time.
When you turn on a screen saver, it comes on when the Chromebook goes idle (sooner if you’re on battery, later if you’re plugged in). You can’t adjust the idle time-out.
Make your Chromebook yours
Now that you’ve scrubbed some of the factory settings from your Chromebook, look at thesetricks to transform yourself into a power user. But it’s cool if you want to settle in andplay some games.
