Connect a phone to your Chromebook

Unlock your Chromebook without a Google account password, send and receive text messages, view notifications, and more

By Henry Irvine

It is well worth the snippet of your time required to connect a phone to a Chromebook. When you do so, your connected phone unlocks your Chromebook without needing to input your Google account password every single time you log in. Perhaps more importantly, you can send and receive text messages on your Chromebook too. A connected phone also provides access to the Chromebook’s Phone Hub, a taskbar widget that expands to display some of your phone’s features.

Before you get started, you will need Chrome OS version 71 or greater. By default, Chrome OS automatically updates. Nonetheless, it is still always a good idea to check that your Chromebook is up to date. Next, make sure you have an Android phone and that your phone is running Android version 5.1 or greater. Finally, be certain to connect your phone and your Chromebook to the same Google account. With the housekeeping out of the way, here’s how you connect a phone to a Chromebook.

Connect a phone to your Chromebook

Assuming you did not already connect your Android phone to your Chromebook during…