Just like the best laptops, the best Chromebooks aren't only for everyday consumers. If you're a student, there's a chance you've been issued a Chromebook or a great ChromeOS tablet for school. That means you might have had to use a school account on your Chromebook, which is typically tied to your school email address and is managed by your school's IT administration.
Well, if you want to remove that school account, we have some good news and some bad news. If you buy a Chromebook for yourself, and you're the owner, you can freely remove an account by Powerwashing it. However, if your Chromebook is managed and issued by your school, you can't remove that account. Even if you manage to somehow add a personal account to the device, it will become managed by your school anyway.
Why you can't remove a school account from a school-managed Chromebook
The reason why you can't remove a school account from a school-managed Chromebook is that the first Google account used on a Chromebook is the owner. In this case, that owner's account will be your school. Usually, an IT admin will have set it up beforehand and would have disabled the settings you need to remove this original account. These settings are usually under Security and Privacy > Manage other people. If you go here and see the options grayed out, it means that your school's IT administrator has disabled the options.
If you see a warning like "These settings are controlled by enterprise policy," you're out of luck. You can't remove that school account, and even attempting to Powerwash the Chromebook to remove it won't work. Your Chromebook will be permanently locked to the school's account, and you'll either have to ask the school to remove it or get a new Chromebook altogether.
How to remove an account from a Chromebook or switch owners
In the event that you're not using a school-managed Chromebook and just purchased your own for school, then you can easily remove any account, reset it to switch owners, or start anew. For this, you'll have to powerwash a Chromebook. It's a pretty simple process, but remember, all data from your Chromebook will be erased if you opt to go this route.
- Sign out of your Chromebook.
- Press and hold Ctrl + Alt + Shift + r.
- Select Restart.
- In the box that appears, select Powerwash.
- Press Continue and follow the steps on your screen.
Once this process is complete, you'll be able to set up your Chromebook just like it's new. Sign in with a Google account, and get going!
So, again, if your Chromebook has been issued by your school, there's no way for you to remove your school account from your Chromebook. You'll need to return the Chromebook to your school's administrators and have them reset and remove it instead. Even if you try to add your own personal account, it will still be auto-enrolled into your school's management system and lock you out of the settings just as before. That's why we advise using a personal account and buying your own Chromebook separate from your school's. You can check out the best Chromebook for students for some of our favorite options.