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How to Change Chrome OS Channel

Google’s Chrome OS has a good track record in terms of system stability. If you have bought a new Chromebook, chances you won’t run into problems anytime soon. Having said that, those who prefer to test out new features at the cost of stability can switch between different software channels on their Chromebooks.
This guide has everything you need to know about the Chrome OS channels, alongside a step-by-step tutorial so that you can switch between them anytime and get early access to new features on your Chromebook.

Differences between the Chrome OS channels

Every Chrome OS device can run one of the four following software channels at a time, which are: Stable, Beta, Developer, and Canary. Here’s more about them in detail:

    • Stable channel: All Chromebooks ship with the Stable version of Chrome OS installed. Stable channel builds are thoroughly tested before release, so users get the best Chrome OS experience without running into stability issues.
    • Beta channel: It holds the middle ground between Stable and Developer Chrome OS channels. This is where you get early access to newer features before making their way to the Stable channel. However, you will encounter a few bugs here and there, which get fixed with patches once in a while.
    • Developer channel: Developer Chrome OS builds give you very early access to new features and core software changes. It’s intended only for developers to test out the latest features, and the plethora of bugs makes the Dev channel unsuitable for daily usage.
      Unless you use a Chromebook as a secondary computer, we recommend sticking with either Beta or Stable.
    • Canary Channel: Canary is an experimental channel where new features and UI/UX changes take shape and proceed further to the Dev, Beta, and Stable channels. It’s highly unstable and unreliable for daily usage.
      On top of that, you need to run a special command in the Chrome OS Developer shell with Developer Mode enabled to get access to the Canary channel. It also receives nightly updates with long changelogs.

It’s worth noting that switching from Stable to Beta or Developer channels is straightforward on Chrome OS. But the other way around requires users to run a full system wipe on their Chromebook, erasing all data from the device.
While it takes a few minutes to go through the first-time setup process on a Chromebook, you should first back up your essential data on either local or cloud storage before switching or reverting to a channel.

Steps to change Chrome OS channels

The process of switching between Chrome OS channels is relatively simple. Please perform the following steps below to learn how to do it.

  1. First, open the System Tray from the bottom-right corner of your Chrome desktop.
  2. Next, click or tap the cog icon in the System Tray to open the Settings menu.
  3. Now click or tap the burger icon on the menu’s upper-left side, then select About Chrome OS at the bottom of the sidebar.
  4. Click or tap Additional details to expand the options on the following screen.
  5. After that, click or tap the Change channel button next to the Channel option.
  6. Finally, choose the channel you wish to switch to, and then click or tap Change channel.

If you switch from Stable to Beta or Developer, your Chromebook will download the latest build from the chosen channel. When it’s done, Chrome OS will prompt you to reboot and apply the update.
If you are reverting from Beta or Developer to Stable, you will need to go through the Powerwashing process on your Chromebook. Once again, bear in mind that Powerwash will remove all your local data, so make sure to back up your important files first.

What about the Chrome browser on phones and PCs?

The Google Chrome browser for phones and PCs shares the same software channels as Chrome OS, including Stable, Beta, Dev, and Canary. However, you can run Stable and other versions of the Chrome browser as separate apps on your devices.
Chrome Beta is available for Windows, Linux, macOS, Android (via Google Play), and iOS (via TestFlight). Chrome Dev and Canary aren’t released for iOS. Linux users also can’t get their hands on the highly experimental Canary builds of the Chrome browser.
The Beta, Dev, and Canary Chrome browser versions install the same way as the Stable version, and they are set to update automatically by default. You can also uninstall them without losing any of your crucial data.

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