So if you have dual-booted Chrome OS and want to remove the Chrome OS, we can easily do so by simply deleting the Chrome OS partition from the disk management. But the process is quite different to remove Chrome OS Flex, which has been installed as primary. Let’s see how to Remove Chrome OS Flex and install Linux without any second PC or Rufus.
Why Replace Chrome OS Flex with Linux?
Chrome OS on Chromebooks is quite stable. They come straight from the manufacturer with the OS pre-installed. But if we manually install Chrome OS or Chrome OS Flex on non-certified computers. We can usually run into several bugs and issues.
Most of these issues are manageable and even can be fixed. But there are certain deal-breaker issues that can be quite frustrating to deal with.
I tried Chrome OS Flex on my Ryzen 5 2500U laptop. The experience was good but I was facing sudden restarts and crashes.
The speaker, WiFi, and display all were working as expected. I even installed Linux and it did work out fine as well. But the sudden system shutdown and restarts weren’t something I could deal with.
So like me, many could face similar troubles with Chrome OS Flex. As there is no one fit for all solutions. Google has a list of certified devices that can run Chrome OS Flex without issues. you can refer to my Install Chrome OS Flex, Revive Slow Computers! [ISO Download] post for more information.
How to Remove Chrome OS Flex?
To start with removing the Chrome OS we need to first select an OS to use instead. It could be Windows 10 or 11, Ubuntu, or any other Linux distro.
Make Bootable USB
So the only way to completely remove Chrome OS Flex from our system is to replace it with another OS. For this, we need to make a bootable USB. But we will not be creating bootable USB for Windows. Instead, we will create it for Linux Mint, which is a very popular Linux Distribution.
On Windows, we can use Rufus or other programs. But Linux support on Chrome OS has not been the most reliable for many. Also folks on Chrome OS Flex, some of them even do not have access to Linux Environment.
So for now the best and easiest way is to use a Chrome extension called Chromebook Recovery Utility. We can use this Chrome extension on the newer Chrome OS Flex as well.
Downloads
The first thing we need to do is visit this link and download the Chromebook Recovery extension. This is an official extension from Google.
After adding the extension click on its icon and there’ll be a window pop-up. Make sure to have a good and stable internet connection. We have the tool to make a bootable USB but we still need an operating system image file. We will be using Linux Mint to start the process.
In this post, I’ll be downloading and installing the Linux Mint OS. We can download the latest Linux Mint ISO image file from their website. I’m downloading the XFCE version as it is the st lightest of all.
After downloading the ISO image we need to rename the file. Chromebook Recovery Utility recognizes .BIN file, so we’ll add .BIN after the file name. For example, Linux_Mint.iso.bin.
Getting Started
Now after we have downloaded the ISO image of the Linux Distro. Now we can proceed with creating the bootable image. Open the Chromebook Recovery Utility extension by clicking on the icon. We need an 8GB or above USB to create a bootable USB.
Here we will click on the Get Started icon. Then we need to click on the gear icon at the top right corner. Select the Use Local Image option and then we need to select the downloaded ISO image. Then just click on start to initiate the installation process.
Replace and Remove Chrome OS Flex
It will take some time for the process to finish. Now before proceeding make sure you have backed up all your data before removing Chrome OS or Chrome OS Flex.
Now boot into the BIOS of your system and here choose the Boot device menu. Among the devices, name select your pen drive and hit enter. Now the set-up process for Linux will start.
Select the first option, Start Linux Mint. It will do some processing and you will be on the home screen of the Linux Mint OS. Open the installer wizard by clicking on the disk icon. Now we have the option to erase the disks and install Linux Mint. So we will proceed with the first option.
Start the process and it will delete and remove Chrome OS Flex and install Linux Mint as the primary operating system.
Now after the installation is completed, you will be prompted to restart your computer. Therefore, you now will boot into the Linux Mint operating system. So with that, we have successfully replaced Chrome OS Flex with Linux OS.
