Last updated: November 12, 2021
You bit the bullet on picking up a Chromebook to work or learn from home. If you have yet to connect your phone to your Chromebook, you may be neglecting a key Chrome OS productivity and workflow benefit. Android users already know how to connect their phones to keep their Chromebooks unlocked with Smart Lock when their phones are nearby and unlocked. Unlike Smart Lock, Phone Hub is a taskbar widget that expands to display your connected phone’s recently-browsed Chrome tabs, chat notifications, Wi-Fi signal strength, battery level, and options to enable hotspot, silence phone, and locate phone. To take advantage of this integration, follow the steps below to set up the Phone Hub on your Chromebook.
If you still use an iOS device, you are out of luck. Phone Hub on your Chromebook only supports Android phones. Chrome OS introduced the Phone Hub feature in March 2021. As such, you will need to first ensure that your Chromebook is running the latest version of Chrome OS. In addition, you must connect your Android phone and your Chromebook to the same Google account. This article assumes that you have already connected your phone and your Chromebook. If it is not connected, please see this article.
Set Up Phone Hub on Your Chromebook
Step 1. Look for the phone icon on your Chromebook’s shelf next to the time. Click the icon to turn on Phone Hub. If you do not see the icon, connect your phone.
Step 2. Click the Get started button. If prompted, select Accept & continue. Your phone will connect.
Step 3. To receive notifications from your phone on your Chromebook, click the Set up button.
Step 4. In Settings, click the Notifications toggle to turn it on.
Step 5. When prompted, click Get started, then complete the setup on your phone. Make sure your phone is nearby, unlocked, and has Bluetooth and Wi-Fi turned on.
Step 6. On your phone, click the Turn on notifications button.
Step 7. Back on your Chromebook, click the Done button. You can now receive notifications from your phone on your Chromebook.
To manage the Phone Hub features, click the Phone Hub icon on the shelf at any time. Next, access the Phone Hub settings under Connected devices by clicking the gear icon in the Phone Hub.
Thank you for visiting Tech Help Knowledgebase to learn how to set up Phone Hub on your Chromebook.
Henry Irvine, Contributing Technology Writer, translates more than a decade of internet technology experience in product and customer relationship management into practical help and how-to content. Look for him on Bay Area trails, music venues, or sausage shacks when he’s not writing. Don’t call him Hank if you see him. Seriously. Hank on Twitter
