I’ve turned my Windows 10 laptop into a Chromebook — and so can you. With Windows 10 support coming to an end, millions of laptops are facing forced retirement.

Instead of consigning your aging PC to gather dust alongside your Amazon Fire Phone and Google Glass, you can install Google’s ChromeOS to give it a rejuvenated look, sprightly reactions, and a boosted immune system.

Google itself has designed a version of Chrome OS — dubbed ChromeOS Flex — specifically for installation on older laptops, and it comes with pretty much the same feature set as the operating system that's pre-installed on Chromebooks. As well as giving your hardware a new lease of life, it’s the perfect way to dip your toe in the Chrome ecosystem without shelling out for a top Chromebook.

I’ve got the perfect laptop for this task: a Windows 10-based Xiaomi Mi Laptop Air 13.3 from 2017, which still works perfectly but isn’t eligible for a Windows 11 upgrade. While I’ll lose some high-end features (such as gaming and video editing), I pretty much only use this laptop for Google Chrome and Google Docs anyway.

So, let’s prep this patient for an OS transplant…

Tools and requirements

Quick steps

Step by step guide

How to turn a Windows 10 laptop into a Chromebook: FAQ

How to turn a Windows 10 laptop into a Chromebook: Final thoughts

ChromeOS isn’t just a cosmetic upgrade for your computer — it’s a whole new operating system which is constantly updated and filled with useful features. It does have limitations, but it’s a great alternative to Windows and the perfect way to keep your old hardware out of landfill.

ChromeOS Flex is based on Linux, the free operating system that changed the world. While ChromeOS keeps things simple, if you want to delve deeper into alternative operating systems, a lightweight Linux distro can give you lots more options for customization and a huge library of useful software.

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