Chromebook For Dummies

Introduction

Laptop sales have been declining for years. This decline is mainly due to the rise in popularity of smartphones and tablets in the consumer market. Technology is getting smaller, faster, and more portable, so the world’s dependence on full-size, full-featured computers with fixed connections has begun to decrease.

However, in this declining market, the rising star is the Chromebook — a low-cost portable computer powered by Google’s Chrome OS, the first popular operating system inspired by and designed specifically for the Internet. Unlike Windows PCs and the Mac, which were designed for general computer use with lots of big applications, Chromebooks are designed primarily for Internet use. Instead of a gigantic hard drive, Chromebook relies mainly on cloud-based storage. Instead of lots of expensive memory, Chromebook uses the Chrome browser that doesn’t use a lot of memory. And instead of resident applications, Chromebook uses mainly web-based applications that are accessed and bookmarked through the Chrome Web Store and the Google Play store.

By offloading the bulk of the functionality to the cloud, Google made it possible for hardware manufacturers to create computers with hardware configurations designed specifically for life on the web. The result is an accessible, user-friendly computer with a much lower price point, making it an excellent option for schools, students, companies, and budget-conscious people in need of modern computing power.

It’s paying off. Chromebooks make up almost two-thirds of all computers sold to K–12 schools in the U.S., and they’re gaining traction worldwide. This market share means that the future of Chromebooks is bright. What students use in school today, they’ll use at home and at work tomorrow.

Similarly, more corporations are offering Chromebooks to employees for their corporate workstations. Chromebooks have a lower price point, are easier to manage, and don’t have the security problems experienced by Windows (mostly), and Macs (a little, and growing).

Although Chromebooks use Google’s Chrome OS operating system, by no means are Chromebooks Google only computers. Tools from Microsoft (Office 365, Word, Excel, and Skype), Apple, and Amazon work on Chromebooks, too. And because Chromebooks are browser-centric, the entire world of the Internet is your oyster!

About This Book

Sometimes the greatest obstacle with new technology is the fear that you won’t be able to learn it fast enough for it to be of use. The good news is that this book is designed to remove all the guesswork. Chromebook For Dummies, 2nd Edition is designed to give you all the tips and tools you need to excel with your Chromebook.

You don’t need to have any preexisting experience with Chromebooks, Chrome OS, Android, or the Chrome browser to be able to use Chromebook For Dummies, 2nd Edition. You don’t even have to own a Chromebook: This book can help you choose the Chromebook that’s right for you! (See Chapter 1 for an overview of features and Chapter 20 for details on selecting the right Chromebook for your needs.) If you do have a Chromebook, this book guides you from the initial setup phase to the features that make Chromebooks unique and easy to use. Later sections of the book give you step-by-step instructions on installing popular apps that can make you productive (or entertained) on day one. By the time you hit the advanced settings and features section of the book, you’ll probably consider yourself an advanced Chromebook user.

Many computer books get bogged down with technical jargon and mumbo jumbo. This book, however, isn’t written for the technical elite; it’s written for the 99.9 percent of the population who just want a no-nonsense approach to using an easy-to-use computer.

Currently, several hardware manufacturers make Chromebooks. You’ve probably heard of many of them: HP, Samsung, Lenovo, Dell, Acer, and Asus, to name a few. Google even has its own branded Chromebook, known as the Chromebook Pixel and the Pixelbook. The only difference between these different devices is the hardware — not the operating system. For that reason, Chromebook For Dummies, 2nd Edition doesn’t reference any specific device or manufacturer.

Chromebooks are great devices, and their intuitive design makes for a very short learning curve. This book can help ensure that you have all the info you need to use your Chromebook like a rock star.

Foolish Assumptions

Chromebook For Dummies, 2nd Edition requires no prior computer knowledge or experience. Of course, if you do have experience using PCs or Macs, you’ll already be very familiar with many of the Chromebook’s features. If you’ve never used a laptop before but have used smartphones, you’ll find that many of the concepts carry over. You’ll be fine!

This book makes no assumptions about your skill level. Although this book is primarily an introductory guide to the Chromebook and Chrome OS, you can also consider it to be an introductory guide on personal computing.

Icons Used in This Book

As you read this book, you see icons in the margins that indicate material of interest (or not, as the case may be). This section briefly describes each icon in this book.

Tip Tips are nice because they help you save time or perform some task without a lot of extra work. The tips in this book are timesaving techniques or pointers to resources that you should try so that you can get the maximum benefit from your Chromebook.

Warning At the risk of sounding like an alarmist, I use a warning icon to point out something you should pay close attention to. Proceed with caution if you must proceed at all.

Technical Stuff Whenever you see this icon, think advanced tip or technique. You might find these tidbits of useful information to be just too boring for words, or they could contain the solution you need to get your Chromebook working just the way you want. Skip these bits of information whenever you like.

Remember If you don’t get anything else out of a particular chapter or section, remember the material marked by this icon. This text reminds you of meaningful content that you should file away. This icon might also draw your attention to something I already covered that’s useful again.

Beyond the Book

A lot of extra content that you won’t find in this book is available at www.dummies.com. There, search this book’s title and then click More on This Book on the page that appears. You can find the Cheat Sheet for this book, which contains quick-reference information that might come in handy when you’re in a pinch. You can also find updates to this book, if we have any.

Where to Go from Here

The time has come to dive into the world of Chromebooks and Chrome OS. If you’re entirely new to computers or maybe just a little timid with new computers, start with Chapter 1. The first chapters of the book are designed to guide you through the process of powering on your device, logging in, navigating your new computing environment, and even getting familiar with some keyboard and touchpad features unique to the Chromebook.

If you’re a little more daring than others, you may consider skipping the first few chapters of the book and heading directly to the chapter on the Chrome browser. If you already have a Chromebook, you can read this book from cover to cover to pick up knowledge here and there, or go to the Table of Contents or the Index to look up specific information you need. Regardless of how you fancy yourself, this book can serve as an excellent primer for life with a Chromebook. And what a great life it can be!

Part 1

Getting Started with Chromebook

IN THIS PART …

Identifying the Chromebook that most closely matches your needs

Getting familiar with the Chromebook Launcher, shelf, and desktop

Unleashing some of the Chrome’s advanced features to get you on your way to being a Chromebook power user

Finding and accessing your files, on your Chromebook and in the cloud with Google Drive

Setting up printers

Setting up web-based email with Gmail, and using Gmail to manage your non-Google email accounts

Getting acquainted with powerful apps that make your Chromebook a dream machine

Chapter 1

Choosing and Set ting Up Your Chromebook

IN THIS CHAPTER

Bullet Understanding what makes a Chromebook tick

Bullet Selecting your very own Chromebook

Bullet Using your Chromebook for the first time

Bullet Transitioning to Chromebook from Windows or Mac

With the world entrenched in Windows and Mac laptops, it was gutsy of Google to introduce a brand new concept in laptops — the Chromebook. In 2014, Google captured 1 percent of the laptop market in the U.S., which equates to roughly 5.3 million units sold, a number expected to grow. In 2016, Chromebooks captured 3.6 percent of the overall U.S. laptop market. And in late 2017, nearly 60 percent of all computers sold into K–12 education in the U.S. were Chromebooks. This growth means that a lot more people will be using Chromebooks in the future.

In this chapter, I discuss what makes the Chromebook unique when compared to other personal computers on the market. I also take an in-depth look at how to set up your Chromebook and prepare you to transition to Chromebook from Windows or Mac.

But I can tell you right up front: A Chromebook is very easy to use and learn. Easier, I’d say, than a Windows computer or even a Mac. In fact, a Chromebook is about as easy to use as an iPhone or an iPad. I’ve used Windows and Macs professionally and personally for more than 25 years, so believe me when I tell you this.

Checking Under the Hood of the Chromebook

But what is a Chromebook? In short, a Chromebook is a laptop computer running Google’s proprietary operating system, Chrome OS.

Technical stuff The operating system (OS) is the software that manages and schedules the basic tasks and functions of your computer. You might have a little experience with other popular operating systems like Microsoft Windows, Linux, or Apple’s Mac OS. Smartphones and tablets have operating systems, too; Apple’s iphone OS is called iOS, iPadOS runs on Apple iPads, and the OS that runs on Android tablets and phones is called, um, Android.

Chrome OS is an operating system developed by Google to work primarily with web-based software on laptop computers. Your experience using your Chromebook will be very similar to previous experiences you might have had surfing the web with the Chrome web browser (or any browser). The Chrome web browser shares many similarities with other web browsers on the market like Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Safari. (See Figure 1-1.)

FIGURE 1-1: The Google Chrome web browser.

Except for the Chromebook Pixel, Google isn’t manufacturing Chromebooks directly. Instead, Google has licensed several major laptop manufacturers to create them. Manufacturers such as Acer, ASUS, HP, Lenovo, Dell, Toshiba, and Samsung are all making their own Chromebooks with their own technical specifications.

The software

Much of what you will do on your Chromebook happens in the Chrome web browser. This is because many of the applications you will use on your Chromebook actually reside on the Internet. This is one of the things that sets Chromebook apart from other computers: You don’t install applications on a Chromebook; instead, you access them from the Internet. You find applications through the Chrome Web Store (dubbed CWS) and add them to your Launcher, which, in many cases, means nothing more than creating a bookmark for quick access through your Chrome web browser. This approach can be limiting in some cases, but these cases are rare. Thanks to the vast nature of Google’s global computing ecosystem, thousands of great applications are at your fingertips.

Remember Although some Chromebook applications offer offline features and functionality, you will need an Internet connection to initially set up your Chromebook and be able to take advantage of everything your Chromebook has to offer. You could say that Chromebooks are designed for an always online lifestyle, but you can definitely do things with your Chromebook while offline as well.

The hardware

Unlike all other computers on the market that run Mac OS or Windows, not much software is installed on your Chromebook, which means that your Chromebook doesn’t need to have vast amounts of hard drive space, memory, or processing power. Most Chromebooks have 2–4 gigabytes (GB) of memory, less than 64GB of hard drive space, and a low-power processor.

The reduced technical features mean that Chromebooks use less power, which means longer battery life. It also means that Chromebooks come with a drastically lower price tag compared to other computers available today. This explains why Google is gaining such a large share of the laptop market. For the things that most people do, a Chromebook is more than adequate.

If you prefer a desktop computer running Chrome OS, plenty are available. These computers are called Chromeboxes. If you own or are thinking about getting a Chromebox instead of a Chromebook, 99 percent of everything you will read in this book will still apply to you, because most of what’s in this book is about Chrome OS— the same OS that runs on Chromebooks and Chromeboxes.

Choosing a Chromebook

Given the nature of Chrome OS, Chromebooks do not require extremely high-powered hardware to provide an excellent user experience. Even so, the great variety of manufacturers and hardware specifications available can make choosing a Chromebook somewhat tricky.

If you are not yet familiar with computer things like hard drives, RAM, SD card slots, or HDMI ports, you don’t really need to understand any of these things to buy a Chromebook that will work for you. If you are shopping for your first Chromebook (even if it’s the first computer you have ever purchased), go to a store with a good selection (three or more models) of Chromebooks and knowledgeable salespeople. If you buy the least expensive model with a screen size you can live with, you probably won’t be disappointed. If this is you, you can read about RAM, hard drives, HDMI, and other things later — or never! If you do want to understand the inner details of Chromebooks and make your purchase decision based on RAM, hard drive size, and ports, flip over to Chapter 21 for all those details.

Tip Another useful way to decide which Chromebook to purchase is to research them online. Amazon.com has a good article from Consumer Reports on Chromebooks (just search for Chromebooks). PC Magazine and other well-known publications also have good reviews on Chromebook models.

Setting Up Your Chromebook

Tip You really should have a wireless Internet service available when you first set up your Chromebook. (If you don’t know about the Internet service, it’s time to bring in the person who does.) If you’re using a stationary (home or public) wireless Internet network or a portable device with an Internet hotspot, you probably need to know

The network name (like Smith Family Wi-Fi or ATT034)

The network password (usually a bunch of random letters and numbers)

If you don’t already have a Google Account, you’ll also need a phone handy to verify your new account while you set up your Chromebook.

Turning on your device

Regardless of the brand you choose, the Chromebook is built for speed — and you’ll notice this speed the first time you turn on your device! To turn on your device, you may simply need to plug in the power cord and open the laptop. If your Chromebook doesn’t turn on automatically, locate the Power button, which may be found on the top-right corner of the keyboard itself, or on the side or back of the Chromebook. Look for the familiar 0-1 logo. Figure 1-2 shows the Power button on the Lenovo C330 and on the Samsung 303C. The Power button on your Chromebook is probably similar to one of these.

FIGURE 1-2: The Power button on two different Chromebook models.

When you turn on the device for the first time, a Chrome logo pops up on the screen, and within seconds, the computer powers on and displays the Welcome window. Click Let’s Go to begin setup.

Selecting a language

When the Welcome window appears, it will most likely say Welcome in your language. If it’s not in your language, click Country Language at the lower-left corner of the Welcome window and then find and select your language. (I wish it had an option for Pirate English. Select your languaaaarge, matey!)

If you needed to change your language, you might also need to select the keyboard layout. If you’re living in the United States, you likely want to select the defaults here, which are English (United States) and US Keyboard.

Tip Most people will not need to change the language, country, or keyboard options.

Connecting to the Internet

Next, you need to select a network to connect to the Internet. If no network is available, I suggest holding off on attempting to set up your Chromebook until you can connect to an Internet source.

Tip If you’re using a mobile device that can provide an Internet hotspot, it’s time to turn on the hotspot and find the network name and password, which you use in the following steps to connect your Chromebook to the Internet for the first time:

Click the Open the Network drop-down list and select your network name.

Remember Your Chromebook may detect and display several other nearby home or business networks. You can ignore them.

If your Chromebook requests it, enter your network password.

After you select the network and enter a password, if applicable, the Wi-Fi bars onscreen fluctuate as your computer tries to connect. (Figure 1-3 shows the Wi-Fi signal icon.) After the connection is successfully established, the Continue button at the bottom of the dialog window becomes active.

If your Chromebook does not successfully connect to the Wi-Fi network, you’ll see the error message bad password and you can try entering the password again. You can also select a different Wi-Fi network if you wish.

Tip You can view the Wi-Fi password you are typing by clicking the little eye symbol to the right of where you are typing in your password.

Click the Continue button.

FIGURE 1-3: The Wi-Fi signal icon.

Agreeing to the Terms of Service

You might see a message that says Your Connection is Not Private. This issue is not something to worry about at this point.

If you’ve installed software or activated a device within the last 10 years, you’ve likely seen a terms-of-service agreement. You can accept it by following these steps:

Review the Terms of Service.

(Optional) When you’re satisfied that you understand and agree to the terms, select or deselect the check box that sends usage stats back to Google.

Tip I recommend that you leave this box selected. The data is useful for identifying and fixing bugs, creating new features, and otherwise making the Chromebook better for everyone! (Google and the NSA have all our information anyway, so why not?)

Click Accept and Continue to move to the next step.

Logging In for the First Time

To unlock all the features that your Chromebook has to offer, you must first log in with a Google username and password. You can use your existing Google Account or create a new account at this time.

Logging in using an existing Google Account

You can log in by using your Google Account username and password:

Enter your Google Account username into the Username field.

Enter your Google Account password into the Password field.

Click Login.

The option to select a profile picture appears.

Select your profile picture.

Pick one of the default pictures, use your existing Google profile picture, or take a new picture.

Click OK.

This completes the initial login process.

Remember If your Google account uses Google Authenticator or Google Advanced Protection for logging in to Google, you need to log in to your Chromebook using those services for the first time. If this is your situation, your first login to your new Chromebook will be like logins you’ve done in the past on other computers.

Creating a new Google Account

You can create a Google Account by following these steps:

On the login screen, click the Create a Google Account Now option.

The Chrome web browser launches and takes you to a page where you can create your account.

Complete the form and click Next.

On this screen, Google wants to verify that you are a real human being. I assume that you are!

Enter your phone number and whether you’d rather be called or texted, and click Next.

Google will contact you in the manner you selected to provide you with a verification code.

Enter the verification code and click Continue.

Close the browser by clicking the X in the upper-right corner of the browser window.

On the bottom-right of the screen, click the word Guest.

A pop-up menu appears with several options.

Select Exit Guest from the list.

This step takes you back to the login screen.

Log in to your Chromebook with your new Google Account.

Using Chromebook as a guest

Logging in to your Google Account allows you to use all of Chromebook’s functionality, but you can still access many of these functions without logging in. Chromebook allows you to use the device as a guest by selecting the Browse as Guest option.

Tip Letting a friend or family member use your Chromebook for a while is a great use of Chromebook’s Guest feature.

If you browse the Chromebook as a guest and then later decide to register or log in as a user, you first need to exit Guest mode. You can log out by clicking the status area (on the bottom-right of your screen, where you see the time, battery, and Wi-Fi status) and then selecting Exit Guest from the top of the list. (See Figure 1-4.) Exit Guest takes you back to the login screen.

FIGURE 1-4: The Exit Guest button.

Transitioning to a Chromebook from Mac, Linux, or Windows

Transitioning from a Mac, Linux, or Windows computer requires a few easy steps outlined in the following list. All these items are covered later in this book:

Get a Google Account. The section "Creating a new Google Account," earlier in this chapter, shows you how to get a Google Account. Your Google Account is the key to nearly everything you do on your Chromebook moving forward.

Move your files. In Chapter 6, you can find out how to access your Chromebook hard drive, external storage, and Google Drive (which is where the bulk of your files will reside after you make the leap to Chromebook).

Get your Chrome bookmarks. If you’ve signed in while using the Chrome web browser on other devices, your bookmarks, apps, and extensions will come with you to your new Chromebook! I cover bookmarks in Chapter 3.

Find new apps. Your Chromebook comes with several applications in your Launcher by default. You can, however, add new apps by navigating to the Chrome Web Store and adding them to your menu. In Chapter 5, you can look at some of the existing apps on your Chromebook, as well as discover ways to locate and add new apps that are useful to you.

Where to Go Next

Now that you’ve completed the basics of setting up your Chromebook and logging in, what would you like to do next? Here are a few ideas:

Learn more about using your Chromebook. Go to Chapter 2.

Learn more about the Chrome browser. Go to Chapter 3.

Download and use other Chromebook apps. Go to Chapter 5.

Use office tools to create documents and worksheets. Go to Part 2 (Chapters 7–11).

Start working with photos, videos, and ebooks. Go to Part 3 (Chapters 12–16).

Explore advanced features (are you ready?). Go to Part 4 (Chapters 17–20).

A last word: If you’re finding your initial Chromebook experience to be difficult or frustrating, don’t give up! You’ll soon develop muscle memory for common functions and before long, you’ll love the sheer simplicity and ease of use of your Chromebook.

Chapter 2

Working with the Chromebook Desktop

IN THIS CHAPTER

Bullet Using the Launcher

Bullet Navigating the Chromebook shelf

Bullet Adding and organizing apps

Bullet Modifying Chromebook settings

Bullet Working Chromebook window controls

Bullet Setting up a printer

The Chromebook desktop is displayed after you turn on and log in to your Chromebook. The desktop is a visual interface that uses a system of windows to control, organize, and manage applications, data, and files. You interact with the desktop by using a mouse, touchpad, keyboard, touch screen, or your voice. Your desktop has a launching point from which you can manually navigate your computer’s apps and files. Other operating systems have similar launching points: Microsoft Windows uses the taskbar, and Macs have the dock. On your Chromebook, this launching button is called the Launcher, and the region on your screen is called the shelf.

In this chapter, you explore the Chromebook desktop, Launcher, status area, and shelf. You learn how to find, add, and organize apps, as well as how to modify basic Chromebook settings and navigate the Chromebook window system.

If you’re learning Chrome OS for the first time, remember to be patient. Soon, your Chromebook will feel as comfortable as your favorite shoes!

Accessing the Chromebook Shelf

The shelf is where all the magic happens on your Chromebook. Your shelf is customized specifically to you. To access it, however, you must first log in to your Chromebook with your Google username and password (refer to Chapter 1 for instructions on creating a Google account and logging in).

Remember Logging in takes you out of Guest mode. When you’re in Guest mode, you can’t install apps or permanently customize your Chromebook, so it’s of limited use. However, Guest mode is a great way to give your friends and family access to your Chromebook without fear of them changing or manipulating your data or your settings in any way.

Okay, now that you’re logged in, you find a row of icons lined up along the bottom of the screen. This is the shelf. The shelf appears by default at the bottom of the screen. You can change the location of your shelf, as described in Chapter 17, but for now, leave it on the bottom of the screen. A quick tour of the shelf reveals two key groupings of icons: one on the left and one on the right (see Figure 2-1):

The icons on the left include

The Launcher (on the far lower left of the screen): This icon looks like a white circle and functions in a manner similar to the Start button in Windows or the Apple key on Macs. Click the Launcher icon, and a collection of app icons appears, arranged in a grid. Click any icon to launch the app. Click the up-arrow on the screen and you’ll see the entire Launcher as it fills the screen. Click the Launcher once again to close it entirely.

App shortcut icons (immediately to the right of the Launcher): For convenience, you can place any of the apps you see in the Launcher on your shelf. By default, your Chromebook comes with a few popular app shortcuts already installed on the shelf. You can add or remove any of these as you like.

The group of icons on the right is referred to as the status area. These icons include

Clock

Wi-Fi signal indicator

Battery icon (indicates battery charge)

Notifications (if any)

Remember The appearance of the figures on your Chromebook is likely to differ a bit from the illustrations from my Chromebooks in this book. Don’t worry if yours are not exactly like mine. In most cases, the differences won’t matter at all.

FIGURE 2-1: The Chromebook shelf.

THE CONQUERING DESKTOP

With your desktop, you can run programs and create, edit, and otherwise manipulate files by dragging, dropping, and clicking filenames or icons. However, this type of functionality wasn’t always the case. Did you know that the first desktop — the graphical user interface (GUI) kind of desktop, not the physical kind — was actually created back in 1973 by Xerox? This version of the desktop, known first as the Xerox Alto and then later as the Xerox Star, never really took off because the devices and software were too expensive. Apple and Microsoft took note of the innovation, and in the 1980s both companies rolled out their own versions — Windows and MacOS. A parallel effort at MIT resulted in the functionally similar X-Windows system used on Unix computers.

The desktop was a revolutionary approach to interacting with a computer because it simplified things (for most people, anyway) by making things visual. These days, of course, the desktop is a staple of all major operating systems, but in the early days of computing, users could interface with computers only by typing obscure commands in a command line. (Remember DOS and CP/M, if you’re not too young?) The desktop was a quantum leap in accessibility, and it made possible the digital future we’re all living in today.

Using the Launcher: Chromebook’s Start Button

Among the icons on the left side of the screen is one icon that looks like a white circle. This is your Launcher icon, comparable to the Start button on Windows or the Apple key on Macs. When you click the Launcher icon, you reveal the Launcher, a pop-up window containing a number of applications. Until you add applications yourself, the only apps that appear here are the default ones that come with your Chromebook and any apps already associated with your Google Account.

If you click the Launcher once, you see a search field along with a little up-arrow above it. If you click the arrow, the Launcher fills the entire screen, displaying up to 20 Google apps, including Chrome (your browser), Web Store, Play Store, and many more. These are all Chrome apps that run if you click them. If you click the Launcher button again, the Launcher closes the full screen you’re viewing.

Navigating the Launcher

The Launcher window can display up to 20 apps. As you install applications, Chrome OS adds more windows to contain your applications. When you have more than 20 applications, little buttons shaped like tiny dots appear to the right of the application icons. These buttons indicate the presence of additional applications. The color of the button indicates which window is active. You can navigate among windows by clicking these buttons. (See Figure 2-2.)

FIGURE 2-2: The Chromebook Launcher.

Organizing Launcher Icons

If you like to keep things in a particular order, like the way you can arrange glasses and dishes in your cupboard, then you will appreciate being able to organize the icons on your Launcher as you see fit. Simply click applications and drag them around inside the Launcher window until they are in the order you desire. You can move the app icons in the Launcher by following these steps:

Open the Launcher and then click the little up-arrow in the top-middle of the Launcher window to expand the view of application icons to full screen.

Click and hold the application icon that you want to move.

Drag the icon to the place in which you would like to place your selected application.

Wait patiently until the window shifts.

Drop the app icon in the desired location.

When you are done moving app icons around, you can close the Launcher by clicking the Launcher icon on your shelf.

Setting Up App Shortcuts

Next to the Launcher icon, you see several additional application icons. These are shortcuts to frequently used applications on your Chromebook. If you find yourself frequently using applications like Gmail, Calendar, Docs, or Drive, adding shortcuts to these apps on your shelf is a great way to streamline your user experience.

Pinning app shortcuts to your shelf

You can add application icons to your shelf by following these steps:

Click the Launcher icon.

The Launcher appears.

Navigate to the application that you want to add directly to your shelf.

Finding the application may require moving among Launcher windows.

While holding down the Alt key, click the application icon.

A menu with several options appears.

Select Pin to Shelf from the list.

Your application shortcut has been added to your shelf (see Figure 2-3).

FIGURE 2-3: Pinning application shortcuts to your shelf.

A second option for pinning apps to your shelf is the drag-and-drop method. Simply click and hold the icon for any application you want to pin and drag it down to the shelf. You can easily move the icon to any position you desire. Then, just release the click to drop it in place.

Don’t worry, pinning icons to your shelf doesn’t remove the application from the Launcher. It simply creates an additional way for you to use the application so that you can quickly move among your frequently used applications.

After you pin an application to your shelf, you can place your icons in the order that you desire by clicking and dragging icons left or right along the shelf.

Tip If you’ve never performed a drag-and-drop action before, it can take a little practice. Although it tends to be a bit easier to do using a mouse, you can do it with your trackpad as well. Move the pointer to the object you want to move; at the lower-left corner of the trackpad, use your thumb to click and hold the object; keeping your thumb down, press