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Google Assistant is available on almost every smartphone, tablet, and a good number of smart speakers. If you have a Chromebook, you have another device that can use the virtual assistant. We'll show you how to get it set up and running.

Depending on your Chromebook, Google Assistant might be enabled by default. If it isn't, it just takes a couple of steps to turn it on. Let's get started.

Related: How to Delete Google Assistant Recordings

Turn on Google Assistant on a Chromebook

First, click the clock in the bottom-right corner to open the Quick Settings, and then select the gear icon to go to the Settings menu.

click the clock and the gear icon

In Settings, select "Search and Assistant" in the sidebar menu.

search and assistant

Next, click "Google Assistant." If it already says "Enabled" here, you can skip the next step.

select google assistant

Toggle the switch on to turn on Google Assistant.

select google assistant

There are a number of Google Assistant settings on this screen as well. If you want to be able to launch Assistant with the "OK Google" command, you can do that here.

ok google settings

Depending on your Chromebook, the preferred input might default to the keyboard. You can switch it to voice input on this screen if you'd like.

preferred input

Once the settings are to your liking, we're all done enabling Google Assistant.

How to Use Google Assistant on a Chromebook

There are a number of ways to use Google Assistant on a Chromebook. First, if you turned on the "OK Google" setting in the section above, you can simply say the command out loud when the device is awake.

Google Assistant
Google Assistant on a Chromebook

The more common method, however, is from the launcher. Select the launcher icon on the Shelf.

open the launcher

This will bring up the search bar with the Google Assistant icon on the right side. Simply select it and Assistant will start listening.

select the google assistant icon

In addition to this method, there are some keyboard shortcuts that you can use.

If your Chromebook keyboard has a Search key and you haven't changed the behavior of it, you can press Search+a.

Acer Chromebook keyboard
Acer Chromebook 311 keyboard

Google-branded Chromebooks don't have a Search key. Instead, they have a dedicated Google Assistant key. Pressing this will also launch the Assistant.

pixelbook keyboard
Google Pixelbook Go keyboard

Related: How to Get a Caps Lock Key on Your Chromebook