Your Chromebook comes with a built-in Chrome OS terminal. If you enable Linux, there is a Linux-based terminal as well. Let me show you how to use these command prompt and terminal options on your Chromebook.

Using the Crosh Shell

The Crosh shell is the easiest to access. Use the following keyboard shortcut:

CTRL + ALT + T

This opens the Chrome OS developer shell.

Commands for Crosh Shell

What can you do using the Crosh Shell?

lp	Lists the available Crosh commands.
help_advanced	Lists the advanced Crosh commands.
help <command>	Provides help for a specific Crosh command.
uptime	Shows how long the system has been running and the number of users logged in.
set_time	Sets the system time manually.
connectivity	Checks the connection status and more details (works on some devices).
ipaddrs -4	Displays the IPv4 address of the Chromebook.
ipaddrs -6	Displays the IPv6 address of the Chromebook.
ping	Sends ICMP ECHO_REQUEST packets to a network host.
top	Shows the system load and a list of running processes.
battery_test <seconds>	Tests the battery health and reports the battery usage over the specified number of seconds.
memory_test	Performs extensive memory testing on the available free memory.
rollback	Rolls back to the previous Chrome OS version (will powerwash the device).
bt_console	Opens a debugging console for the Bluetooth module.

Using the Terminal App

If you want an advanced terminal app on your Chromebook, you can use the Terminal app.

From the menu, search and find the Terminal app.

If you haven’t enabled Linux on your Chromebook, you will be asked to set up Crostini.

Complete Linux setup and launch the Terminal app again.

When the setup is complete, the Terminal app appears.

You can cuztomize the Terminal app by changing the background color and add a background image. Click Terminal Settings to start customizing.

Apart from changing the way your Chromebook Terminal looks, the terminal settings page give you plenty of options to change the way the app works.

Here is a sample list of commands that you can use on the Linux Terminal on your Chromebook.

apt-get install <package>	Installs a package from the APT package manager.
apt-get update	Updates the list of available packages from the APT package manager.
apt-get upgrade	Upgrades all installed packages to the latest versions.
sudo	Elevates the privileges of the current command.
cd <directory>	Changes the current working directory.
ls	Lists the contents of the current directory.
mkdir <directory>	Creates a new directory.
rmdir <directory>	Removes an empty directory.
touch <file>	Creates a new empty file.
rm <file>	Removes a file.
cp <source> <destination>	Copies a file or directory.
mv <source> <destination>	Moves a file or directory.
nano <file>	Opens a file in the Nano text editor.
vim <file>	Opens a file in the Vim text editor.
grep <pattern> <file>	Searches for a pattern in a file.
find <directory> <pattern>	Searches for files and directories matching a pattern.
tar -cvf <archive> <files>	Creates a TAR archive of the specified files.
tar -xvf <archive>	Extracts the contents of a TAR archive.
zip -r <archive> <files>	Creates a ZIP archive of the specified files.
unzip <archive>	Extracts the contents of a ZIP archive.

You are now set to use terminal on your Chromebook. If you are a Linux pro-user, this will open a host of opportunities for you.