When you turn on local data recovery, you can recover your local data on Chromebooks even if you forget your password. If you don’t turn on local data recovery, you can still get access to your Chromebook when you lose your password, but you won’t have access to the local data on your device.
Devices that support local data recovery
Local data recovery will be available for all Chromebooks starting in M118.
Flex devices that support local data recovery:
- Dell Latitude with Atmel TPMs
- HP Elitebook 840 G1, G2, or G3 with Infineon TPM
Turn on local data recovery
- On your Chromebook, at the bottom right, select the time.
- Select Settings
Security & Privacy
- Turn on Local data recovery.
How Gmail password recovery & local data recovery differ
When you forget your Gmail password, Gmail password recovery can help you to recover it, but it doesn’t let you access the data that you stored locally on your Chromebook. With local data recovery, you can get access to local data stored on your Chromebook even if you forget your old password.