How to Delete a Chroot in a Chromebook

Last Updated: September 11, 2021 References

If you've installed Crouton on your Chromebook, you may be wondering how to delete a chroot after Crouton has been installed. There are multiple methods to go about it.

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Using Powerwash

1
Know what Powerwash is. Powerwash is a feature in the Chromebook that factory resets the device. Be aware that your data will be erased. This can also be called 'factory reset'.^{[1]
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2
Open the settings. Scroll down to advanced settings, and click Powerwash.^{[2]
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3
After the Powerwash is complete a dialog box will appear. Click restart.^{[3]
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4
Setup your Chromebook, just like when you first got it.^{[4]
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Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Using Crosh

1
Use Crosh with caution. It is one of the most efficient ways to delete a chroot, but it's also risky if you don't know what you're doing. If you don't want to do this method, try Powerwash instead.
2
Open up Crosh. You can do this by pressing Crtl+Alt+T^{[5]
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3
Enter Shell. Type shell. If you're in developer mode this should work.^{[6]
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4
Type sudo delete-chroot precise into Crosh.^{[7]
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Community Q&A

Question

It doesn't work. When I type in "sudo delete-chroot precise", it says "/mnt/stateful_partition/crouton/chroots/precise not found". Any idea why?

Community Answer

You will need to replace "precise" with your chroot name (ex: /mnt/stateful_partition/crouton/chroots/xenial).
Question

What do I do if I typed in sudo delete-chroot unity and it didn't work?

Community Answer

If you installed the Chroot "unity", you'll need to type this instead of what you typed: sudo delete-chroot xenial .
Question

Can you explain what a "chroot" is in simpler terms and why I would want to get rid of it?

Community Answer

A chroot is a Unix-like operating command that changes the apparent root directory for the current processes that are running (like tasks). This includes its children too.