Your Google Chromebook can play a lot of videos. We’re not talking about those that you can stream online. That’s because you’re mostly relying on the browser’s media plugins and not so much on the Chromebook’s media players.
You can download and put videos on your Chromebook that you can watch. That can be the same for a USB or portable memory device when you have movies inside it. The question now is how to watch movies from a USB on a Chromebook?
In this Article
Knowing the basics
A USB is a small device that is a portable storage unit. There are other portable storage units, and some of those are portable hard drives. The difference is that USBs have a low amount of memory compared to those portable hard drives.
Then again, the lowest memory storage for a USB can still go up to several gigabytes, and you can get something like a 64GB one.
The portable hard drives can go up to several terabytes. You can store files on your USB, and one of them can be video files. When the files are on the USB, they can’t be used on their own.
This means that you can’t play a movie unless you plug your USB into your device or, in this case, your Google Chromebook, and this needs no introduction.
How you can watch movies from your USB on your Chromebook
The first thing you need to do is plug your USB into your Chromebook, which should already be turned on. You can choose to scan your USB first or not, but that depends on you.
It is ideal for scanning your USB if you plugged it in somewhere else. This is just a safety precaution so that your Chromebook doesn’t get infected with potential viruses.
Once the USB is plugged in and you can access your video files, you can go about it in two ways. One way is to simply play the video directly through your USB as it is plugged into the Chromebook.
If the video file is compatible with any of your media players on Chromebook, then you can proceed to watch it. That’s one way how to watch movies from a USB on a Chromebook.
One other way is to copy the video file into your Chromebook. Once the copying process is finished, make sure to safely unplug your USB from the Chromebook.
If you don’t do it correctly, there’s a chance that the USB might get corrupted, and some of the files inside may not work. Then, just play the video that you just copied on your Chromebook.
The movie doesn’t play when the USB is plugged in
There can be a variety of reasons as to why your video on your USB won’t play on your Chromebook and here are some of them with the solutions.
- The USB may not be connected properly to the Chromebook. It could be a case where the USB isn’t connecting properly. The best way to solve this is to copy the video onto the Chromebook. You already know how to watch movies from a USB on a Chromebook, so just copy the movie files and remove the USB after.
- The file is not compatible with your Chromebook. The best way to solve this is by finding a media player that can play the file of the movie on your USB. Another way is to convert the video file but that takes too much work but it is an option.
- Your Chromebook may need an update when it comes to the OS. Just spend a couple of minutes upgrading it and you’ll be good to go.
The next time you have movies on your USB, be sure to scan them first, then play them or copy them on your Chromebook. That way, you can enjoy watching these movies with little to no problems.
Conclusion
Your Chromebook can play a wide range of videos, including those from a USB drive. We hope this advice helped you figure out how to watch movies on your Chromebook from a USB drive.
If you have any queries or encounter any difficulties, please leave a comment below and we will try our best to assist you. Thank you for taking the time to read this!