Together with partners, Google recently released a new wave of cloud gaming Chromebooks. Joining the already great Chromebooks and great ChromeOS tablets, that you can buy, these new Chromebooks have fancy features like RGB keyboards.

So, if you're wondering how you can control and customize the look of the built-in RGB keyboard on a Chromebook, don't worry. All it takes is a few simple clicks. And, unlike on Windows laptops, you don't need dedicated software to do so. Everything is built right into the ChromeOS settings app.

How to set up an RGB keyboard on a Chromebook

Right now, there are four Chromebooks that save an integrated RGB keyboard. There's the Acer Chromebook 516 GE, the Asus Chromebook Vibe CX5 Flip, the Lenovo Ideapad Gaming Chromebook, and the HP Dragonfly Pro Chromebook. If you own one of these devices, you can configure the RGB keyboard right from the ChromeOS settings app. Here's how.

  1. Click the date and time on the right side of your screen.
  2. Choose Settings.
  3. Click Personalization
  4. Click Set your wallpaper and style
  5. You'll see a Keyboard backlight option.
    ChromeOS backlight settings for RGB keyboard.
  6. Click the color you want to change your keyboard to.

That's all there is to set up an RGB keyboard on a Chromebook. ChromeOS is smart enough to adapt the color of the keyboard backlights based on the current wallpaper. It will choose its own color unless you manually choose one from the list. For quicker access to this menu, you also can press the Alt button on your keyboard together with the brightness up and brightness down keys. You'll see a pop-up that shows you that you can go to the settings page to change the backlighting.

Those are the steps for changing the lighting on the built-in keyboard on Chromebooks that have RGB keyboards. However, Google is working with accessory makers for Progressive Web App versions of specific applications that can be used to tweak the RGB lighting on certain accessories. The first of those apps is from Corsair with the iCUE app, which is available on both the Google Play Store and on the web. Other manufacturers might soon follow suit, so if you're wondering if you can customize the RGB on your external gaming accessory, reach out to the company that makes them for assistance on ChromeOS compatibility.