Today many people work in the cloud, via web apps such as Google Docs or Spreadsheets. However, those apps constantly need a stable internet connection to work properly. But there are also offline options available for these apps; that’s how you activate it.
Before you can activate the so-called offline mode for Google Docs or Spreadsheets, you need to make sure that you are using Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge. While Opera and Firefox are also based on Chromium, the offline options are not available there. Furthermore, the mode only works in Chrome or Edge’s default mode; so you can’t get this done when using the apps within the incognito tabs.
The offline mode can be activated on the web, via the aforementioned browsers, but also via the apps that Google released on both Android and iOS. First, let’s look at the web options.
Using Google Docs Offline
Make sure you meet the above conditions and then navigate to docs.google.com or sheets.google.com. Please note: you do need a working internet connection in the first instance. So see this as a precaution.
- Now click on the hamburger menu on the left (these are those three lines in the corner)
- click on Settings and a new window will pop up
- In this window you will find, among other things, the heading Offline at
- To the right of the text is a slider; switch it to the left so that it turns blue
From now on you can use all documents from Google Docs or Sheets when you don’t have access to the internet. You can also determine per document whether you want to edit it offline. This is how you can open a document, to File and enable the make available offline option. Then this specific document is always available on this device.
By the way, you have to repeat these steps on all devices you work on. You make such a file, or all files, only available offline on the computer where you set it up. When you make changes and you connect to the internet again, all those changes are synchronized with the documents in the cloud.
Also mobile apps
You can also do this through the Android or iOS application. Of course you need the apps for Google Docs or Spreadsheets for this. Open the app and log in with your account.
- Now press the hamburger menu on the left
- Press the button for Settings and find the option Offline
- Move the slider to the left so it turns blue
So now you can edit the document in question offline on the smartphone or tablet where you set this. Any changes are synced when you connect to the internet.
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