How Do I Make Google Apps Available Offline?

If you’ve ever tried to connect to Google Apps just to realize that you didn’t have access to the internet, you’re not alone.

Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides are among Google’s most popular online productivity apps for businesses. And if you’re tasked with delivering presentations, creating content for social media, or working on complex reports, you can’t afford to lose access to your tools.

Fortunately, there’s an easy solution. By enabling offline access, you can make all Google apps available offline.

In this post, we’ll show you how to make sure your Google apps are available offline on your phone or tablet, so you’ll never have to worry about interrupted meetings again.

How To Use Google Drive Offline

Whilst most of us would ideally like to work only during business hours from a secure and comfortable workplace with a strong internet connection, that is not always possible. More often than not, we find that work comes home with us and we are playing a catch-up game during out of office hours. 

Everyone has wifi at home these days, but what if you find yourself needing to work somewhere without an internet connection? Whether that be on the train, on a plane, or in an outdoor space whilst you get some fresh air, you need a way to work offline without actually losing work. 

Luckily, Google drive has the option to allow you to work offline. When you edit your Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Slides without any signal or wifi nearby, the updates will be applied automatically the next time your device syncs with the internet.

How To Setup Google Drive Offline on Chrome 

Setting up google drive offline is actually a very simple and straightforward method. Just follow the six steps below and you will be ready to work from anywhere at any time within a matter of minutes. 

1. You need to ensure that Google Chrome is installed on your laptop or desktop system that you usually use in order to work with Docs offline.
2. If you aren’t already signed in with your Google account, sign in to Chrome or go to https://drive.google.com and sign in with your details. 
3. Next, you will need to install the Google Docs Offline Chrome extension. (Please note that if a ‘Remove From Chrome’ pop-up comes up when you try to do this, then the extension is already installed on your browser.) 
4. Now go to My Drive < Settings and check the box next to Offline to enable your system to create, open and edit all your docs, sheets, slides and files. The system will automatically make the files you’ve worked with recently available offline. This process may take a little while to complete.
5. If you want to make a Docs, Sheets, or Slides file available offline, go to Select File then click on Make Available Offline whilst you have the file open.
6. And that is it, you’ve successfully made files within your google drive suitable for offline use. To see which files are available for you to use offline, you can open your Google Drive on the web, and select the offline indicator icon (in the upper right area). This will enable the Offline Preview slider. All files and folders that are available for offline use will display in a darker font, while files not yet available for offline use will display in a lighter font, so you can differentiate them easily. 

How To Set Up Google Drive Offline On Mobile: Android and iOS

Making Google Drive available offline can be done from many different devices, depending on which one you prefer to use for completing your tasks. For when your work is primarily from an iOS mobile or any device that works on the Android operating system, here is how you can set up google drive to be offline. 

1. Install the Google Drive app for Android or iOS, along with each corresponding editor app you want to use (e.g. Google Docs, Google Sheets, or Google Slides).
2. If you aren’t already signed in with your Google account in one of these apps, open the Google Docs app and sign in.
3. Click to open the Google Docs app, then click on the icon of three horizontal lines in the upper left corner to open the menu, and then tap Settings.
4. Toggle the slider next to Make Recent Files Available Offline switch on.
5. The Google system will now automatically make files you’ve worked on most recently available offline.
6. You can choose to make specific files available offline through the corresponding editor app for that file. While viewing the list of files, tap the menu in the lower corner next to a file, and then select or enable Available Offline. 
7. Or, when you have a file open, you could click on the menu in the upper right, and then enable Available Offline that way. 

How To Use Google Calendar Offline

Many of us rely on our online calendars to remind us of important events and milestones in our life. From birthdays to important work meetings, the good news is that Google Calendar is also available to use offline. 

Even without an internet connection, you can still open Google Calendar in a Chrome browser or mobile app, view your calendar and events from the last 4 weeks or any time in the future, as well as view all events by week, day, or month.

To do so, follow the steps below:

1. Open Google Calendar on your mobile or desktop device. 
2. In the top right, tap on Settings. 
3. Once the settings menu has opened click on “General,” then Offline and then Turn on the offline calendar.
4. Click Reload now. 
5. Your calendar will now start to download and sync for offline use. At the top right of your calendar, you’ll find Sync progress.
6. When the sync is complete, your calendar’s status shows Ready for offline. A notice may appear which says “It looks like you’re offline. Some actions might not work.”  

Now anytime that you are offline, your Google Calendar will sync and use data from the last time your computer was online.

It is important to note that when you are offline you won’t be able to:

• Create or edit events
• Email guests
• Access Tasks or Reminders

If you clear your computer’s cached images and files, it will also clear offline support for Google Calendar. You will need to manually turn on the Google Calendar offline mode again to keep using Calendar offline.

What Features Are Unavailable In Google Offline Mode? 

After you have successfully set up offline mode on your google drive and all corresponding apps, you can view and edit your documents without an Internet connection. However, there are a few functions and features that won’t be available to you until you have a signal connection again. 

For example, one of these features is that you won’t be able to see edits by any online users you have access to your files. You also can’t share your documents with others until you reconnect to the Internet and allow the files to sync with the main server. 

Finally, the spell check feature won’t be available, so make sure to double-check your spelling and grammar if you plan on sending files off straight away. Any add-ons you may have installed, including images, will also no longer be available until you re-establish an internet connection.