• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
ClassThink

ClassThink

School Technology Guides

  • E-mail
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • HOME
  • LATEST
  • Featured
  • School App Search
    • Search
    • Dashboard
    • Directory Login
  • TEACHER GUIDES
    • Microsoft Teams
      • Microsoft Teams Teacher’s Hub
    • Microsoft OneDrive
    • Microsoft Stream
    • Microsoft Office
    • Microsoft Edge
    • Microsoft OneNote
    • Microsoft Office
    • Microsoft Outlook
    • Microsoft Windows
    • Microsoft SDS
    • Google Classroom
    • Google Meet
    • Zoom
  • REVIEWS
  • NEWSLETTER
  • ABOUT
    • Contact Us
    • About ClassThink
    • Support ClassThink
    • Write for ClassThink
    • Advertising and Sponsorship
You are here: Home / Google Apps / How to work offline on your Chromebook

How to work offline on your Chromebook

22 October 2014 by Karl Rivers 5 Comments

To get the most out of your Chromebook you’ll want to be connected to the Internet, but if you don’t have a Wifi signal there’s still a way to access your documents using Google Drive offline syncing. Many are surprised to learn that you can access most of your work and even edit documents without a network connection. And with the latest version of Google Drive it’s really simple to set up.

Get the latest version of Google Drive

In order to use offline files it’s best to have the latest version of Google Drive. To do this open Drive, click the settings cog, and select Experience the new Drive. If you have the most recent version your Google Drive should look something like this:

Enable offline syncing in Google Drive

Setting up Google Drive to sync files offline on your Chromebook is really simple and it works on any desktop or laptop that runs the Chrome browser as well as on Chromebooks. To enable offline syncing:

  1. Click the settings cog at the top right of the screen.
  2. Click Settings.
  3. A Settings window will appear with several options. Check the box next to Offline.

Once you’ve done this all of your Google documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and drawings will be available even when you don’t have a network connection. This only includes files created in Google Docs — so if you’ve uploaded video file or lots of photos these won’t be available.

Google Drive offline file limitations

As you might expect there are some limitations when using Google Drive offline:

  • Google Drive offline sync is limited to the most recent 4000 items or 5GB of offline data. So, if you’ve a lot of files you might find this an issue.
  •  Offline access will only work in the Chrome browser — it is not available in other browsers.
  • If you want to enable offline access on both your Chromebook and desktop computer, you’ll need to set it up twice — once on each computer.

You also can’t change the Google Drive file structure while offline, or edit Google Forms, but most editing features are available in the other core Google office apps. Once you’ve enabled Offline Syncing you can browse your documents in Google Drive and even open them for editing in Google Documents, Sheets, Slides, and Drawing. Some of the more advanced features like spell checking, add-ons, sharing files, adding images, and downloading files are disabled, but the majority of the web apps work the same as if you were online. Once your Chromebook connects to the Internet again everything is synchronised back to the live documents.

When you absolutely must have an offline document

Sometimes there are situations when you have to guarantee that you’ll have access to a file offline. For this you can use Google Doc’s Download as feature.

To download a file from Google Drive, Click File > Download As and then select the format you’d like to download the file in. All of the most common office file formats are available — Microsoft Word, OpenDocument, PDF, Rich Text, Plain Text, and HTML.

Avoid working on shared documents offline

Google Docs is great for collaborating with colleagues, but if you’re working offline on a shared document and someone changes the live version your may run into problems. We recommend not working on shared documents that are regularly updated to prevent synchronisation problems when your Internet connection is restored.

If you have to work offline on a shared document you can use the revision history feature to catch any unwanted changes. Access revision history by clicking File > Revision History.

Happy offline syncing!

You might also like...

Filed Under: Chrome OS, Chromebook, Google Apps

This page contains references to products from one or more of our advertisers. We may receive compensation when you click on the links to these products. For an explanation of our Affiliate Policy, please visit this page.

About Karl Rivers

Karl Rivers is a Director of IT who has worked in education for more than twenty years. He won the Naace Impact Award for Supporting School Services.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Anonymous says

    09/11/2015 at 10:25 pm

    I have been having trouble with Google Drive Offline sync… for some reason when I click the box to turn it on, I will click down, leave settings, come back and it will be unchecked. Im wondering if it is due to my lack of memory on my laptop or something else. Plz help me…

    Log in to Reply
  2. Derek @ MoneyAhoy says

    03/03/2016 at 11:45 pm

    Thanks for the tips! I am having a small problem though. My interest is to use offline mode when at kids soccer practice and the link to create blog posts in Docs. I can create a new document offline, but if I close it I cannot figure out how to reopen it while still offline. It seems that once I reconnect at a later time the offline document is “synced”. Is there any way to re-open a document that was created offline?

    Log in to Reply
    • Rob Wheeler says

      04/06/2016 at 10:11 am

      I had this problem too. If you create a file while off line, close it and then try to reopen it while still off line the name of the file does not appear in the file list. However, it is not lost as it appears as soon as you go on line again. It’s clearly a design fault in Chrome. Go to HISTORY where you will see a link to the file which you can click to reopen it. Simple but irritating!

      Log in to Reply
  3. Rob Wheeler says

    04/06/2016 at 10:06 am

    I have a bunch of about 40 files I want to take with me on the train so that I can work on them off-line. I have recently accessed about 6 of them and so they have been synchronised to the Chromebook OK and so I can see them when I turn off the wifi but the rest are unavailable off line, and greyed-out as I haven’t edited them for a long time. I have discovered that if I simply open each file in turn and wait long enough for it to load fully it will be synchronised OK. However, this is a tedious and time consuming process. Is there some way I can force a batch of files to be synchronised in one go so that I can take them with me when I travel? I have tried copying the files to my downloads folder but if the file wasn’t synchronised already then when I try to open it off line I am told it is unavailable. I would also like to be able to flag some files, or perhaps a folder, so that the files are locked and are always available off line. Sometimes you have a data set that rarely gets updated but which you need to be able to refer to at all times whether on line or off line. This functionality is odd as Chome for Windows allows you to control what gets synched but the Chromebook takes this control out of your hands and only updates what has recently been access (up to 5Gb I accept, which is generous) but there are some scratch files, for instance, that I dont want synched as they are clogging up my disk space and there are others I always want synched. No problem under Windows. Are there any add-ins or workrounds that can solve my problem. I am a sincere Chome fan and love my Chromebook but can’t help feeling that some very eccentric design choices have been made here.

    PS and off-topic: I recently got a gen 2 Chromecast which is great—but you have to use a Windows computer to set it up. It can’t be done with Google products. What are Google playing at? Some strange design I can only say.

    Log in to Reply
  4. shay says

    08/15/2016 at 7:34 pm

    There isn’t an offline option when I click on my settings. Its listed Language then Density, but offline isn’t there.

    Log in to Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Primary Sidebar

  • E-mail
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

You might also like...

Popular School Apps

  • Bromcom Computers Plc

    Bromcom Computers Plc

    MIS/SIS System

  • CleverTouch

    CleverTouch

    Classroom Screens & Projectors

  • Capita SIMS

    Capita SIMS

    MIS/SIS System +3 Parent Communications, Parent Portal, Parents Evenings,

  • Wakelet

    Wakelet

    Learning Platform +1 Social Bookmarking,

  • BKSK

    BKSK

    Assessments +1 Educational Games & Quizzes,

Latest Edtech News

Virtual breakout rooms for Microsoft Teams – everything you need to know

Download the free OneNote for Team Collaboration eBook

New Surface Laptop Go Announced

Featured

Best Chromebooks for students in 2021

Create beautiful infographics for your classroom

Record online lessons with Camtasia

Naace Impact Awards Winner

Footer

Recent

  • Best Chromebooks for students in 2021
  • Create beautiful infographics for your classroom
  • Virtual breakout rooms for Microsoft Teams – everything you need to know
  • Record online lessons with Camtasia
  • Download the free OneNote for Team Collaboration eBook
  • New Surface Laptop Go Announced
  • Managing Windows 10 in schools with Intune and Autopilot
  • How to stop students unmuting themselves in Microsoft Teams
  • How to spotlight students & demonstrations in Microsoft Teams meetings
  • How to record a PowerPoint presentation as a video
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy

Recent Forum Topics

  • JvFHf5vfJ HyVSv2mpZ
  • Use VPN Security
  • How less is more with application development
  • How Much Does it Cost to Make an App like Uber
  • Microsoft Team class not appearing for teacher but is correct in Teams admin
  • FCM Test Notification!!! message in Microsoft Teams
  • FAQ: Can students begin a meeting in a private channel in Microsoft Teams
  • Microsoft Lists for Education
  • Benefits of hiring a ghostwriter
  • Things You Need To Make An Android App

Most Popular Posts

  • How to turn off chat for students in Microsoft Teams
  • How to stop students muting and kicking others in Microsoft Teams video meetings
  • How to delete a video from Microsoft Teams
  • How to record and share a lesson in Microsoft Teams
  • How to enable Large Gallery view and Together Mode in Microsoft Teams
  • How to mute students in Microsoft Teams
  • Virtual breakout rooms for Microsoft Teams - everything you need to know
  • How to record a PowerPoint presentation as a video
  • Set students to attendee by default in Microsoft Teams meetings
  • How to set and mark an assignment in Microsoft Teams
  • E-mail
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Copyright © 2021 · ClassThink.com · Affiliate Disclaimer · Privacy Policy · Here's the secret · Log in