This article explains how to access Google Drive offline on a Windows PC, a Mac, and iOS and Android devices.
How to Access Google Drive Offline on a Windows PC
If you don’t have an internet connection, you can still access your Google Drive offline on your PC, Mac, or mobile device. When you edit your Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Slides offline, the updates are applied automatically the next time your device syncs with the internet.
Setting up your Google Drive for offline use requires an internet connection and Chrome must not be in incognito mode. To enable offline access to your Google Drive on a PC running Windows:
Open the Google Chrome browser.
You must make Google Chrome your default browser to open your Google Drive files from your computer without an internet connection.
Download and install the Google Docs offline Chrome extension in the Chrome Web Store.
Log in to your Google account if you’re not already signed in.
From your My Drive page, select Settings (gear icon) in the upper-right corner.
Select General from the left pane, then check the box beside Sync Google Docs, Sheets, Slides & Drawings files to this computer so that you can edit offline.
Whenever you are editing a file without an internet connection, you will notice a lightning bolt beside the document’s name. Once you’re back online, any changes will sync up, and the symbol will disappear.
Select Done. Now you can continue working on Google Docs, Google Sheets, or Google Slides files within the Chrome browser when offline. Any changes you make will be cached locally, and the online version will be updated the next time you connect to the internet.
This is sufficient if you just want to save your work in case you lose internet connection; however, if you want to download your Google Drive files to your computer so you can edit them whenever you want, you must continue to install Backup and Sync.
Download and install the free personal version of Backup and Sync for Google Drive.
Open Backup and Sync and sign in to your Google Account.
If you wish, you can now save files on your computer directly to Google Drive. If you don’t want to do that, deselect the boxes beside each folder and select Next.
Select the box beside Sync My Driveto this computer, then select Start.
