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This tip is about the how to turn on offline access to Google Drive docs on Mac. So read this free guide, How to turn on offline access to Google Drive docs on Mac step by step. If you have query related to same article you may contact us.
How to turn on offline access to Google Drive docs on Mac – Guide
With Google Drive, you can access all your documents from any computer or mobile device on which you’ve signed in to your Google Account. This makes working entirely in the cloud an attractive option. You can keep your work on your work PC and go back to home later or make quick changes to your phone. As long as you have an internet connection, it’s very convenient. Friction arises when you lose the connection.
There will be times when you won’t have Internet access but still need to edit a document. If you get on a plane or the Internet goes down, all your work will be painfully inaccessible. Fortunately, there are some quick steps you can take to keep using Google Docs and still have access to all your files, even when you’re offline.
Install Google Chrome
Google Chrome is a prerequisite for using Google Docs offline. While you don’t want to have another web browser on your Mac, the convenience and peace of mind are worth the hassle. That said, Google Chrome is very easy to install on Mac. Download the Chrome installer file and open it. Then drag and drop the Chrome app into the Applications folder. Open Chrome and you can choose to sign in with your Google Account at the browser level if you want to set it up up Chrome Sync.
Or you can use the browser without logging in. It would help if you disabled the Allow Chrome login option feature (Settings > Google Sync & Services > Allow Chrome Login). If you don’t, Chrome will automatically log you in at the browser level as soon as you log into Google Docs later.
Chrome will also prompt you to set it as your default browser. That’s it up for you to decide if you want to do this. If you prefer the current browser for your main browsing activities, you can use Chrome just for working in Google Docs.
Add Google Docs Offline Extension
After installing Google Chrome, you must add the Google Docs Offline extension to your browser. As its name implies, the extension allows you to use Google Docs offline. It’s only available for Chrome, but you can also install it on alternative Chrome-based browsers, as you’ll do later. Go to the Chrome Web Store, search for ‘Google Docs Offline’ (or click on the Download link button above). Then click Add to Chrome to add the extension to Chrome. Once you’ve done that, you’re ready to start using Google Docs offline. But first you must enable the functionality.
Activate Google Offline
Load Google Docs in a new Chrome tab and sign in to Google Docs. If you’re already signed in to Chrome at the browser level, you won’t need to sign in to Google Docs again.
In the Google Docs dashboard, select the 3 rows stacked in the upper left corner of the screen. Then select the option labeled Settings. In the Settingsup menu it shows up, activate the switch next to Offline. Finally, click OK to enable offline functionality in Google Docs. The web app will start to cache the latest offline documents.
This means you can load the Google Docs web app into Chrome and start working on your documents. The Google Docs offline extension will save your changes offline. As soon as you reconnect to the internet, your changes will automatically sync with Google Drive.
Google Docs also allows you to continue working if connectivity drops while working on a document. Again, the web app will save your changes offline and load them as soon as you re-establish the connection. However, you cannot create new Google Docs documents while offline.
Alternative Chrome Browser
If you prefer an alternative browser based on Chromium over Chrome (such as Microsoft Edge, Opera GX or Vivaldi), you can use Google Docs offline.
Start by installing the Google Docs offline extension above. Chromium-based browsers support Chrome Web Store extensions, so you should have no problems installing them.
Then add the User-Agent Switcher and Manager extension. This allows you to mask the browser as Chrome by modifying the User Agent string. After doing this, select the User Agent Manager and Switcher icon and set the User Agent string to Chrome – you can do this for a single tab or for the browser in general.
Once this is done, you can enable offline functionality by going to the Google Docs settings panel. You can continue working in Google Docs even after you lose your Internet connection.
But, the fact that you should always set the browser user agent string to Chrome, combined with the fact that the Google Docs Offline extension isn’t officially supported, can put your work at risk. So it’s better to use Chrome itself to work on Google Docs offline, if possible.
Set Document Offline
In addition, Google Docs allows you to set any document to always be available offline. To do this, click the three dot icon next to a document in the Google Docs dashboard and activate the button next to Offline Access. Alternatively, you can do this while working on a document – open the File menu and select Make Available Offline.
Final note
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