Drive: Set up Offline Access

Internet outages and long plane rides shouldn't prevent you from working in Google Drive. Set up offline access so that the next time you're offline you'll still be able to view Google documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and drawings, shuffle folders around, and edit files stored in your Google Drive folder.

Set up offline access

Follow these steps to enable offline access on your computer. Keep in mind that offline access is available only when you’re using Chrome or a Chrome OS device. If you use Chrome OS, there's no need to complete these steps, as offline access is already set up for you.

1. From drive.google.com, click More on the left-hand side of the screen.
2. Select Offline Docs.
3. Setting up offline access is a two-step process. First, click the blue button that saysGet the app. If you already have the app installed, you won't need to complete this step.
   
4. You'll be taken to the Chrome web store. Click Add to Chrome in the upper-right corner of the browser window.
5. Once the app is installed, you'll be taken to a Chrome page with the Google Drive app icon. To return to Drive, click the Google Drive icon.
6. On the right side of the dialog on the Offline Docs page, click the blue button that says Enable offline.

Access for different types of files

Google documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and drawings

You can view Google documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and drawings without an Internet connection. You can also edit Google documents, presentations, and drawings while offline. View access isn't available for Google forms. Learn more about using Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drawings offline.

Other files that you've stored in Google Drive

You can also view files such as PDFs, Microsoft Office files, and images, from your Google Drive folder even when you're disconnected from the Internet. Any changes you've made to synced files while offline will sync to all devices with a time stamp when you reconnect to the Internet.