Google Drive is my favorite platform for the word processor and spreadsheet inside. I’ve been using Microsoft Office for years but settled in very quickly when I was introduced to Google Docs and the like. With all the ability to share files, take surveys, and even track your expenses, you hardly want to skip it once you get started. But the biggest advantage that MS Office has always had over Google Drive is that you can use it offline before… or is it?
Luckily, there’s an incredibly simple way to keep using some Google Drive even if your Internet connection drops.
Google provides a setting and web app that allows you to view and use some of your Drive files offline. Before looking at how to do this, let’s look at some of the things Google told us about offline access:
- Offline access is only available in Chrome and on Chrome OS devices.
- Offline access is only available for Google documents, spreadsheets, and presentations.
- You can edit and create new documents and presentations on Google while offline.
- Offline spreadsheets are available in view-only mode. You must restore your Internet connection to make any edits or create new spreadsheets.
If this sounds like something you could benefit from, see how to enable it and make sure you have your files available even if the network goes down.
How to set up Google Drive for offline use
Step 1: Open your Drive and select Thanfrom the menu on the left and then offlinefrom the resulting drop-down menu. Or just click here to go straight to offline settings.
Step 2: The page that appears on the right will guide you to download it for the first time Drive the Chrome web app. You can get it here.
The app will show up as an icon in a new tab.
Cool Tip: Here are some other great Chrome apps that use Google Drive.
Step 3: Next, go back to Drive Offline settings and click Turn on offline.
The files will sync to your local computer at this point. If you have a lot of files it can take some time to sync, but I have more than 40 files and it doesn’t take long.
When done, you can see when the last sync took place at the top of the Drive page.
How to access Drive files offline
Now, when your network connection is down, you can still access your Drive files using the web app you installed in it. Step 2 or just by going to the Drive website.
The small icon next to the document title indicates that you are offline.
When you make changes to these offline files, that means they’ll save offline at the top of each document.
You can even create new files with the usual Create button.
Once the network connection has been re-established, just click Switch to Online Documents or load a brand new Google Drive page by refreshing. Now, any files you’ve edited or created offline will sync back to the online version of Drive.
How to disable Google Drive for offline use
Step 1: If you don’t want to use Google Drive Offline anymore and therefore have no reason to sync files with your local computer, just open the gear menu and click Turn off offline.
Step 2: Confirm this by clicking Turn off offline documents.
These local Drive files will be deleted in a moment, and you’ll have to repeat the steps above to re-enable their offline access.
Note: If you prefer to use it offline, why not see how to get Google Drive on your portable USB drive?
Conclusion
There is absolutely no reason to be stripped of all the glory of Google Drive just because your Internet connection is down. Enable offline access now so you won’t regret it in the future. Even if you’re not sure if it will benefit you, activating it now will ensure that you won’t have to worry when the time comes and you really need it.
Categories: How to
Source: thpttranhungdao.edu.vn/en/
