You Can Actually Use a Chromebook Offline. Here's How

Chromebooks are often sold connected their choky integration with the cloud: They're fundamentally windows to the web and not overmuch else. That comes with a assortment of benefits, similar ne'er having to interest astir losing an unsaved document, but it besides means Chromebooks are little utile than Windows oregon macOS laptops erstwhile you don't person an net connection.

However, it's not existent that Chromebooks are implicit bricks portion they're offline. With advances successful web app and browser technology, you tin present get rather a batch done connected a Chromebook without an net connection, with each your enactment resyncing erstwhile Wi-Fi is disposable again.

Clearly, you can't nonstop an email oregon watercourse a video portion you're disconnected from the web—but you tin enactment connected documents and emails successful an offline mode, arsenic good arsenic cache contented to ticker and perceive to portion you're offline, arsenic I'll explicate here.

Using Gmail Offline

Perhaps unsurprisingly, considering it develops ChromeOS, Google has been astatine the forefront of making web apps enactment offline for the payment of Chromebook users. Gmail is 1 of the large sanction apps that works offline, up to a point—you won't beryllium capable to nonstop oregon person emails without an net connection, but you tin inactive enactment connected them.

From the main Gmail interface connected the web, click the cogwheel icon (top right), past See each settings. Open the Offline tab, cheque the Enable offline mail setting, and a fig of caller options popular up. Chief among them is the drop-down paper that lets you take however overmuch email to sync to your Chromebook: 7, 30, oregon 90 days' worth. A higher worth gives you much messages to enactment with, but takes up much retention space. You'll spot however overmuch abstraction Gmail is presently utilizing connected the aforesaid screen.

On the aforesaid page, you request to take what happens if you log retired of your Google relationship successful the ChromeOS browser. You tin either support the synced information successful spot (convenient if you motion backmost in, but perchance risky from a information standpoint), oregon delete it from your Chromebook (a safer option, but you volition request to resync each the messages again if you motion backmost into Google).

Click Save Changes, and you're done. When you're offline, you're capable to hunt done and work the emails you've cached, arsenic good arsenic constitute caller emails and prevention them arsenic drafts. Finished emails tin beryllium sent too, without really being sent; They'll beryllium stored successful a recently created Outbox folder, and dispatched arsenic soon arsenic web entree is restored.

Using Google Drive Offline

You tin usage Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Slides portion offline, arsenic good arsenic definite aspects of the broader Google Drive app—but arsenic with Gmail, you request to bash immoderate mentation successful advance. From Google Drive connected the web, click the cogwheel icon (top right), past prime Settings.