Chromebooks are sometimes offered on their tight integration with the cloud: They’re basically home windows to the online and never a lot else. That comes with a wide range of advantages, like by no means having to fret about shedding an unsaved doc, however it additionally means Chromebooks are much less helpful than Home windows or macOS laptops when you do not have an web connection.
Nevertheless, it isn’t true that Chromebooks are full bricks whereas they’re offline. With advances in net app and browser expertise, now you can get quite a bit performed on a Chromebook with out an web connection, with all of your work resyncing when Wi-Fi is on the market once more.
Clearly, you’ll be able to’t ship an electronic mail or stream a video whilst you’re disconnected from the online—however you’ll be able to work on paperwork and emails in an offline mode, in addition to cache content material to look at and take heed to whilst you’re offline, as I am going to clarify right here.
Utilizing Gmail Offline
Maybe unsurprisingly, contemplating it develops ChromeOS, Google has been on the forefront of constructing net apps work offline for the good thing about Chromebook customers. Gmail is likely one of the large title apps that works offline, up to some extent—you will not be capable to ship or obtain emails with out an web connection, however you’ll be able to nonetheless work on them.
From the primary Gmail interface on the net, click on the gear icon (prime proper), then See all settings. Open the Offline tab, examine the Allow offline mail setting, and quite a few new choices pop up. Chief amongst them is the drop-down menu that allows you to select how a lot electronic mail to sync to your Chromebook: 7, 30, or 90 days’ price. The next worth provides you extra messages to work with, however takes up extra cupboard space. You may see how a lot house Gmail is at present utilizing on the identical display screen.
On the identical web page, it’s essential select what occurs for those who log off of your Google account within the ChromeOS browser. You’ll be able to both maintain the synced knowledge in place (handy for those who signal again in, however doubtlessly dangerous from a safety standpoint), or delete it out of your Chromebook (a safer choice, however you’ll need to resync all of the messages once more for those who signal again into Google).
Click on Save Adjustments, and also you’re performed. While you’re offline, you are in a position to search via and browse the emails you’ve got cached, in addition to compose new emails and save them as drafts. Completed emails may be despatched too, with out really being despatched; They will be saved in a newly created Outbox folder, and dispatched as quickly as net entry is restored.
Utilizing Google Drive Offline
You should use Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Slides whereas offline, in addition to sure facets of the broader Google Drive app—however as with Gmail, it’s essential do some preparation upfront. From Google Drive on the net, click on the gear icon (prime proper), then choose Settings.