Google Docs is arguably the best online word processor since it is incredibly easy to use. Also, you can comfortably collaborate with others. That said, it's not a pretty picture with all browsers. For instance, if you use Google Docs using Safari on your Mac, you will run into a major problem—you can't use it offline. So you won't be able to access and work on your documents if you lose internet connectivity.
The support for offline mode function in Google Docs is limited to Google Chrome. In short, you'll have to install Chrome on your Mac if you want to use Google Docs in offline mode.
That said, you can also use Google Docs offline with Chromium-based web browsers (Edge, Opera, Vivaldi, etc.) as long as you are willing to use a workaround. But, that experience won't be as polished as you get on Chrome.
Let's set up Chrome and figure out how to work on Google Docs offline. We shall then look at what you must do to get offline Google Docs functionality in the officially unsupported Chromium web browsers.
Also on Guiding Tech
How to Create a Custom Template in Google Docs
- Open Google Docs and sign into your Google Account if you have not done so already. Click the hamburger menu in the top-left corner of the screen , select Settings and enable the Offline toggle.
- Create, edit and collaborate with others on documents from your Android phone or tablet with the Google Docs app. With Docs you can: - Create new documents or edit existing files - Share documents.
Google Drive is well integrated with other Google services, including Google Docs, the cloud-based suite of tools that includes Google Docs, a word processor, Google Sheets, an online spreadsheet, and Google Slides, a cloud-based presentation app. Google Workspace for Mac. The Google Docs collection of cloud-based productivity apps, which Google refers to as 'Docs Editors. But you can install a Google Docs offline extension and turn.
Read MoreInstall Google Chrome
Google Chrome is a prerequisite to use Google Docs offline. Although you may not want to have another web browser on your Mac, the convenience and peace of mind are worth the hassle.
Download Google ChromeThat said, Google Chrome is quite easy to install on the Mac. Download the Chrome installer file and open it. Then, drag and drop the Chrome app to the Applications folder.
Open Chrome, and you can choose to sign into it with your Google Account at the browser level if you want to set up Chrome sync.
Or, you can use the browser without signing into it. It would help if you disabled the Allow Chrome Sign-in feature (Settings > Sync and Google Services > Allow Chrome Sign-in). If you don't do that, Chrome will automatically log you in at the browser level once you sign in to Google Docs later.
Chrome will also prompt you to set it as the default browser. It's up to you to decide whether you want to do that. If you prefer your current browser for your main browsing activities, you can use Chrome just for working on Google Docs.
Add Google Docs Offline Extension
After installing Google Chrome, you must add the Google Docs Offline extension to the browser. As its name implies, the extension allows you to use Google Docs Offline. It is only available for Chrome, but you can also install it on alternative Chrome-based browsers as you will later on.
Download Google Docs Offline ExtensionHead into the Chrome Web Store, search for 'Google Docs Offline' (or click the Download button above). Then, click Add to Chrome to add the extension to Chrome.
Once you've done that, you are ready to start using Google Docs offline. But, you must first enable the functionality.
Enable Google Docs Offline
Load Google Docs in a new Chrome tab and sign in to Google Docs. If you are already signed into Chrome at the browser level, you do not have to sign in to Google Docs again.
On the Google Docs dashboard, select the 3-stacked lines to the top-left of the screen. Then, select the option labeled Settings. On the Settings pop-up that shows up, turn on the switch next to Offline.
Finally, click OK to enable offline functionality in Google Docs. The web app will then start to cache the most recent documents offline. Motion tracking app mac.
That means you can load the Google Docs web app in Chrome and start working on your documents. The Google Docs Offline extension will save your changes offline. Once you reconnect to the internet, your changes will automatically sync with Google Drive.
Google Docs also lets you keep working if connectivity drops in the midst of working on a document. Again, the web app will save your changes offline and upload them once you re-establish a connection. However, you can't create new Google Docs documents while you are offline.
Also on Guiding Tech
#chrome
Click here to see our chrome articles pageSet Document As Offline
Additionally, Google Docs allows you to set any document to be always available offline. To do that, click the three-dot icon next to a document within the Google Docs dashboard and turn on the switch next to Offline Access.
Alternatively, you can do that while working on a document — open the File menu and select Make Available Offline.
Alternative Chromium Browsers
If you prefer an alternative Chromium-based web browser over Chrome (such as Microsoft Edge, Opera GX, or Vivaldi), you can use Google Docs offline.
Start by installing the Google Docs Offline extension from above. Chromium-based browsers support Chrome Web Store extensions, so you should have no trouble installing it.
Follow by adding the User-Agent Switcher and Manager extension. That allows you to masquerade the browser as Chrome by modifying the user agent string.
Install User-Agent Switcher and ManagerOnce you've done that, select the User-Agent Switcher and Manager icon and set the user-agent string to Chrome—you can do that for a single tab or the browser in general.
Once you've done that, you can enable Offline functionality by diving into the Google Docs Settings pane. You can then keep working in Google Docs even after you lose internet connectivity.
But, the fact that you must always set the user agent string of the browser to Chrome, combined with the fact that the Google Docs Offline extension isn't officially supported, may put your work at risk. Hence, it's best to use Chrome itself to work in Google Docs offline, if possible.
Also on Guiding Tech
How to Reset Google Docs Settings
Read MoreDon't Stress Out
Google should have supported offline functionality in all browsers, but considering where they are coming from, it's obvious that they want people to start using their browser. Chrome is absolutely worth installing on Mac if you love using Google Docs and want to make the best out of it.
Chromecast app update mac. Next up:Do you have issues with Google Docs not working offline in Chrome? Click on the next link to refer to the guide for fixing Google Docs offline problems.
The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.Read NextHow to Fix Google Docs Offline Not Working
Also See#google docs #offline
Did You Know
Google has an embedded calculator which you can access by typing 'Calculator' on the address bar.
More in Mac
Top 5 Fixes for iMessages Not Syncing on Your Mac
It’s ironic that with all the writing I do, I’ve never settled on a single word processor, instead picking and choosing among lots of different ones depending on the task at hand. Although it’s a mediocre word processor, we’ve started using Google Docs for certain sorts of collaborative writing, such as when Tonya and I are working on marketing materials for Take Control, or when I’m writing an article for Macworld. Its brilliant collaborative capabilities more than make up for its minimal feature set, and I have found it better for my needs than similar products like Zoho Writer and Buzzword, which don’t seem as focused on enabling quick collaboration.
Like all online word processors, Google Docs has one significant architectural limitation: if you don’t have Internet access, your documents are completely unavailable to you. Google has been working on eliminating this limitation with a technology called Google Gears (Zoho Writer and a few other Web apps also use Gears – it’s an open source technology that any developer can implement). Gears addresses the disconnected problem with a database engine based on SQLite, and Gears-enabled pages can send and receive data from this local database cache when offline. When connectivity is reestablished, Gears synchronizes the changes back up to Google’s storage cloud.
Gears has been available for the Mac via the Firefox Web browser for some time, but Google just released a “beta” version of Gears for Safari. https://consultantnew483.weebly.com/how-to-delete-background-apps-on-mac.html. (Nearly everything Google does is labeled as beta, even after years of development and millions of users, which makes it difficult to determine the actual state of the code.) I had tried Gears with Firefox briefly before our trip to Wales, but I found it a bit confusing and hadn’t come back to it until this Safari release, which I suspect will be attractive to more Mac users anyway. The Safari release was quiet, and Google’s Gears home page doesn’t yet acknowledgethat it’s compatible with Safari.
Gears for Firefox is a Firefox add-on, but for Safari, Gears has two parts, an input manager (installed in /Library/InputManagers) and an Internet plug-in (installed in /Library/Internet Plugins). Some people don’t like input managers; if so, stick with the Firefox version.
Installation and Setup — Until Google officially releases Gears for Safari, you can’t follow the normal installation method, which is to visit the Gears home page and click the Install Gears button (do that if you want to install in Firefox now). Instead, download this disk image and run the installer inside. You’ll have to restart Safari to finish the installation. Gears automatically updates itself, so when Google releases new versions, you should just get the updates. You can also verify that the installation has worked by looking for a Google Gears Settings menu item in the Safari application menu. But don’t choose that just yet.Instead, go to Google Docs, and at the upper right of the page, click the Offline link next to your email address to continue the installation process in a series of dialog boxes.
First, Google Gears asks you to enable offline access; click the Enable Offline Access button. Next, Gears asks if it’s acceptable to store data on your computer (necessary, of course, but nice to be asked). Select the “I trust this site. Allow it to use Gears” checkbox and click Allow.
Mac file organization app. Gears then asks if you want to make a desktop shortcut, which isn’t necessary, and can be done later if you want. The desktop shortcut is actually a small application that’s created on your Desktop, but it doesn’t have to stay there. Double-clicking it opens Google Docs in the Web browser that was your default as of when you created it; it isn’t smart enough to switch if you change your default, but you can recreate it if necessary. Merely dragging the Google Docs URL from Safari’s address bar to the Desktop to create a .webloc file provides exactly the same functionality as the Google Docs application that Gears creates.
Once all that is done, Gears synchronizes your data, which shouldn’t take long unless you have a vast number of documents stored in Google Docs. Subsequent synchronization takes place regularly, and you’ll likely never notice it.
Basic Usage — If Safari is open, you can just navigate to http://docs.google.com/ manually, via .webloc file, or via the Google Docs application that Gears creates. Once there, click any document to open it, make changes as you would normally, and when you’re done, click the Save & Close button. Keep in mind that you can edit only word processing documents; spreadsheets and presentations can be viewed offline but not edited yet.
Google uses only a tiny icon that switches between a green checkmark and a gray slashed circle to indicate whether you’re online or offline in the main Google Docs file list. Unfortunately, that icon doesn’t update quickly, so even after I disconnected my Mac from all networks, it claimed I was online for a few minutes before realizing otherwise. Similarly, when you’re in a particular document, a green, downward-pointing arrow indicates that the document is in sync; a gray, upward-pointing arrow tells you that there are changes that need to be saved next time you connect. Maybe it’s just because I’m feeling my way around what it’s like to work offline in an online word processor, but I would have appreciated more obvious statusmarkers.
Edited documents do get a little “Edited offline” tag next to them in the Google Docs file list, and shortly after you reconnect to a network, Gears notices and synchronizes your documents back to the cloud, erasing the “Edited offline” tag at the same time.
Note that if you choose to install Gears for both Firefox and Safari, the two don’t share the same data store. In other words, if you make a change in a document in Safari while offline, you won’t see that change in Firefox until the Safari version is synchronized back to Google Docs. That’s not unreasonable, but for those of us who use multiple Web browsers regularly, it could cause some confusion.
Protecting Against Beta — My only concern about the pre-release nature of Gears is that I’d hate to lose a plane ride’s worth of work should something go wrong. I haven’t used it much, and although I haven’t had any problems, I do worry a bit, since Gears is saving to a database, not a normal file that you could extract easily if necessary.
Of course, you can always copy the text and work on it in TextEdit or some other simple word processor, but what I’m considering instead is using a utility like Keyboard Maestro or CopyPaste Pro that maintains a clipboard history. Then, every so often, as a backup, I’d just select all and copy.
Google Doc App For Pc
Needless to say, Gears is free, as is Google Docs, and it requires Safari 3.1.1 or later on Mac OS X 10.4.11 or 10.5.3 or later. Even if you don’t plan to use Google Docs offline much, I’d encourage you to give it a spin, since it might let you get some work done at a time when you’d otherwise be dead in the Internet water.