Google is arguably the most popular technical company, it’s the main search engine for nearly every netizen, and Google Chrome is quickly becoming the most popular Internet browser and Google Drive is a viable cloud storage solution. The only downside to Google’s products is that they’re based on Internet connectivity. If you want to edit a doc with no Internet connection, you can’t...until now.

At the I/O conference in June, Google announced some big changes to its cloud storage/document suite - Google Drive. The biggest announcement was that you can now create and edit spreadsheets and documents when you’re not connected to the Internet. Google calls this new feature Offline Docs.

This is a great upgrade for businesses with spotty Internet connection who have been looking for an cloud based office suite, or are looking to provide employees with a solution that allows them to be more efficient while mobile.

How to enable Offline Docs At this time, Offline Docs is only available to users of Google Chrome. If you use Firefox, Safari, IE or any other browser, these steps won’t work. Google has not announced when, or if, the feature will be available for other browsers.

To enable Offline Docs:

1. Open Google Drive.
2. Select More, located on the left-hand side of the screen, below CREATE.
3. Click Enable offline docs and wait a few seconds for a dialogue box to open.
4. Select Install from Chrome web store, followed by Add to Chrome.
5. Click on the Google Drive icon and Offline Docs will be enabled.

After Offline Docs have been enabled, docs stored in your My Drive folder will be available offline. When your Internet isn’t working, simply open a new tab in Chrome and select the Google Drive icon, the offline version of Drive will open and you’ll be able to edit documents. Note that any features that require an Internet connection will be unavailable. When you connect to the Internet again, the document will be uploaded.

If you find that you don’t need to use Offline Docs, you can turn it off by clicking the gear in the top right-hand side of the Google Drive window and selecting Stop using Docs offline. To learn more about other useful features of Google Drive, please contact us.