While Chromebooks have been primarily designed to use web applications and Google’s cloud storage service (Google Drive), they can also be used offline.
Being able to work offline on a Chromebook can be useful; if internet connectivity has become unstable, unavailable or can be expensive to use (using Hotspot or while travelling).
Working Offline on a Chromebook
A low-tech way of working offline on a Chromebook is by using by making use of a SD Card or USB Drive to store Documents and spreadsheets that you open and edit, even if your Chromebook is not connected to the internet.
Another way of working offline on a Chromebook is by making use of the Google Drive App; which can be set to provide offline access to all your files located on Google Drive.
1. Work Offline on Chromebook Using USB Drive
The Files App as available on Chromebook can be used to open, edit and save files directly to an external USB, attached to the Chromebook.
1. Plug the USB Drive to the USB Port of the Chromebook.
2. Open the Files App on your Chromebook and select the USB Drive as it appears in the left-hand sidebar.
3. You can open supported files (Google Docs/Sheets, PDFs and images), make changes as required and click on Save.
Note: The data on the USB drive needs to be in an unencrypted format, in order to work properly with the Files App on a Chromebook.
2. Work Offline on Chromebook Using Google Drive App
In case you are not aware, Google starts Chromebook users with 100 GB of free storage on its Cloud storage service known as Google Drive.
Although, Google Drive is on Cloud, you will still be able to view and edit many of your files while you are offline by following these steps.
1. Open the Google Drive app on your Chromebook, while you are still connected to the internet. This app will begin indexing all your files on Google Drive and get them set up for offline use.
2. Next time, whenever you are offline and not connected to the internet, open the Google Drive app on your Chromebook and you will have offline access to many of your files.
With offline access enabled, you will be able to view and edit all your Google Docs, Spreadsheets and presentations – This is basically what most people do in terms of being productive on a computer.
Note: You won’t be able to view/edit Google Forms, play videos or browse images stored on Google Drive.