One amazing feature of Google Drive is the ability to work offline. This comes in handy when you are traveling. It is also a great tool for students and teachers with limited or no Internet access at home.
With the New Google Drive, offline editing is even easier! Below are the steps to get started using Google Drive Offline.
- Use Chrome! Seems like a no brainer, but you must be using the Chrome browser in order to use Google Drive offline. If you want to enable offline access on both your laptop and desktop computer, you'll need to set it up twice — once on each computer.Offline access is also available on other Chrome Devices. If you are new to Chrome, be sure to check out my list of favorite Chrome Apps and Extensions, and my latest presentation: Confessions of a Chrome Addict.
- Use one account per Chrome profile. Multiple accounts can use Drive offline on the same computer, but each account will need to log in with a different Chrome profile.
- Enable Offline Editing in Google Drive. As soon as you do, all of your Google documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and drawings will be available for offline viewing and editing. Because of space limitations, Drive stores at most 4,000 items or 5 GB of data offline.
- From drive.google.com in your Chrome browser, click More on the left-hand side.
- Select Offline.
- Click the Get the app button. If you already have the app installed, skip to step 6.
- In the Chrome web store, click Add to Chrome in the upper right.
- Once the app is installed, click on the Google Drive icon to go back to Drive.
- Click the Enable Offline button. You can also click on the Settings menu in the upper right and select Enable Offline to set up offline access.
How has offline editing made your life easier? Please share in the comments below.
Kasey Bell will be presenting at the following upcoming events:
- Area 10-11 TCEA Emerge Conference, Nov. 1, 2014 (Carrollton, TX)
- Teaching and Learning with the iPad, Nov. 20-22 (Raleigh, NC)
- FETC, Jan. 20-23 (Orlando, FL)
- TCEA, Feb. 2-6 (Austin, TX)