How to Make Google Drive Files Available Offline
Turn on offline access in Google Drive so recent Docs, Sheets, and Slides open without internet, and mark specific files as available offline.
Applies to: Google Drive on the web; app differences noted. Checked September 2026.
Drive can keep copies of your Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides on the computer so they open and edit without a connection. Changes sync the next time you are online.
Use Chrome or Edge and sign in
Offline access on the web works in Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge. Open drive.google.com and sign in to the account that holds the files. Do this on your own computer, since the offline copies are stored on the machine and stay readable to anyone who uses that browser profile.
Turn on offline in Drive settings
Click the gear icon at the top right and choose Settings. On the General tab, find the Offline section and tick Create, open and edit your recent Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides files on this device while offline. Click Done. Drive installs the Google Docs Offline extension in the browser if it is missing and begins saving your recently opened files.
Mark specific files
Recent files are handled automatically, but anything else has to be chosen. In Drive, right-click a Docs, Sheets, or Slides file and choose Make available offline. A small circle with a check mark appears next to the file name once the copy is ready. Right-click again and choose Remove offline access to drop it.
Check what is ready
Click the offline preview icon, a circle with a check mark, in the top bar of Drive. The file list switches to show only the files that will open without a connection. Click the icon again to return to the normal view. Files that are not ready are grayed out in this view.
Work offline
Open drive.google.com while disconnected. The files with offline copies open normally, and edits save to the computer. When the connection returns, the changes upload and merge with any edits made elsewhere.
Only Google file types, and only what you mark. Offline access covers Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drawings you opened recently or marked by hand, not the whole Drive. PDFs, Office files, images, and videos do not become available offline on the web. To keep real folders on your disk for any file type, install Drive for desktop and set the folders you need to Mirror files.
In the mobile app. Tap the three dots next to a file and choose Make available offline. The phone apps can also store PDFs, images, and other file types this way, and the Offline entry in the app menu lists everything saved.