How to use Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Drive when offline.
A common misconception is that you can't use Gmail, Google Calendar or Google Drive when you have no internet access. However, you can! Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Drive all work offline - so if you're travelling and have no internet access (such as being on an aeroplane), you can still access your emails, appointment and documents.
You must set up offline support in Gmail, Calendar and Drive before you lose your internet connection. It is impossible to enable offline support in these applications once your internet connection is lost. So, follow this process below to enable offline access to Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Drive:
Enable Offline Access in Gmail
Open Gmail.
Click the Settings Cog in the top right.
Click See all settings.
Select the Offline tab.
Click Enable offline mail.
Select how far back you want access to emails.
Click Save Changes.
You will see a spinning synchronisation circle in the top right of the main Gmail interface. Once this has stopped spinning, offline access will be enabled.
Enable Offline Access in Google Calendar
Open Google Calendar.
Click the Settings Cog in the top right.
Then click Settings.
Scroll down until you see the Offline section.
Put a tick in the box next to Turn on offline calendar.
Reload Google Calendar
Like Gmail, a synchronisation icon will appear in the top right of your primary Google Calendar view, confirming offline access is enabled.
Enable Offline Access in Google Drive
Open Google Drive
Click the Settings Cog in the top right.
Then click Settings.
Scroll down until you see the Offline section.
Put a tick in the box next to Offline.
Google Drive will start enabling Offline mode.
Google Drive also has a synchronisation icon in the top right of your primary view to confirm offline mode is enabled.
Google Drive uses AI to determine which files you need access to when you’re offline. If you click the synchronisation icon, you can preview the files Google Drive has made available to you while offline. If you find a file you want available to you while offline is not listed, you can right-click on that file and mark it to be available while you are offline.
