4 Ways to Fix Google Docs Offline Not Working

Try Basic Fixes

• Switch to Google Chrome because of its native support.
• Make sure to enable Google Docs offline extension.
• Disable all extensions by going to chrome://extensions/, then try Google Docs offline.

Fix 1. Enable Offline Access in Docs or Drive

You have Chrome installed and verified that the Google Docs Offline extension is downloaded and activated. If you are still facing issues getting Google Docs to kick in when offline, your following action should be to verify that offline access is enabled for Google Docs. And it’s pretty simple to do that.

Step 1: To access the Home screen of Google Docs, open the Docs menu.

Step 2: Go to Settings and turn on the toggle for the Offline option.

If it is enabled, switch it off and turn it on again. Doing that tends to resolve any bugs associated with offline access.

Fix 2. Create a New Chrome Profile

Are you in a shared environment? If so, a single Chrome profile will only support a single Google Docs account for offline syncing. This is usually denoted by the “Another user has already enabled offline access on this computer error” when attempting to enable offline access in Google Docs.

Step 1: To create another profile, click on the Chrome profile picture at the top-right of the Chrome window

Step 2: Click Manage People. On the pop-up window that shows up, click Add Person.

Step 3: Sign in with your Google Account credentials and enable offline mode in Google Docs.

Fix 3. Manually Save Files Offline

Google Docs will only save your most recent files offline. This is done to conserve local storage. If you want to be sure that a file you want to work on is available without an internet connection, manually make it accessible offline.

Step 1: From the Google Docs Home screen, click the document’s vertical ellipsis icon to the left (or bottom in grid view).

Step 2: Enable the toggle for Available Offline.

Alternatively, you can do the same while a document is open. To do that, click the File menu > Make Available Offline.

Fix 4. Clear Google Docs Cache

An outdated browser cache can often work against you. If you face specific errors when using Google Docs offline, such as ‘Checking offline sync status’ or ‘Offline setup failed,’ or attempting to make files available offline results in a stuck ‘syncing’ animation, clear the cache.

Step 1: Copy and paste the following path into the address bar of a new tab and press Enter.

chrome://settings/cookies/detail?site=docs.google.com 

Step 2: On the screen that shows up, click Remove All.