Prepare Compose before you go offline
Open Compose successfully while you still have a connection. The app can then keep recent complete versions on the device and use one of them when the network is unavailable.
Do this before a flight, journey or other period when you know connectivity will be unreliable. A device that has never loaded Compose cannot invent an offline copy of the app.
If you regularly work offline, open Compose online after updates from time to time. This helps the device keep a recent version of the app available offline.
What you can keep doing
Once Compose is available offline, you can continue editing local documents on that device. Writing, formatting and document tools do not need a connection just to work on a local file.
The app and your documents are stored separately. Keeping Compose available offline does not create a backup of your writing.
A normal local writing session does not need to wait for a server response before each edit. That is why losing the connection does not turn the document into a read-only page once the app itself is available.
What still needs a connection
Sign-in, billing and team administration need the internet. DOI lookup also needs a connection because it requests publication details from online source databases.
A document that uses an image from a web address may need the network for that image during some exports.
Browser tab or installed app
Your documents are stored the same way whether you use Compose in a browser or install it. Installing mainly makes Compose quicker to open and easier to use offline.
Browsers and operating systems can behave differently, especially around files. Test the offline setup on the device you plan to rely on.
Before relying on Compose offline
A quick check is better than discovering a missing dependency when you are already disconnected.
If offline work is important to you, test it once before you depend on it. Turn off the connection, reopen Compose and confirm that the document and the actions you need are available on that device.
- Open Compose online on the device you will use.
- Open the document you expect to work on.
- Save an up-to-date .compose copy of important work.
- Finish any DOI lookups or account changes that require the internet.