If you’re looking for a way to store your files offline, there are a number of options available.
In this post, we’ve listed out what we believe are the best platforms currently available, what they offer, and how they might be able to help you.
In today’s day and age, with so many people working on laptops or smartphones instead of laptops or desktops, it can be nearly impossible to keep track of all the changes made to a single document – not without some serious workarounds.
If you are a digital nomad, then I am sure you know the pain point here.
This is why collaboration has become the cornerstone of productivity at work.
In the past, collaborating required people to work from the same location.
Not anymore.
Especially in this post-pandemic era where most people are capable of working from home yet delivering results.
That wasn’t always a good or even ideal situation.
It was often incredibly inconvenient for everyone involved, and it sometimes slowed down progress or even prevented workers from doing their jobs.
Cloud storage solutions can solve a number of problems for collaboration.
When working on a document, you can access all other versions of the same file, and everyone involved in the document will have access to the latest version of that file.
Cloud storage can also be a great backup system for information.
If something should happen to your computer and it would take too long to get the documents off, you can simply upload them to a cloud storage platform and make a data backup.
There are many different cloud storage platforms available now as well, including Google Drive, Apple iCloud, and Microsoft OneDrive.
For all that we’ve known that cloud storage requires an internet connection to work properly.
Storing, syncing your files, and working accordingly.
But what if you are not online?
You need to work on the documents or files offline that you saved in your cloud storage platform.
Is that even possible?
Of course!
That is because of the features that cloud storage providers offer and how they can help you work offline.
We are going to show you exactly how it works with these offline access features from different cloud storage providers.
What is the technology behind this “offline access”?
The technology behind these offline access features is really simple.
That is because cloud storage providers store your files in the form of a huge database called a file system.
This file system remembers everything that has been added to it, modified, or deleted from within its system.
Since the file that you want to work offline is saved in this file system, it will only be stored online as long as you keep working on it.
The moment you decide to save your work, the cloud storage providers will then move the file to their own system so that it can be kept with your data for a much longer period of time.
The system works on the assumption that if you ever need to access one of these files again, you would have most likely synced it in some way or another.
Even if you were offline when saving the file, chances are that later on, you would have saved a copy online and synced it with your device or computer.
Best 4 Providers that enable you to work on your files offline
1. Sync.com
With their mobile app, Sync.com provides you with the ability to work offline.
How?
The app allows you to download a copy of all your files in the cloud storage and work from them even when you are not online.
The great part about this is the feature is available even if you are using their free plan.
Check out their FAQ here if you are keen to know more.
2. pCloud
pCloud is one of our favorite cloud storage.
They are an all-rounded service provider that of course has offline access as well.
You need to install the software and get into your pCloud drive or mobile app.
Select the folder that you need to access offline by right-clicking the folder and you’re set.
All your changes or file amendments will be synced automatically once you are online.
Get into this document if you need further info.
3. Dropbox
There is no doubt that Dropbox is one of the most popular names in the cloud storage industry, and its offline access feature is just one of the many features that keep on rolling.
According to Dropbox, working remotely and working offline are two separate different things.
But you can have both of them working flawlessly with them.
Do not have to worry about Wi-Fi in your remote working environment anymore.
Here’s more of the Dropbox offline access feature.
4. Mega Cloud Storage
Mega is a great service provider on the market. They provide you with an absolutely huge amount of storage space as well as cloud storage.
The offline feature from Mega will download content or the files that you plan to work offline to your computer or device.
In our testing, it’s not conveniently working as the other that constantly syncs and saves.
Learn more about this feature here.
Why is the Offline Access is Important
People who are always on the go have made cloud storage a necessity.
Whether you work from home, in an office, or travel a lot for business, you need to have access to your files and documents at all times.
Being able to access your files from different devices is crucial, even when you are offline.
So, if you’ve got files that you need to work on or access no matter where you are, offline access is a great must-have feature.
If you are using cloud storage services, it’s worth checking the provider’s Internet connectivity requirements and limitations.
In most cases, offline access is only possible when a device has Internet connectivity at some time.
In other words, if your device is not connected to the Internet at all, there’s no way for it to sync with the cloud server.
Thus, there’s no point to have that feature as well.
Conclusion
Even though, the offline access feature is critical, it’s not that easy to have personal cloud storage.
Some providers are unable to sync or store offline features of some documents.
When you consider one of the well-known names in the market like Dropbox, they are capable of providing offline access to their users and this is a great thing that we appreciate.
Though, things can get a bit complicated when you choose a newer service provider.
They might not be mentioning this and you presume that they are capable of providing this standard feature as well wherein, but it’s not.
Make sure you go through our list here.
Happy working offline!
