Working offline
Brief internet connectivity issues don't have to prevent progress on your work
How to work offline
If you lose internet connection for longer than a moment while working on Overleaf, you'll see the "You're offline" message at the top of the editor, and you can continue editing the current file for a short period of time. Any edits you make while offline will automatically be synced back when you reconnect.
If you're still offline once that time runs out, you'll see the "Editing paused" notification banner, and the editor locks to protect your work:
If you want to create a backup you can copy your content directly from the editor, or use the Download file button to save it to your device. Or you can simply wait until your internet connection is restored.
Users on any of our premium plans can edit for up to 10 minutes while offline. Users on the free plan can edit for up to 2 minutes.
Syncing your offline edits
When you reconnect:
In most cases, your work will be automatically synced back.
In some cases, such as when a collaborator has edited the same file in a way that introduces conflicts, you will be informed that your offline edits couldn't be synced. You'll be able to preview what edits you made and given the option to save these as a new file or discard your changes:
Limitations
Some actions aren't available while you're offline, including switching files, compiling, adding comments, and AI features.
Recovering lost edits by restoring your tab
While you're offline we also back your work up in the browser. This means that if you accidentally close your tab, or if your browser crashes, you may be able to recover your work if you restore the tab that you were working in.
You must restore the original tab, e.g. using your browser history, rather than simply navigating to the same project. Tabs can't be restored if you are working in private or incognito browsing mode, so offline editing is not recommended here.
Working on your project outside Overleaf
Alternatively, if you know you'll be without internet for a long time period, you can prepare your project for offline editing in a local editor instead using one of the following methods:
Sync with Dropbox to keep a local copy of your project up to date automatically.
Sync with Git or GitHub to work in your own editor, then push your changes back to Overleaf when you reconnect.
Download your project as a ZIP file, or download a single file, and open it in any text or LaTeX editor. Then copy and paste or re-upload your files when back online. Take care with any tracked changes or comments that could become lost during this process.
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