Learn about the basics - and limitations - of editing your Coda docs in offline mode.
Whether you’re experiencing connectivity issues, about to get on a plane, or need to disconnect from the internet for any other reason, fear not! You can continue editing in Coda while offline, and any changes you make will be synced once you go back online.
Within this article, you’ll find...
Offline mode basics
Whether you disconnect from the internet intentionally or unintentionally, you can continue using Coda while offline. You’ll see an Offline message in the upper right corner of your doc, and you can simply continue editing your docs as you normally would. Any changes you make to your docs will be saved and uploaded the next time you connect to the internet.
How is this possible? When you open a doc, we download the latest version of the whole doc into your browser. We then cache all changes locally with the browser storage. So once you go offline, the doc keeps working since you effectively have a local copy of it. You can continue making changes as usual, though you won't see changes from others, nor will they see yours since you're disconnected. Once you reconnect to the internet, any changes you made while offline will automatically sync to Coda’s servers, and you’ll be back to business-as-usual.
ℹ️ Please note that docs do require an internet connection to initially load, so be sure to open your docs prior to going offline.
Offline mode limitations
There are some limitations to be aware of when using Coda offline:
You must have a connection to open and load a doc. So be sure to open any necessary docs before you disconnect from the internet. Then, you can continue to use those opened doc while offline, and changes will be synced when a connection is restored.
If multiple collaborators are concurrently making changes to your doc while you are editing offline, some of your changes have a higher chance of conflicting with other people editing. While offline, you won’t be able to see the activity of others, nor will they be able to see your activity.
If you refresh your page, log out, clear your cache, or don't go back online within 30 days of your initial offline edits, you may lose some of your changes.
Anything that requires internet - such as refreshing a Pack sync table, loading an embed on the canvas, adding a new Pack, or loading and applying templates - won't be supported while offline.
FAQs
My doc is stuck offline and won’t reconnect to the internet. How do I resolve this?
If your doc is unexpectedly or unintentionally offline (with an Offline warning in the upper right corner of your doc), this can be due to a variety of issues. Luckily it can often be resolved by some simple troubleshooting. We suggest trying the steps below:
Log out and back into your Coda account
Clear your browser cache and cookies
Try opening your doc in a private browser session (like Incognito). If you don't see "offline" in a private browser, then the issue is likely caused by some of your browser extensions. Try disabling any that you don't need.
Double-check that your internet connection is stable
Check whether you (or your employer) have a VPN or firewall put in place that could be interrupting access
If none of the above troubleshooting steps resolve your "offline" issue, please contact Coda support. You can do so by clicking the question mark icon in the lower right corner of any doc, then choosing Contact support.
For more information on doc performance, check out this article.
Will I lose changes if I reload the doc while offline?
Yes - if you close or refresh the tab while offline, you will not be able to reload the doc and any changes you’ve made since your last online session will unfortunately be lost. Check out the Offline mode limitations section above to learn more.