Work Offline in Mozilla Firefox

Entering and exiting Offline Mode is done simply by going to settings (☰), selecting “Developer”, and turning “Work Offline” on. Offline Mode is a feature of Firefox that allows you to view cached webpages while disconnected from the internet. Although cached web content is limited to the information on the page at the time of viewing (sorry, no up-to-the-minute news!), it is still useful for continued productivity or just waiting out moments of poor connectivity.

Steps

Enabling Offline Mode

  1. Understand how Offline Mode works. Offline Mode removes Firefox's connection to the internet, instead fetching all information from the browser cache. While online, Firefox will automatically save websites you browse as cached web content. These cached versions of the sites can be accessed when offline, but additional browsing beyond the saved content is not possible (i.e. you can navigate to any site you previously visited, but any links on that site that are not already cached will return an error. Likewise, even if connectivity is restored, Offline Mode must be disabled to resume browsing non-cached sites).
    • The storage size of the cache is limited. As a user browses, older content is removed from the cache and replaced with the most recent. By default, Firefox stores a cache of 350MB. This is a solid amount of web content, but if you want more (or less), you can edit the cache size by going to “☰ > Options > Advanced > Network” and selecting “Override automatic cache management”. This will allow you manually set the cache size.
  2. Go to Firefox Settings. Press ☰. This opens a menu with various options for Firefox.
  3. Open the Developer menu. Press "Developer". This will open a menu with various developer tools, including Offline Mode.
  4. Enable Offline Mode. Select "Work Offline" at the bottom of the list. A check will appear next to the menu option indicating that it is active. You can now browse cached pages.
  5. Browse cached sites. You can visit recently visited sites, depending on your browsing habits and cache size. Go to "☰ > History” to see what is available to visit.

Disabling Offline Mode

  1. Understand the reason for disabling Offline Mode. Offline mode disables Firefox’s ability to communicate with the internet. When internet access is restored, you must disable Offline Mode in order to use your browser normally again. Attempting to browse non-cached pages on the web while in Offline Mode will return an error, even if your internet connection is working.
  2. Go to Firefox Settings. Press ☰. This opens a menu with various options for Firefox.
  3. Open the Developer menu. Press "Developer". This will open a menu with various developer tools, including Offline Mode.
  4. Disable Offline Mode. Select "Work Offline" at the bottom of the list. The check next to the menu option will disappear indicating that the feature is now disabled.
  5. Browse the internet normally. You can now browse the internet without receiving an error. Visiting webpages will now display the live version instead of the cached one.



Tips

  • When you are done working offline be sure to go through the same steps to deactivate the Work Offline function.
  • Offline Mode is currently not supported on Firefox mobile.

Warnings

  • You will not be able to view the most up to date versions of web pages while working offline. A cached page displays whatever information was on it when you visited.

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

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