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Gmail lovers can now read, write and search their Gmail messages even when they are not connected to the Internet. Yes, Gmail is now available OFFLINE. I personally installed this latest experimental features from Gmail labs and see how it works.

How to Activate Gmail Offline

1. Just login to your Gmail account and go to "settings". Under the "Labs" tab you can enable the Offline Gmail feature.

 

2. Once enabled, you’ll need to install Google Gears by clicking on the "Offline" word next to your Gmail address on top of your Gmail screen.

3. After Google Gears is installed, just restart your browser and you can start enjoying offline Gmail.

Offline Gmail stores a copy of a user’s inbox on a personal computer. Most people will have to install it, a process Google walks you through, but it’s built into Google’s Chrome browser.

Once Gears is installed and offline access is enabled, the software automatically detects when a person’s network connection is working. If the network is good, Gmail works as usual. If it’s bad, it goes into offline mode, sending unsent messages and retrieving new ones when the connection is restored.

And if the network is dodgy, a person can use the intermediate "flaky connection mode," which for example queues a message to be sent immediately by storing it to the hard drive then actually sends it as soon as it can. Google positions this as useful for coffee shops and poaching a neighbor’s weak-signal wireless network, but I think of this as "tech conference mode."

When enabled, offline Gmail begins by downloading, in the background, a copy of a user’s archive to the user’s personal computer. But the software stores about 10,000 e-mails, so heavy users won’t get a complete archive.

 

The "Imperfect" Features

One big missing piece is the ability to add attachments to new messages, though attachments are visible with existing messages.

Another is the contacts tab, so forget about managing e-mail lists or adding new addresses while offline. The autocomplete option works, though, so there’s no need to start remembering e-mail addresses.

However, Offline Gmail is still undergoing testing and the Gmail team will of course try improve it from time to time. But at the mean time, you can still enjoy reading your Gmail messages.