Work Offline in Venn

Venn is designed to allow you to access offline resources when you need to temporarily access work from a location where you will not have reliable internet access, such as when you are flying or commuting or if you will have a spotty wifi connection when you are away from your normal work location.

Offline Work Best Practices

  • Always launch Venn and any applications or files you will need access to before you go offline. You will not be able to log in to Venn or launch applications or files once you are offline.
  • Once you launch what you need, you can close your laptop or put it to sleep until you need to work offline. For example, you can close your laptop for boarding and open it back up when you're cleared to do so on the plane. However, make sure that you open Venn up again before you are automatically logged out. You will not be able to log back in to Venn if you hit your idle session timeout and are automatically logged out of Venn while you are offline. The default idle session timeout for Venn is 600 minutes (10 hours), but your company can customize the timeout.
  • Before traveling, confirm your company policy around work location and check with your Company Manager to ensure that they have not put IP-based restrictions in place in Venn that would prevent you from accessing Venn in another location.
  • Some applications and websites cannot be used offline. When in doubt, test using applications and websites offline before you know you'll need to work offline by toggling your wifi connection to off on your computer.
  • If you need to work from a location where you will not have reliable internet access for an extended period of time, consider using a mobile hotspot to connect to the internet.
  • Review the specific instructions for the following below:

Use Microsoft Outlook in Venn When Offline

  1. Before you will be offline, review and update your Outlook offline settings.
    • New Outlook has some limitations on offline work. For example, on Windows, you cannot change how emails are sorted and for Mac, you cannot choose which folders or how long emails are saved locally (folders, emails, and attachments that you have opened recently are cached). If you need full offline access or more granular control saving, you may want to consider reverting to the legacy version of Outlook before you need to work offline. Visit this Microsoft resource for more information.
  2. Do the following just before you will be offline while you still have an internet connection available (for example, before you take off on your flight):
    1. Log in to Venn.
    2. Launch the Outlook app and open the folders you want up-to-date access to so that any new mail will load.
      • Depending on your version of Outlook and your settings, you may also need to open new attachments to ensure that they are saved locally.
  3. Leave Venn and the Outlook app open when you go offline.
    • If you close your laptop or put it to sleep, make sure that you open Venn up again before you hit your idle session timeout and are automatically logged out of Venn. The default timeout for Venn is 600 minutes (10 hours), but your company can customize the timeout.
  4. Continue to work in Outlook while you are offline.
    • Drafts are saved in your Drafts folder and any emails you send are stored in the Outbox.
  5. The next time you have Outlook open when you are online, any items in your Outbox will be sent and any items saved in your Drafts folder will still be accessible.

Use Gmail in Venn When Offline

  1. Before you will be offline, review and update your Gmail offline settings.
    • Visit this Google resource for more information.
    • Gmail only works offline in an up-to-date version of Google Chrome. If you are unable to adjust your offline settings, your company may have disabled offline access. Reach out to your IT team for support.
  2. Do the following just before you will be offline while you still have an internet connection available (for example, before you take off on your flight):
    1. Log in to Venn.
    2. Launch Google Chrome, open your Gmail Inbox, and open the folders you want up-to-date access to so that any new mail will load.
  3. Leave Venn and Google Chrome with your Gmail Inbox open when you go offline.
    • If you close your laptop or put it to sleep, make sure that you open Venn up again before you hit your idle session timeout and are automatically logged out of Venn. The default timeout for Venn is 600 minutes (10 hours), but your company can customize the timeout.
  4. Continue to work in Gmail while you are offline.
    • Drafts are saved in your Drafts folder and any emails you send are stored in the Outbox.
  5. The next time you have Gmail open when you are online, any items in your Outbox will be sent and any items saved in your Drafts folder will still be accessible.
  6. Optionally, turn off Gmail offline once your edits have synced.

View and Edit Files from Your Secure Cloud Storage System in Venn When Offline

  1. Do the following just before you will be offline while you still have an internet connection available (for example, before you take off on your flight):
    1. Log in to Venn.
    2. Launch File Explorer or Finder and open any files you would like to view or edit.
  2. Leave Venn and the files you plan to use open when you go offline.
    • If you close your laptop or put it to sleep, make sure that you open Venn up again before you hit your idle session timeout and are automatically logged out of Venn. The default timeout for Venn is 600 minutes (10 hours), but your company can customize the timeout.
  3. Continue to work in your files while you are offline.
    • When you save your files to your secure cloud storage system folders in Venn, a version is stored in cache on Venn Disk while you are offline.
  4. The next time you have Venn open when you are online, any items stored in cache on Venn Disk will be synced to the cloud.

Create Word, Excel, and PowerPoint Documents in Venn When Offline

  1. Do the following just before you will be offline while you still have an internet connection available (for example, before you take off on your flight):
    1. Log in to Venn.
    2. Launch any applications such as Word, Excel, or PowerPoint if you would like to create new documents while working offline.
  2. Leave Venn and any applications you plan to use open when you go offline.
    • If you close your laptop or put it to sleep, make sure that you open Venn up again before you hit your idle session timeout and are automatically logged out of Venn. The default timeout for Venn is 600 minutes (10 hours), but your company can customize the timeout.
  3. Create and save new files while you are offline.
    • When you save your files to your secure cloud storage system folders in Venn, a version is stored in cache on Venn Disk while you are offline.
  4. The next time you have Venn open when you are online, any items stored in cache on Venn Disk will be synced to the cloud.

View and Edit Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides in Venn When Offline

  1. Before you will be offline, review and update your Google Drive offline settings.
    • Visit this Google resource for more information.
    • Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides only works offline in an up-to-date version of Google Chrome. If you are unable to adjust your offline settings, your company may have disabled offline access. Reach out to your IT team for support.
  2. Do the following just before you will be offline while you still have an internet connection available (for example, before you take off on your flight):
    1. Log in to Venn.
    2. Launch Google Chrome, and open any Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides you would like to view or edit.
  3. Leave Venn and Google Chrome with your Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides open when you go offline.
    • If you close your laptop or put it to sleep, make sure that you open Venn up again before you hit your idle session timeout and are automatically logged out of Venn. The default timeout for Venn is 600 minutes (10 hours), but your company can customize the timeout.
  4. Continue to work in Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides while you are offline.
    • Changes will be automatically saved locally on your computer.
  5. The next time you have the document open when you are online, any edits made offline will be synced.
  6. Optionally, turn off offline access once your edits have synced.

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