Is it possible to work offline in Google Chrome (as in Firefox?)

I'd like to access cached copies of web pages even when I can't connect to the Internet in Google Chrome.

To work offline in Firefox, I can click File -> Work Offline.
Is there a similar "offline mode" in Chrome?

Solution 1:

AFAIK there is no technique to change Google Chrome's cache size, location or status from the browser preferences.

To see the cached contents, type in the Google Chrome address bar:

chrome://cache

To check your current cache size:

chrome://net-internals/#httpCache

To change the cache size you need to:

1. right-click over the Google Chrome shortcut;

2. Select "Properties";

3. In the "Target:" field, append to the end of the existent value:

   "existent value" --disk-cache-size=xxx (in bytes)
   

Using Windows 7, Google Chrome default cache location is in the following folder:

C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Cache

Solution 2:

Chrome does not have an offline mode like Firefox (yet?).

However chrome does have offline apps/webpages. . .

There are many webapps available from the Chrome web store that do work offline. Google docs for instance, can edit documents offline (as long as you synced them to your computer), and save them locally to be uploaded later.

Drive/docs, Gmail, Gcal, Read Later (which others have mentioned), various editors, games, and helpful apps are available in an offline flavor. All such apps can be found in the offline section of the Chrome app store.

Furthermore Chrome supports the HTML 5 offline standard (Dive Into HTML 5 has a great article on that) which provides a standardized way for webpages to define their own offline capabilities.

Google has decided not to use the old school cache-it-all and spit-it-out method of offline browsing. Instead Chrome implements the HTML 5 standard, as well as Google's own special app system. The intention being that web sites that are designed to work offline could do so with the greatest effect. It is unfortunate that this means many sites will be unavailable (though you can do as others suggested, and use Read Later), but the plus is that most of the applications you really need offline (documents, E-mail, etc) can be made not only available, but incredibly useful, as the page is actually designed to work in the offline environment.

So no, Chrome does not have an offline mode like Firefox. It has something better.

But that's not the end of the story. It would appear that Google is working on a more traditional offline mode. The (not very advanced) developmental version is available. Head to chrome://flags/ in your address bar and enable "Offline Cache Mode". Note that while this will allow you to view pages like in offline mode it does not warn you, so you may be viewing an old page without even knowing.