Offline mode

In offline mode, you work in the desktop application with an AI model running on your own computer (Ollama). You can also work without an internet connection, for example while traveling or in a place without Wi‑Fi.

Turning on offline mode

1. In the sidebar, turn on the Offline mode switch. You can also find the same switch in the local mode settings.
2. The first time, you will briefly read what changes. Confirm with Turn on offline mode.
3. A new chat starts. As long as offline mode is on, the switch in the sidebar is highlighted.

The app remembers your choice and will start in offline mode next time. Turn the switch off to work normally again.

Sign in online once

First sign in once online in the desktop application. After that, the app can also start in offline mode without internet, up to 30 days after the last time the app was started online. After signing out, you must sign in online again first.

What stays on your computer

• The model runs in Ollama on your computer. Your questions and the answers do not go to a server.
• New chats and messages are stored encrypted on this computer, never in the cloud, and are not synchronized. You therefore will not see them in the web version or on another device. In the sidebar and history, you can recognize an offline chat by the crossed-out cloud.
• The local model creates the chat title.
• Reading and editing files in your chosen folder, creating Word, PowerPoint, and Excel files, and running local commands all work as usual. Commands run in the sandbox without network access. On a computer without a sandbox, the app asks for permission for each command.
• Viewing a local development server in the built-in browser (localhost) also works.

What does not work in offline mode

• Cloud models. Only local models appear in the model selection.
• Internet search, weather, maps, image search or generation, Wikipedia, Wikiwijs, and SLO.
• Uploading files or adding them from File Manager, and searching the documentation.
• Integrations (such as Google and Microsoft 365) and MCP servers, including locally installed ones.
• Voice, images, document creation, and workflows.
• Continuing in an existing cloud chat. You can open it, but turn off offline mode to continue working in it.

What can still connect to the internet

Offline mode does not send chat content to a server. If internet is available, the app may still exchange data without chat content, such as refreshing your sign-in or anonymous usage statistics. In offline mode, the app does not automatically look for updates; you can still check manually.

Ollama is not running or there is no model

If the start screen says that Ollama is not running, start the Ollama app (or run ollama serve in a terminal) and choose Check again. If there is no model yet, download one while you are online:

ollama pull qwen3-vl:4b-instruct

See Chatting with local AI models for installing Ollama and choosing a model.

Settings for administrators

Offline mode is available by default. Administrators can disable it for the entire environment in the admin environment under Features, in the Desktop app card, with Allow offline mode. The app adopts that setting as soon as it checks the policy again while online. In closed mode, offline mode is never available, because every message is recorded on the server there.

In offline mode, the app follows the extra instructions and the limits for context and response length from the AI policy, as they applied during the last online use. Access hours, usage limits, and budgets do not apply offline: local models are free, and the app cannot enforce them without a server. If you want to prevent that, turn off offline mode.