Offline access to online Apps

Offline access lets a supported Desktop client use selected tables from an online App while its hub is unreachable. The App stays online and shared; this device keeps a local copy and queues changes for the hub.

This differs from a local-only App, which lives on one device and has no server synchronization target.

Before you disconnect

Use a signed-in Desktop client with Data → Offline access available in the App. The entry appears only on hosts that implement offline writes, for online Apps and accounts with permission to execute Events. The hub must also support offline changes. If the page reports that it does not, update the hub before enabling tables. This guide describes clients that expose these controls; older releases can have a different feature set.

Table write permissions are checked when changes reach the hub. Downloading a copy does not grant new access rights. Your Flow must also support local execution, and any external APIs or models it calls need their own connectivity.

Make a table available

1. Connect to the hub and open the App’s Data → Offline access page.
2. In Tables available offline, choose the table to enable.
3. Select a text or whole-number column whose values uniquely identify rows. Offline writes match rows using this key.
4. Turn on Download everything when the entire table must remain available without a connection. Otherwise data downloads as Flows use it.
5. Review the setup details and confirm. Wait for Ready and, for a complete copy, Fully available offline before disconnecting.

Table names with dots or special characters are not supported by this feature. The setup dialog explains why a table or key is unavailable. A key without a suitable index can require a full-table download for changes; choose Download everything before planning offline writes in that case.

Ready describes setup, not how much data has downloaded. A partial copy can only answer from data already on the device. An unpinned full copy can later be removed to free space; Download everything keeps it selected for offline use.

What changes after enabling a table

Flows on this device read the local copy and queue table changes even while connected. The client sends changes in order, in batches. Changes made by others arrive through refreshes, so this view can lag the hub. The page reports the copy’s update time and any refresh error.

Structure changes, branches, and graph operations stay unavailable for an offline-managed table on this device. Use the online management path for those operations. Large imports through the queue can take longer than direct writes.

New files are kept locally and uploaded later. Review Waiting to sync after a Flow finishes; successful local execution does not prove that every queued write has reached the hub.

Reconnect and check synchronization

1. Restore the connection and sign in as the account that created the changes.
2. Open Offline access and select Sync now.
3. Check the sync status and Waiting to sync. Inspect any blocked head change.
4. Confirm that the queue is empty and the status is Synced before treating the device’s work as delivered.

Changes belong to their originating account. Work from another account waits until that account signs in; switching accounts does not send those changes as the new user.

State or problem	What to do
Waiting for connection	Reconnect to the configured hub, then retry synchronization.
Waiting for sign-in	Sign in as the named account.
Permission denied	Restore the required App access, then retry, or deliberately skip the change.
Hub rejects the size	Ask the operator to adjust the applicable limit or skip the change.
Outcome unknown	The hub may already have applied the change. Retry to check its outcome.
Table conflict	The hub copy changed after the local change was made. Inspect both sides; skipping discards this queued change so later work can continue.
File conflict	Use Keep both to upload the local version under another name, or skip it.

Skip removes a change from this device’s queue and requires a reason. It cannot undo a write the hub already applied. Later changes to the same resource can continue, so inspect dependent work before skipping an earlier operation. Use Find a change by ID when investigating a specific queued operation.

Storage and limits

Storage on this device reports queue usage, offline-copy usage, and download allowances. Its settings include the queued-changes limit, offline-copies limit, and oldest allowed change. Keep enough capacity for the tables and uploads you expect before starting work without a connection.

A stale or failed download needs attention even when a previous local copy is usable. Check the displayed update time and test the actual Flow against its required data before relying on a disconnected run.

See Offline vs. Online for execution modes and Storage for shared and per-user files.