PDF tools that work with no internet
Open the site once with a connection and every tool keeps working without one. You can also install it so it opens from your home screen like an app.
ReadFree. Nothing is uploaded.
How to do it
- Open this site once while you are online.
- Choose Install or Add to Home screen from your browser’s menu, if you like.
- Go offline: a flight, a train, or a place with no signal.
- Open the site or the installed app and use any tool as normal.
Why it works offline
The tools run in your browser, not on a server, so the internet is only needed to fetch the site itself. After your first visit, the site keeps its pages, scripts and fonts on your device and opens them from there when there is no connection. If your phone’s data saver is on, it skips this to save your data.
What needs the internet once
A few things are fetched the first time they are used and kept afterwards. Make searchable downloads each reading language the first time you pick it. Summarise and translate uses the AI built into your browser, which may download its own model once. Everything else, from Merge to Compress and Sign, needs nothing more.
Proof that nothing is uploaded
A tool that works with the internet switched off cannot be sending your file anywhere. That is why this matters beyond flights: it is the simplest way to check a privacy promise. See is it safe to upload PDFs online for more.
Installing it as an app
On Android in Chrome, open the menu and choose Install app or Add to Home screen. On a computer in Chrome or Edge, look for the install icon at the end of the address bar, or the Install option in the menu. On an iPhone in Safari, tap Share, then Add to Home Screen. The app opens in its own window without an address bar, and works offline just as the site does.
Installing is optional and changes nothing about privacy: the site and the app are the same pages, and both do all their work on your device.
A worked example
You are on a flight with no Wi-Fi and need to merge two parts of a contract and sign it before landing. Because you opened the site at home, open it again in the browser or the installed app. Merge the two files, tap Then to take the result to Sign, place your signature, and save. When you land, the signed file is waiting to be sent.
If a tool does not open offline
Pages are kept after your first visit only if the browser was allowed to keep them. A private or incognito window, a cleared browser cache, or data saver switched on can all mean nothing was stored. Open the site once more while online, with data saver off, and let the page finish loading before you go offline.
Questions people ask
Do I have to install anything?
No. Installing is optional; the site works offline in the browser once you have visited it.
Does it work offline on a phone?
Yes, in any current phone browser.
Is it the same as the online version?
Yes. There is only one version: the tools always run on your device.
How much space does it take?
Some MB for the pages and tools, and more for each extra reading language you use in Make searchable. The browser manages the space and may clear it if the device runs low.
Can I use it on a computer that has never been online?
No. The first visit, while online, is what stores the tools. After that, the computer can be offline.
Are the results different offline?
No. The tools are the same programs either way; offline, they simply have no network to use, and they never needed one.
Your file stays on your device. Foolscap does the work inside your browser, so nothing is uploaded and there is nothing for anyone to keep. How you can check