How to Use Helperbird Offline
Learn how Helperbird works offline without an internet connection. Most Helperbird features continue to work when you are not connected to the internet.
Does Helperbird Work Offline?
Yes. Helperbird is a browser extension that runs locally on your device. Most features work without an internet connection. Once the extension is installed and activated, it does not need to contact a server to apply your settings or run most tools.
Features That Work Offline
These features work fully offline because they run directly in your browser:
- Dyslexia-friendly fonts (OpenDyslexic, Lexie Readable, etc.)
- Font size, letter spacing, line height, and word spacing adjustments
- Background color, font color, and link color changes
- High contrast themes
- Reading ruler and reading guide
- Overlay and tint
- Text alignment and column width
- Cursor size and color changes
- Hide images and GIFs
- Paragraph spacing and margins
- Auto-scroll
- Print page tools
- Zoom and magnification
- Accessibility profiles
- Text-to-speech
- Voice typing (speech-to-text)
- Word prediction
- OCR (reading text from images)
Features That Need Internet
A small number of features require an internet connection because they rely on cloud services:
- Translation (uses Google Translate)
- AI-powered text simplification and summarization
- Dictionary and picture dictionary lookups
Any of these features can be disabled by your school admin through Google Admin Console using managed JSON policy. For details, see How to Disable Helperbird Features Using JSON Policy.
If you lose your connection while using one of these features, the rest of Helperbird continues to work normally. When your connection returns, these features become available again automatically.
How It Works
Helperbird is cloud-based for deployment and licensing, but the extension itself runs locally in the browser. Your settings are stored in the browser and applied on every page load without needing to contact a server.
When the extension is force-installed via Google Admin or Microsoft Intune with a managed subscription key, the license is cached locally. Students do not need to be online to have their Helperbird settings applied.
Related Guides
- How to Use Text to Speech on Any Website
- How to Use Speech to Text on Any Website
- How to Translate a Page or Selected Text
- How to Extract Text from Any Image, PDF, or Website
- How to Use Accessibility Profiles in Helperbird
- Where Helperbird Stores Your Data
- Sync or Store Data Locally in Helperbird
Need Additional Help?
If you have any questions or run into any issues, please contact the Helperbird support team. You can reach us at Helperbird support. We are happy to help you get the most out of Helperbird.
