When I first started using Elementor, I had a bunch of questions as a new user since it was one of the first page builders I used. One of the biggest questions I had involved the activation of Elementor when you are offline.
Can you use Elementor pro offline? Yes, but only if you activate the license before you go offline. Otherwise, all the pro features will be locked. Blocks and pages will not show up without an internet connection. So it’s best if you activate the plugin before you lose your internet connection so you can use pro to create pages.
If you want to learn more about using Elementor pro offline, we answer all those questions in this article and explain what you will need to do if you are in an area with no internet. Stay with us and learn how you can maximize your Elementor experience by working without the internet.
how to use elementor pro on localhost
So up above we mention that to activate your license you need to be online. After doing some research, Elementor claims that the activation system knows the difference between .local websites and regular websites.
I believe that even though it knows you still have to activate if you want to unlock pro features that are mentioned above.
When I tried using a LocalbyFlywheel, I ran across the same issue if I was offline but didn’t activate Elementor first. An important note is that if you activate the account on local and then try to use features, you will have access to PRO features.
So you need to have a plan when you are going to have the internet so that you can make sure that you can use those features. Keep in mind that even after activation if you turn off the internet, you will have no access to Blocks and Pages created by Elementor.
So the easiest way to deal with this is to just plan for the time that you won’t have the internet.
How to install Elementor PRO offline
The easiest way to do this is to use something like LocalbyFlywheel which will install all the necessary WordPress core on PC/Mac depending on your platform. Then you need to determine if you are building something from scratch or copying a website over. Each of these require different tactics.
If you are building something from scratch, then you can get started building once you have activated Elementor PRO as mentioned above. Like I said earlier, you won’t have the templates, blocks or pages but you will have the primary tools you need.
Then once you are online again, you can recontact Elementor and upload your website to your host. If you need help with this, we wrote an article on this that you can read here.
If you are copying a website then obviously the first step is to use a backup plugin of some sort. We recommend two WpVivid and All-in-one each of these plugins will do the job well.
Once the website is copied over you are free to make changes to it using Elementor PRO like you would with any other type of website you were building.
What to do if Elementor won’t load while you are offline?
There are a few things you can do to troubleshoot your Elementor local install.
- Make sure PHP is above 5.4
- Deactivate all other plugins but Elementor and PRO
- Change your WordPress theme
- On root folders, edit wp-config.php and set value of wp-debug to TRUE
- Under Elementor> Settings > Advanced switch editor load method
I hope these will help you resolve your issues while you are offline. Worst case wait until you are back online so that you can contact support and get an answer to why it doesn’t work.
Conclusion
I hope this article has helped show you that you can get some work done with Elementor offline. While it won’t solve all your issues it should allow you to build pages in offline mode without the fear that you can’t access many of the basic features.
If you want to know what we think of Elementor, check out our post where we review it. And if you want more WordPress content, check out our blog.
