Posted on February 16, 2025 by Loay Idwan.

How to access Wikipedia and more without internet

Have you ever had this thought "How do I download the entirety of Wikipedia offline on my PC"?

Probably not, but you're here, aren't you? That means you're interested, so let's learn how to!

Why download Wikipedia offline?

You might:

Be traveling to a place with limited internet access or censorship.
Want to keep an offline copy just in case.
Want to do it because it's fun.

Disclaimer: This guide is for educational purposes only, use it in accordance with your local laws.

Introducing Kiwix

Kiwix is a Nonprofit and their products are free and open-source with no ads!

They also have apps for every platform, from Windows, MacOS, Linux, Android and iOS to even the Raspberry Pi.

What can you download using Kiwix?

Kiwix has a huge library of wiki’s -and much more- you could choose from, here are some highlights from their library:

Wikipedia
- with pictures / without pictures (differs greatly in size)
- multiple languages
- you can also choose a specific category in Wikipedia if you don’t want to download the whole wiki
Ted Talks
Arch Wiki / Gento Wiki / Nix Wiki
The docs for programming languages, frameworks and tools like
- C++, Go, JavaScript and Kotlin docs
- React, Vue and Angular docs
- npm, and Git docs
- And much more!

You can check their entire library by clicking here

How to download Kiwix?

On Windows:
- Head to the Downloads section in their website
- Scroll down to Windows and click download
- Here is the direct download link
- Now extract the .zip file you just downloaded
On Linux:
- In Arch Linux run this command:
```
sudo pacman -S kiwix-desktop
```
- In Fedora run this command:
```
sudo dnf install kiwix-desktop
```
- In Debian or Ubuntu run this command:
```
sudo apt install kiwix
```
On Android, iOS, and MacOS:
- Just download it from your respective App store
- Here are direct links, Android, iOS/MacOS
Kiwix Server

They also have Kiwix Server which allows you to serve the things you download to your local network if you want, but this is outside the scope of this tutorial.

Using Kiwix

Just click On “All files” in the top left corner of the main screen, and choose what you want to download and click download, it’s that easy! You might be asked where you want to save the file, choose a suitable place depending on your needs.

ensure the folder you choose has enough free space, especially if you plan on downloading the entire Wikipedia catalog with picture as its size is more than 100 GB.

You can also change the download directory later if you change your mind be clicking on the tree dots in the top right corner then click “settings” then change the setting called “Download directory”