Let me guess you've never once thought about downloading the entirety of Wikipedia offline onto your PC.

Completely understandable. And yet, here you are. Which means part of you is at least curious, so let's do this.

Why would you even want this?

A few reasons that might apply to you:

• You're traveling somewhere with spotty internet, censorship, or both
• You want a local backup just in case things go sideways
• You think it sounds fun and kind of ridiculous, which it is

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

Enter Kiwix

Kiwix is a nonprofit with free, open-source apps for literally every platform. Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, even the Raspberry Pi. No ads. No subscriptions. No catch.

Their whole thing is letting you download offline versions of wikis, documentation, and other reference content so you can access them without an internet connection.

What can you actually download?

Their library is surprisingly large. Here are some highlights:

• Wikipedia with or without pictures (the picture version is well over 100GB, just so you know), in multiple languages, with the option to grab only a specific category if the full thing is overkill
• Ted Talks
• Arch Wiki, Gentoo Wiki, Nix Wiki for when you need to debug something and your internet is the thing that broke
• Programming docs C++, Go, JavaScript, Kotlin, React, Vue, Angular, npm, Git, and more

You can browse the full library at library.kiwix.org.

How to get Kiwix

• Windows: Head to their Downloads page, scroll down to Windows, and grab the zip. Extract it and you're done. Here's a direct download link if you prefer.
• Linux:
  • Arch Linux: sudo pacman -S kiwix-desktop
  • Fedora: sudo dnf install kiwix-desktop
  • Debian/Ubuntu: sudo apt install kiwix
• Android, iOS, macOS: Just grab it from your respective app store Android, iOS/macOS

They also have a Kiwix Server option for serving your downloads across your local network, but that's a whole separate rabbit hole.

Using it

Click "All Files" in the top left, browse the library, and hit download on whatever you want. That's genuinely all there is to it.

You'll be asked where to save the file pick somewhere with enough space. If you're downloading the full Wikipedia with pictures, make sure you have 100GB+ free. You can also change the download directory later through the three-dot menu → Settings.

Once something's downloaded, go to "Local Files" under "All Files" and click "open." Done.

Now go enjoy your offline Wikipedia rabbit holes.