Using Unity Documentation offline
At some point during development, we all need to refer to Unity documentation. Obviously. But, we may not always have internet access for it, or it may be too slow. So, here is a guide to set up Unity offline docs, and to make it easily accessible. You’ll learn how to add the offline documentation as a search engine on your favourite browser. The examples demonstrated use Chrome on Windows, but the process should be similar across browsers and platforms.
Download the Documentation
First, you need to download the documentation. If you are using the newer versions of Unity, you should have installed the Editor using Unity Hub. Make sure that you have checked the Documentation module.
If you don’t have the Add Modules option there, it’s likely that you installed Unity using the Component Installers from the website. In that case, follow these instructions.
- Go to the Download Archives and, next to the version of Unity you use, click on Release Notes.
- Under Component Installers for your OS, click on Documentation to download it. It should download as a compressed ZIP file.
- Extract the file and you’ll get a folder called Documentation. Move it into the directory shown in the next step.
Locate the Search Page within the Documentation
Next to the Add Modules option, there’s a Show in Explorer button. This is a convenient way to access the Editor files. If you know where it has been installed, head to that folder.
If you had to use the Component Installer from the previous section, then paste the extracted files in the Data folder, and follow along with these steps.
Navigate to the following directory.
<your-unity-path-here>\Data\Documentation\en\ScriptReference
Open the file 30_search.html on your favourite browser. You should see a page saying Searching Script Reference, please wait. along with a Loading icon. This is expected. Copy the URL to this HTML page.
Add the Documentation as a Search Engine
On Chrome, click on the Overflow icon (under the Close button) and head to Settings. Use the search to find Manage search engines. There, click on Add, and fill it as shown.
Search engine: Unity Documentation
Keyword: unity
URL with %s in place of query: <paste the URL here>?q=%s
Ensure that you type ?q=%s after you paste the URL.
Click on Add, and you’re done! You’ve added the offline documentation as a search engine. If you need to access it, all you have to do is fire up the browser, type unity (or whatever you set as the keyword) and hit Space or Tab, and then type your query. It will search the offline files.
If you have multiple versions of Unity, you’ll have to set up more search engines with the different directories, and change the keyword for each version. This process will have to be repeated after updating to a new version, unless the previous version is replaced by the new version in the same directory.
If you have any feedback, queries, or requests, or if you’d like to stay updated on my content, feel free to follow me on Twitter and drop me a tweet!
I am a Unity Student Ambassador.
My opinions are my own, and are not affliated with Unity Technologies in any way.
