Offline Circulation in Polaris Leap

Updated 2/3/2026


Overview

Polaris Leap Offline allows you to log transactions and circulate materials while Polaris is down or during times an internet connection is unavailable. 

Important notes:

  • Offline Circulation should work with any internet browser; however, Chrome is recommended. 
     
  • Downloading Leap Offline requires an internet connection, so initial installation is required before use. Once installed, bookmark Polaris Offline to access when internet is unavailable.
     
  • Offline transactions are stored in the browser’s local storage until the user sends them to the server for processing or deletes them. Do not clear your browser’s cache before your files have been sent to the server, your transaction information will be lost.   
     
  • Your Polaris Offline installation is specific to your username and browser combination. To ensure your transaction data uploads properly once internet is restored, you must log in to Leap using the same login credentials and browser as your Polaris Offline installation.
     

Installing Polaris Leap Offline

Log in to Leap. Click on your username in the upper right-hand corner of the screen and select Install Offline from the drop-down menu:

Screenshot of the Polaris Leap training environment. The dropdown menu located under the staff username in the upper right-hand corner of the screen is selected and "Install Offline" is highlighted.
Screenshot of the Polaris Leap training environment. Message in yellow box indicates "Installing offline files."

Once setup is complete, you will be prompted to navigate to Leap Offline:

Screenshot of the Polaris Leap training environment. Message in green box indicates "Offline setup has been completed for your user/workstation. Please navigate to Leap Offline and create a bookmark."

Click the Leap Offline link and immediately create a bookmark for it in your browser. Make sure your bookmark is easily located and accessible. You will use it to launch Leap Offline at a future date when Polaris or your internet connection is unavailable.
  

Setting up your Offline session

Upon opening Polaris Offline, you will see a Warning! message:

Screenshot of the Polaris Offline environment. Light yellow box indicates "Warning! Clearing your browser's cache will delete offline transactions."

Your offline transaction data is stored in your browser’s cache. Do not clear your cache until AFTER internet connection has been restored and all of your transactions have been sent to the server. Clear the warning to continue.

You will see your Workstation, Username, and Organization listed across the top of the screen along with your overall Transaction count in the upper right corner:

Screenshot of the Polaris Offline banner. Polaris Offline is listed on the left-hand side. Workstation, Username, Organization, and gold Transactions badge are all listed on the right-hand side.

Before you begin logging transactions, click on Settings to confirm your setup:

Screenshot of the Polaris Offline Settings menu. The Settings button in the upper right-hand corner is highlighted as well as the Print Options button in the middle left-hand side of the screen. The "Check out receipt" checkbox is selected.

The Print Options tab allows you to enable or disable check out receipts.

The Special Loan tab allows you to set a due date different than your system default. To set a new due date, click the Apply to all check-outs checkbox and choose your desired date in the calendar OR enter a specific Loan period:

Screenshot of the Polaris Offline Settings menu. The Special Loan tab is highlighted as well as the "Apply to all check-outs" checkbox. A calendar is visible on the left of the screen.

The Workform Defaults tab indicates the standard loan period that will be applied to check-outs if a Special Loan date is not specified:

Screenshot of the Polaris Offline Settings menu. The Workform Defaults tab is highlighted.

The Installation tab lists additional information related to your current session:

Screenshot of the Polaris Offline Settings menu. The Installation tab is highlighted and additional information about the current offline session is listed.

If you have made changes under any of the tabs, click Save in the upper right-hand corner.


Using Offline Check Out

Navigate to the Check Out screen. Enter your patron's barcode and the barcodes of all items ready for check out to their account:

Screenshot of the Polaris Offline Check Out screen. The Check Out button in the upper left-hand corner of the screen is highlighted. Patron barcode and Item barcode fields are located in the middle left-hand side of the screen.

Enter your patron’s barcode first, then enter each item barcode to register checkouts to that patron. 

Important Note:

  • Double-check patron and item barcodes as you go to ensure they are correct. Since Leap Offline doesn’t utilize the internet, it will not register an error until the transactions are uploaded to the server later.   

You may use the Special Loan button to apply a custom due date to 1 or all of the items for that patron:

Screenshot of the Polaris Offline Check Out screen. The Special Loan button on the upper right-hand side of the screen is highlighted. A calendar is located on the middle left-hand side of the screen, the "Apply to Next Items Only" and "Apply to all items for this patron" options are highlighted, and 3 item barcodes with their due dates are listed along the bottom of the screen.

When you are finished checking out all materials to the patron, click Complete:

Screenshot of the Polaris Offline Check Out screen listing 4 item barcodes with their due dates. The red Complete button in the upper right is highlighted.

This will trigger a check-out receipt to print (if they are enabled) and clear the screen to prepare it for the next transaction.

The gold Transactions badge in the upper right-hand corner will continue to count your overall transactions during the session. Click on it to view the offline files you have generated:

Screenshot of the Polaris Offline banner. The gold Transactions badge in the upper right is highlighted.

Screenshot of the Polaris Offline "My Offline Files" screen. The Filename and Transaction count of a transaction is listed. The red "Delete All Files" button is located in the lower left.

From this screen, you also have the option to delete the files. This cannot be undone and is not recommended unless you need to clear errors.
 

Using Offline Check In

Navigate to the Check In screen and enter the barcodes of all items ready for check in:

Screenshot of the Polaris Offline Check In screen. The teal Check In button in the upper left of the screen is highlighted.

When you have finished entering the barcodes of all items, click Complete:

Screenshot of the Polaris Offline Check In screen. 4 item barcodes with their circulation statuses are listed. The red Complete button in the upper right is highlighted.

The gold Transactions badge in the upper right-hand corner will update each time new transactions are logged.
 

Uploading Offline Transactions

Once Polaris or your internet connection has been restored, log in to Leap. If you have unprocessed offline transactions, you will receive the following message, and your username will have an exclamation point next to it:

Screenshot of the Polaris Leap training environment. The yellow box in the middle of the screen is highlighted and indicates "8 unprocessed offline transactions detected." The exclamation point in the upper right next to the username is also highlighted.

Click on your username and select Send Offline Files to Server:

Screenshot of the Polaris Leap training environment. The username in the upper right is selected and the dropdown menu is visible. The "Send Offline Files to Server" option is highlighted.

 If the action was successful, you should see the following message:

Green message box indicates "Upload of 8 offline transactions was successful."

Important Note: 

  • Be careful not to choose the Delete My Offline Files option. It will delete all unprocessed offline transactions from the browser. This cannot be undone.

Once your offline files have been uploaded, they will be automatically cleared from Leap:

Screenshot of the Polaris Leap training environment. The username in the upper right is selected and the dropdown menu is visible.

Items checked out via Leap Offline will show a History Action of Checked out – Offline in the item record:                                  

Screenshot of an item record with the history action "Checked out - Offline" highlighted.

 

                      

Training Session Links

Supporting Links

LEAP Offline Documentation