Working Remotely From China: Which Work Apps Work

App	Chinese networks	Roaming eSIM	VPN
DropboxChecked Oct 18, 2026	Blocked	Varies	Works
GmailChecked Oct 8, 2026	Blocked	Varies	Works
Google WorkspaceChecked Oct 8, 2026	Blocked	Varies	Works
Microsoft CopilotChecked Oct 18, 2026	Blocked	Varies	Works
AdobeChecked Oct 18, 2026	Unreliable	Varies	Varies
AsanaChecked Oct 25, 2026	Unreliable	Works	Works
CanvaChecked Oct 25, 2026	Unreliable	Works	Varies
FigmaChecked Oct 25, 2026	Unreliable	Works	Works
GitHubChecked Oct 8, 2026	Unreliable	Varies	Works
JiraChecked Oct 25, 2026	Unreliable	Works	Works
LinkedInChecked Oct 8, 2026	Unreliable	Varies	Works
Microsoft 365Checked Oct 18, 2026	Unreliable	Works	Works
MiroChecked Oct 25, 2026	Unreliable	Works	Works
NotionChecked Oct 18, 2026	Unreliable	Works	Works
SlackChecked Oct 8, 2026	Unreliable	Works	Works
WebexChecked Oct 18, 2026	Unreliable	Varies	Varies
ZoomChecked Oct 8, 2026	Unreliable	Works	Works
DocuSignChecked Oct 18, 2026	Works	Works	Works
iCloudChecked Oct 20, 2026	Works	Works	Works
Microsoft TeamsChecked Oct 8, 2026	Works	Works	Works
OutlookChecked Oct 8, 2026	Works	Works	Works
TrelloChecked Oct 25, 2026	Works	Works	Works

Remote work in China: which apps work

Teams and Outlook work on Chinese networks, Google’s work apps and Dropbox don’t, and most other work apps get mixed reports, as the table above shows.

• Microsoft. Work and school accounts on Teams, Outlook and Microsoft 365 connect without a VPN. The University of Reading says they work as normal in China, though OneDrive uploads may be slow. The personal OneDrive website is blocked in GreatFire’s tests of onedrive.live.com, one reason the table lists Microsoft 365 as unreliable. Microsoft ended Teams for personal use in China in 2026, and says Copilot isn’t available or supported there.
• Google and Dropbox. Gmail, Google’s work apps and Dropbox are blocked. Yale’s IT team lists Gmail, Google Drive, Docs and Dropbox as unavailable in China, and GreatFire’s tests from inside mainland China find docs.google.com and dropbox.com blocked.
• Chat and meetings. Reports on Slack disagree: GreatFire answers “Yes” for slack.com, but Travel China Now said in June 2026 that it’s blocked, and Yale lists it as unavailable. Slack also shut down workspaces billed in mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau on April 1, 2026, Gizchina reported. GreatFire also answers “Yes” for zoom.us, while Yale lists Zoom as unavailable, and Zoom can turn people in China away from meetings hosted on free accounts. Cisco says the free version of Webex isn’t available in mainland China, and that it can’t sell paid Webex plans there.
• Other tools. GitHub opens only some of the time: GreatFire answers “Sometimes” for github.com. Notion and LinkedIn open in GreatFire’s tests of notion.so and www.linkedin.com. Travel China Now says Notion is blocked, though, and LinkedIn says its site isn’t currently accessible to individual members on the Chinese mainland. Adobe was set to block Acrobat Sign for mainland Chinese IP addresses from as early as the last week of June 2025, the University of Illinois said that May. DocuSign and iCloud Mail open without a VPN in GreatFire’s tests of www.docusign.com and www.icloud.com/mail.

Can I work remotely from China?

Whether a visitor may work remotely for an employer outside China is not confirmed. The UK government’s travel advice says tourist and business visas don’t allow you to work in China. It says you can only work there with a work visa (Z visa) and a work permit. It doesn’t say whether that covers remote work for a foreign employer, and we found no official source that does. GOV.UK tells British travelers to check Z visa requirements with the Chinese Embassy before they leave. This summarizes those sources and isn’t legal advice. For the rules on VPNs, see is using a VPN legal in China?

Using your company VPN in China

Whether you can use your company VPN in China depends on your employer, so ask your IT team before you fly. For Microsoft 365, Microsoft’s advice to companies is to have users in China connect through the company VPN, so the traffic crosses the border on the company’s private line. Not every employer offers that. The University of Auckland says its VPN isn’t available to staff in China, and Mid Sweden University blocked Microsoft 365 sign-ins from China in June 2025, with exceptions for business trips.

Without the company VPN, Microsoft suggests desktop apps that cache data, such as Outlook and Teams, rather than web versions. Our guide to corporate VPNs in China covers the rules and the vendors with a China service.

Sign-in codes and two-factor authentication

Set up an authenticator app before you leave. Microsoft says Authenticator’s one-time passcodes work in China, but lists push notifications as unavailable on Android there. Google says Google Authenticator makes codes without an internet connection or mobile service. Texts with codes need a phone line, and Holafly’s China eSIM, for example, has data only and no number. UNSW’s Salil Kanhere told the Bega District News to use two connections: a travel eSIM for data and your home SIM for calls and one-time passcodes. Our guide to authenticator apps and SMS codes in China also covers Okta and Duo.

How to use Gmail, Google Docs and Dropbox in China

For these and the other blocked apps, get an eSIM that sends your data out of mainland China, or a VPN, and set it up before you leave home.

• Roaming eSIM. Airalo, an eSIM seller, says a VPN isn’t required on its China, Regional Asia and Global eSIMs. MyChinaGuide, a travel site that promotes its own China app, says a laptop almost always runs on Wi-Fi, and suggests sharing your phone’s eSIM data through its hotspot. Holafly, another seller, says its China eSIM lets you share 1 GB a day that way.
• VPN. On hotel or café Wi-Fi, use a VPN, because MyChinaGuide says an eSIM only gets past the firewall on its own mobile data. Install it at home: Yale’s IT team lists many VPN websites as unavailable in China and says VPN service there can be inconsistent. In June 2026, ABC News quoted a censorship analyst who said China ran a new round of VPN crackdowns in April.

Do I need a VPN in China if I have an eSIM? explains how the two differ. You can compare eSIM plans for China and the VPNs that work in China now.

Remote work in China: what Reddit users say

On Reddit, people working from China say Teams and Outlook work without a VPN, and some suggest a travel eSIM or a second VPN as a backup. The comments below come from threads on r/travelchina, r/chinatravel and r/chinalife between March and September 2026. Each is one person’s experience, not a test.

• Email. In a March thread about email, several users said Outlook and iCloud Mail work without a VPN and Gmail doesn’t.
• Blocked apps need a VPN. In September, two users said Gmail, WhatsApp and LinkedIn need one.
• eSIMs as a backup. Two users said in March that their VPNs failed and an eSIM or roaming data worked. One said in July that an hour-long video call on an eSIM worked fine.
• Slow evenings. Two users said connections abroad get slow in the evening. One put it at after about 8 p.m., whichever public VPN they use.
• Your employer’s rules. A user who works for a European tech company in China warned that using a work device on Wi-Fi in China might breach your contract in some industries.
• Visas. Users disagreed about the rules. Some said remote work without a work permit is illegal, and others called it a grey area when the employer is outside China.