You, too, can squeeze an offline Wikipedia onto an ESP32 CYD with this project

Published Aug 31, 2026, 12:46 AM EDT Simon is a Computer Science BSc graduate who has been writing about technology since 2014, and using Windows machines since 3.1. After working for an indie game studio and acting as the family's go-to technician for all computer issues, he found his passion for writing and decided to use his skill set to write about all things tech. Since beginning his writing career, he has written for many different publications such as WorldStart, Listverse, and MakeTechEasier. However, after finding his home at MakeUseOf in February 2019, he would eventually move on to its sister site, XDA, to bring the latest and greatest in Windows, Linux, and DIY electronics. Sign in to your XDA account Summary This offline Wikipedia reader runs on an ESP32 CYD, storing articles, images, and a search index on microSD. Simple English Wikipedia (3.3GB) with 285k articles fits easily; full English (~90GB) may be too big. Grab the GitHub repo for setup details and SD images; works offline on the ILI9341 320×240 touchscreen. There have been a good number of projects lately that take advantage of the Cheap Yellow Display (CYD), likely because it's, well, a display that's cheap. However, I never expected someone to squeeze an offline version of Wikipedia on it. While that sounds like a monumental challenge at first, it turns out that the essentials for Wikipedia aren't really that big after all, and can easily fit onto an SD card. This project adds an offline version of Wikipedia to your CYD It won't even eat up that much storage Credit: alunmorris As spotted by Hackaday, this cool project is called the Wikipedia Offline Reader for ESP32 CYD from alunmorris on GitHub. The name is pretty self-explanatory, as its creator explains: An offline Wikipedia reader for the ESP32-2432S028 ("Cheap Yellow Display") — a 320×240 ILI9341 touchscreen module. Articles, images, and a full search index are stored on a microSD card and read on-device with no internet connection. If you're like me, you're probably wondering how someone managed to take the largest encyclopedia of public-facing knowledge to ever exist and squash it down onto a CYD. Turns out, it's actually not that much of a feat as I thought it'd be. If you grab the Simple English Wikipedia database, it comes in a measly 3.3 GB file while also containing 285,000 articles and all images. It cuts down the article length and uses simpler language, but that's ideal for a small screen like the CYD. You could also try the Full English Wikipedia database, which clocks in around 90 GB, but the GitHub page warns that it may take more space on the SD card than the CYD knows how to handle. If you want to give it a try, head over to the Wikipedia Offline Reader for ESP32 CYD GitHub repo for all the details.