You’d think, by now, I’d have learned my lesson. And yet, it happened to me again today. Out of nowhere, I go to download a file from Drive (forgetting I made a change to my browser’s privacy settings yesterday) and, lo and behold, Drive refuses to allow me to download the file (a file I created, nonetheless). Also: How to find files faster in Google Drive What’s the problem? Cookies. Argh! It’s always cookies.
How to fix the Google Drive download issue
How do you fix the problem? It’s easy. I’ll demonstrate on a Chromium-based browser, which is based on Chrome, because Chrome is the most widely-used browser on the planet. Also: How to automatically convert Google Drive uploads into to Docs format If you use a browser that is not based on Chrome, the basic idea will apply and you shouldn’t have any problem translating the fix to your browser of choice.
Requirements
In order to solve this issue, the only things you’ll need are a valid Google account and a Chrome-based browser (such as Sidekick, Opera, Vivaldi, and Edge). That’s it. Let’s fix this problem. If you find any other sites that are not behaving as expected (after you’ve set your browser to block third-party cookies), add an exception for that address and it should go back to functioning as normal. Also: How to organize your Google Drive with these 5 tips If you did the same thing, you can (and should) keep blocking those third-party cookies. However, what you need to do is add an exception for Google Drive. Also: How to disconnect apps from Google Drive Although this can be a hassle, it’s better to block third-party cookies and make exceptions as needed in order to better protect your privacy.
