How to Fix Google Drive “Download quota is exceeded” Error

Sorry, you can’t view or download this file at this time” is an error message that you may get when you try to download files on Google Drive.

What Causes the “Download quota is exceeded” Error?

Your Google Drive account comes with the following limits (which most users never hit):

Daily upload limit of 750 GB between your My Drive account and share drives.

No further uploads are allowed the day you hit the 750 GB limit.

Individual file uploads can’t be larger than 5 TB.

There are no listed download limits, but generally if you’ve shared a large file with a lot of users who download it over a short period, Google may lock the file from further downloads for 24 hours to prevent abuse.

It’s this second issue that can lead to the “Download quota is exceeded” error. It can be unpredictable, because you have no way of knowing how many other people have already downloaded the same file you’re attempting to download.

If a file is particularly popular, it may take days or even longer before you manage to download it to your computer or place it on your Drive storage.

There is a trick that allows you to bypass Google Drive’s 24 hour limit, here’s how it works:


METHOD 1

Login to google drive using your gmail account (https://drive.google.com) and make sure “Quick Access” feature is active (to activate the quick access feature go to Settings and checklist “Make relevant files handy when you need them in Quick Access.”).

– And now we get started

1. Access any Google Drive link and click “Download”

2. You will see the 24h lock notification “Sorry, you can’t view or download this file at this time ….”

– Close this browser tab, open “drive.google.com” (your drive)

3. In the “Quick Access” section that shows the link you just opened (click “F5” to refresh google drive page if you can’t see it), right-click “Makes a copy”.

4. You are now ready to go


METHOD 2