Using the cloud to share files with other users or simply create backup copies has become very common. There are many services available, but without a doubt one of the most famous is Google Drive. Now, there are limitations. The first is the storage space that we will have for free, but also the limit to be able to download certain files. For this reason, in this article we are going to explain what to do to skip the excess download quota in Drive.
What is the Drive download fee
Normally we look at the maximum storage size that we have available on platforms like Google Drive. For example, in this case we have 15 GB for free and we can expand it to more if we pay a fee. However there are more limits than that.
There is also what is known as a download fee . This was implemented by Google to avoid excessive use, something that could jeopardize the proper functioning of the servers if thousands and thousands of users use it at the same time to download large files.
The Drive file download quota is a limit set by the platform on specific files and not on an account. Appears when a file has been downloaded many times and has been locked from further downloading. A message like this will appear:
But that limit, unlike those 15 GB of storage that we mentioned, does not apply to the account. That is, it is not our user account that has reached the limit, but rather a specific file . For example, if we have a video that takes up a lot and we have downloaded it several times to have it on different computers or to pass it on to other users. There comes a time when that limit appears.
This makes it very easy to bypass the lock, as we will see. If we run out of available storage size, there is little we can do beyond hiring more or creating another account. But in this case we can use a trick to avoid the failure to download a file from Drive for exceeding the quota .
Create a file copy in Drive
What we are going to do is simply create a copy of that particular file in Google Drive. For example, if it is a RAR file where we have many photos, a video file or whatever. When we reach the Drive download limit, we can skip it by creating a copy of it.
That copy that we have created is the one that we will begin to download from that moment on. Looking at Google Drive it is a totally different file . Then it will not apply that lock. As we have indicated, our account will function normally, without any limit beyond those that appear in the specific files.
Log in
The first step is to log into our Google account or with which we access Drive. We have to go to the section where all the files that we have uploaded appear and that we can share with third parties and select the one that interests us, which will be the one that the platform has blocked us.
You have to click with the second mouse button on that specific file that is causing us problems and it will display a menu. We have to give Make a copy .
This process is very simple and fast. Simply by doing that, Google Drive will automatically generate an exact copy of that file. Keep in mind that if it is very large and we have little storage space available, we may have problems. It is something we must control. After all, we are going to have two files exactly equal in size on our account. The only thing that will change is the name.
Once this copy has been made, it will appear in My Unit, in the menu on the left, with the name “Copy of …”. For example, if it appears to us that the Drive download quota has been exceeded in a file called “Vacation Video”, that new file will be called “Vacation Video Copy”.
Download the new file
When that file is created and appears to us, what we have to do is download it . You just have to click with the right button of the mouse on that new file and we click Download. It will automatically start to download on our computer, since the download limit will not apply to this new file.
We can delete that new file from Google Drive if we are interested, since it can take up a lot of space. Once we have applied this trick, we may not want to have a copy of that video or that folder that will occupy several gigs.
The operation is similar to when we create a copy of a folder or file in Windows. It will occupy the same amount, it will contain the same number of files and documents, but the name will not be the same. Change the path and change the way in which other programs or services will be able to access that content.
Ultimately, this trick can be used to download files from the cloud when the error that the download quota has been exceeded appears . At the moment it works, but it is not ruled out that in the future Google will realize this and make it more difficult to bypass this restriction. In that case we would have to look for other alternatives, such as using other cloud services.
Conclusions to avoid crashes in Drive
Therefore, after explaining this simple trick we can say that avoiding the download quota limit is possible. Google Drive, to stop excessive use and download a file many times, uses this restriction. However, it is possible to avoid it without having to sign up for a payment account or use another service.
Plus, it’s as easy as simply creating a copy of a file and then downloading. We will not have to install any additional applications, or make changes to the Drive account settings. It is fully accessible to any user of this platform.
