Home » Blog » Google Drive » Cannot Open Files in Google Drive? Simple Strategies to Fix the Problem

Cannot Open Files in Google Drive? Simple Strategies to Fix the Problem

  author
Published By Ashwani Tiwari
Anuraag Singh
Approved By Anuraag Singh
Published On September 6th, 2021
Reading Time 6 Minutes Reading

The difficulty is that cannot open files in Google Drive; strangely, this is a common issue. The good news is that it’s a simple problem to address, and we’ve included some helpful hints below. Your Google Drive will soon be operational again, allowing you to upload your files and folders.

You can easily collaborate with others with Google Drive. It’s also connected to a variety of different services, and files are always available. The best part is that you receive plenty of free storage.
Despite Google Drive’s high quality, accessing the service can be difficult. It’s possible that you won’t be able to free up storage space, transfer files, or open a document. Many Google Drive issues, thankfully, are simple to resolve.
We’ll start with some general Google Drive troubleshooting suggestions before moving on to specify how to open shared files on Google Drive issues.

Why you Cannot Open Files in Google Drive?

Google Drive unable to open file? This isn’t the first time you’ve had feelings like this. This is a problem that will affect a large number of people. If you cannot open files, it may cause more problems, especially if you need to use the file or access it remotely in an emergency. There could be a number of reasons why we unable to open files in Google Drive:

  • An issue or an unreliable network connection exists.
  • The account does not have the necessary permissions to access the file.
  • Issues with compatibility.
  • The building of cache in the browser.
  • Access to Google Drive files is not possible because the browser version is too old.
  • The files are momentarily unavailable due to temporary technical issues caused by user-end network failures or Google Drive flaws.

The good news is that we can assist you in resolving the Google Drive problem message “Google drive unable to open file at this time.” In this article, we will discuss alternative remedies to the problem so that you can get back to work.

Manual Approaches for Cannot Open Files in Google Drive

However, there are a few manual solutions that should be effective for you, as they’ve worked for many other users in “Google Drive can’t preview file” situation.

Approach 1:- To Open the File, Request for Permission

It’s possible that can’t open files on Google Drive because your account doesn’t have enough rights. You can request that the file’s owner grant you open permissions.

  • Open the file you need to utilize by going to the Google Drive website and logging in with the relevant account.
  • If the You Need Permission window appears when you can’t open the file, click Request access.
  • An automated email sent to the file’s original owner, and you will receive a response email after you have received his approval request.
  • Try reopening the Google Drive file; you might be able to utilize it regularly this time.

Approach 2:- Upgrade your Browser’s Version

Using an old browser version may prevent you from performing certain actions on the Google Drive website, such as opening files in Google Drive. Our recommendation is that you upgrade your browser periodically. We’ll use Chrome to show you how to complete the following steps:

  • Open Chrome, go to the menu bar, then pick Help, then About Google Chrome.
  • Then wait for your browser to automatically check for an updated version and download it.
  • Simply click the Relaunch option to restart the browser after the download is complete, and then go to Google Drive to open the file.

Approach 3:- Disable the Plugins/Extensions in your Browser

The speed of Google Drive web apps slowed if you have too many extensions or plug-ins enabled in your browser. This is also why you cannot open files in Google Drive. Turning off all extensions is a good way to get Google Drive to operate again.

  • Open Chrome and go to the Menu > More tools > Extensions, or type chrome:/extensions/ into the address bar.
  • The extension you enabled displayed on this page; click Remove under the extension to disable it, or Click the switch to enable it.

Note: The goal of disabling the extension is to make the website run faster. You can return to this page if you need to open a specific extension app to continue utilizing it.

Approach 4:- Get Permission to Open a File

It’s also conceivable that you’re attempting to open a private or unauthorized file or folder. Sometimes the Google Drive files aren’t shared with everyone, which can lead to the issue of cannot access files on Google Drive.

  • First and first, you must attempt to open the file in Google Drive.
  • If the option to send a request for access appears, go to the ‘Request access page‘ and click the ‘Send‘ link.
  • Your request send to the file’s owner via email.
  • You’ll be able to quickly open or download the file if the owner confirms your request.

Third-Party Professional Tool

There are undoubtedly free solutions for cannot open files in Google Drive that a user can try. However, they aren’t foolproof procedures in every situation. For example, they won’t let you move files from the Shared With Me or Trash folders, you won’t be able to migrate rights, downloading and uploading takes time, and so on.

Switching to a professional service will be the best option at this point in time. The Google Drive Migrator Tool is a Third-Party Professional Tool for transferring data from Google Drive to Google Drive. It is capable of moving all data in one go with no problems. Allow you to move permissions, the shared with me folder, and the trash folder to a different account. Additionally, you can migrate Google Drive accounts between domains and individual users.

Download for Windows Purchase Now

Steps for Google Drive Migrator

Step 1: Select Source and Destination user accounts from the Setup box after installing the software.Source and Destination for cannot open files in Google Drive

Step 2: Move on to adding the details of G Suite as a Source after selecting the admin user accounts. Please validate before granting access to the users.G Suite as a Source

Step 3: Proceed to the Destination window after completing the preceding steps. Fill in the information for G Suite as the destination. Admin information, such as Admin Email and Service Account, should also provide.Destination window for cannot open files in Google Drive

Step 4: Now, from the User screen, import users. You can prioritize the items after the is present on the screen. Additionally, click Validate to authorize the users you’ve chosen.Validate option

Step 5: Finally, to convert Google Drive to Google Drive, select Start Migration.Migration option for cannot open files in Google Drive

Final Words for Cannot Open Files in Google Drive

The techniques listed above are effective in resolving the Google Drive unable to open file issue. If these approaches have failed to fix the problem, or if you want to make it easier to address the problem, you can use Google Storage Migrator to back up or sync the Google Drive file to another cloud drive and access it. Furthermore, the software offers professional and cost-effective PC to cloud backup, which you may utilize to safeguard your Windows PC data.