[Update: fixed] Google Drive desktop client preventing applications from saving files

Update (February 01):

New Google Drive client update (v3.39) addresses the file locking issue. Read more here

Original story:

Backup and Sync, the client which is common to both Google Drive and Google Photos, has yet again caught our attention. While the application is already fraught with problems, there’s a new addition to the list – it is locking files, preventing applications from saving them, and hence costing users their edits/changes in the process.

Going by the reports, Google Drive’s desktop app inhibits save operations on files being edited in other applications like Photoshop. As a result the applications usually throw an a failure to save notification due to ‘lack of necessary access permissions’ (something similar to the following).

The only way out of this scenario is to close the Backup And Sync application. Take a look at how some of the complainants word the issue:

The problem continues to be reported since July (last year) on the official Google Drive help forum, where multiple users have confirmed that the problem is not specific to any particular version, as even the latest version of Backup and Sync i.e. 3.38 shows the same behaviour. Not only the help forums, some of the troubled Drive users also took to Twitter to bring the matter to notice:

https://twitter.com/roiji/status/929936653862367232
https://twitter.com/EdouardAronson/status/920813962391932928

Google Drive’s ‘file locking’ issue appears to have existed for long, as while digging in deep we could locate some threads on Adobe forums – dated back to January 2017, discussing the same problem – where complains continue to pour in till date.

Mainly Windows users are reporting the problem, but there’s no confirmation yet on whether or not Mac users are immune to it.

After being reported for more than an year now, the aforementioned glitch has finally managed to gain Google’s attention. The confirmation came from Google employee Rishi, who not only acknowledged the problem, but also filed a bug report with the concerned team.

Thanks for bringing the issue to our attention. I’ve filed a bug with the team

It’s also worth mentioning that back in November, we uncovered Backup and Sync’s interference with temporary files. While that problem appears related to the currently discussed file locking issue – as both are centered on saving the edits – it’s too early to comment whether or not they have same roots.

Whatever the case, as Google is now aware, we hope they fix the glitch sooner than later. Meanwhile, we are keeping a close tab on all related developments, and will keep updating as and when anything news worthy occurs.

Stay connected with us on Twitter (@PiunikaWeb) to hear about all related developments as and when they occur