Google Drive download quota exceeded
Also known as: download quota exceeded, too many downloads
A Google Drive error that blocks downloads of a shared file for a while after too many people viewed or downloaded it in a short period.
Updated
What it means
Anyone who shares video through public Drive links meets this sooner or later. Instead of the file, the page shows a message saying too many users have viewed or downloaded it recently and asking you to try again later. Google does not publish the exact thresholds.
Large files hit it most often. A club's match recording or a folder of drone clips passed around a group chat can be opened dozens of times in a day, and each attempt counts. The block applies to that file, not to your whole account, and Google's message warns it can take up to a day to lift. It is a side effect of link sharing, not a fault in your settings.
How it works in practice
The common workaround is to make your own copy. A signed-in user can add the file to their Drive and use Make a copy, which creates a new file with a fresh counter; this often works when the original link is blocked. The owner can do the same and share the copy instead.
For files that many people will fetch, Drive is the wrong tool. A dedicated Large file transfer service, a Cloud backup provider with direct download, or simply handing over an External drive avoids the counter entirely. Drone pilots who pull clips to a phone with DJI QuickTransfer and then post a link for friends run into the limit more than they expect.
What to watch out for
Retrying in a loop makes things worse, since every attempt counts as another access. So does sending the same link to a new group while the block is active. Asking every viewer to download instead of streaming in the browser does not help either, since both count. Owners sometimes respond by deleting and re-uploading the file, which breaks every link already shared and confuses the group.
Download managers and scripts that grab whole folders can stall halfway, leaving some clips complete and others as broken partial files. Compare each file size against the original before anyone deletes the card, or a quota error can quietly turn into lost footage.
How RawClip handles it
RawClip takes footage uploaded from your computer, so the simplest path around a quota block is to download the clips once the block lifts, or from your own copy, and upload the original files from there. Keep them exactly as the camera made them; no re-export is needed first.