Why can't the Google Drive web version resume downloading files but the client can?

derekchan · May 23

Both use the https protocol, why does the web version show failure when continuing to download after pausing for a while?

brwainer · May 23

1 hour ago, derekchan said:

Both use the https protocol, why does the web version show failure when continuing to download after pausing for a while?

The download link likely contains a short-lived identifier or token to ensure only the authenticated session is doing the download - downloads might not do the same auth checks as the pages themselves do, likely for broad browser compatibility. The client app likely does this differently since it is a known and controlled software.

DraconisMaximus · June 4

As @brwainer noted it is known as TTL or Time to Live. Many (most?) sites insert it into download links for stability and security. It will be listed in the URL as a range between two UNIX timestamps or the Epoch time. 1749066576 to ‭1749070176‬ would be a one hour range around the time this was posted. For actually secure sites though there is usually a cookie hash in the link too. These are usually not reusable even within that time-frame. If you are still logged in you will easily be reauthorized but with a new link usually generated by a live script. Your the download manager in your browser e.g. Firefox, Chrome, etc will treat this new link as a new file and start from the beginning. The drive app like many aftermarket download managers is coded to recognize identical downloads with different links and treat them as one.