Google Chrome: An Error Has Occurred: Could Not Create Download Directory

As a devout user of Google Chrome, I was surprised to discover that all of a sudden, I couldn’t install any extensions. The developer in me (who communicates in binary, by the way) knew that it was probably a permission-related issue that had something to do with my download folder. But, being a creature with many other things to do, I avoided the problem for a while – I had other things to deal with. That is, until today, when I really wanted it to work. So, here’s the error message as I saw it:

A dialog with the title "An error has occurred," and the message "Could not create download directory." Two buttons are visible: on the left, a blue button that says "Reload," and on the right, "Close," in gray.

Solution

And here’s how I solved it.

  1. I clicked on Chrome’s menu button – the three gray line icon to the right of the address field.
  2. Then I clicked “Settings.”
  3. In the “Settings” page, I searched for “download directory.”
  4. Then, I looked at the path set as my download directory, and realized what my error was:
    The "download location" field as it appears in the Settings search result page, highlighted. A rounded red rectangle highlights the path's drive letter.

    It was referencing my G drive – an external hard drive that’s not always on.

To solve the problem, I simply had to change it to use a location that was always available and connected. In the end, it wasn’t as tricky as a permission issue, which I appreciated – but keep in mind, even with permission issues, changing the folder may resolve the issue, depending on the change you’re making. But in the end, my goal here is to simply share my solution so you know how to potentially fix the problem.

See Also

Google Chrome Forum – An error has occured – Could not create download directory