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Andy Kemp Consulting

Troubleshooting#

The log is the first place to look: Tools, Open the logs folder (%LOCALAPPDATA%\AKC\BlobDrive\logs). Tokens, SAS URLs and secret keys are never written to it, so it's safe to send with a problem report.

"This request is not authorized to perform this operation using this permission" (AuthorizationPermissionMismatch)#

You signed in, but your account has no data role on the storage account. Owner and Contributor manage the account; they don't read its blobs. Give your account Storage Blob Data Contributor: see Giving your account access. Role assignments can take a few minutes to apply.

The drive says "Sign-in needed"#

Your sign-in expired or your password changed. BlobDrive never pops up a sign-in on its own. Open the main window, select the drive, choose Sign in and test connection, then Save changes.

Sign-in fails with a Conditional Access message#

BlobDrive signs in through Windows (the same broker Office uses), so device compliance and other Conditional Access rules apply. Check the device is compliant in Company Portal. If your organisation blocks unknown apps, ask an administrator to allow it, or use a SAS token.

R2 or S3: "SignatureDoesNotMatch" or "InvalidAccessKeyId"#

The access key or secret is wrong, or belongs to another account. For R2, the endpoint must be your own account's (https://<account id>.r2.cloudflarestorage.com) and the region auto. Paste the secret again and test.

A file won't open, or says it can't be downloaded#

  • Check the drive's status in the main window: Paused or Sign-in needed stops downloads.
  • BlobDrive must be running for online-only files to open.
  • The file may have been deleted in the cloud since the folder was last checked. Sync now refreshes the list.

The folder must be outside OneDrive#

Two sync apps on one folder fight over the files. Choose a folder that isn't inside OneDrive, such as C:\Users\you\AKC BlobDrive\Photos (the default).

The cache fills up as soon as I browse a folder#

Something other than you is opening the files, usually a photo viewer generating previews or a backup or antivirus scan. Windows Search is already blocked. Add the program's file name to blockedHydrationProcesses in %LOCALAPPDATA%\AKC\BlobDrive\config.json (for example dllhost.exe for Explorer's thumbnails), then quit and start BlobDrive again.

Windows SmartScreen warns about the installer#

The beta installer isn't code-signed yet. Choose More info, Run anyway. You can check the download against the SHA-256 on downloads.andykemp.com.