Ireland
Argentina 
Australia 
Austria 
Brazil 
Canada 
Germany 
Italy 
Malaysia 
Mexico 
New Zealand 
Poland 
South Africa 
United Kingdom 
United States Another Pixel bug locks users out of storage, Google is working on a fix
Summary
- The January 2024 Google Play System Update is causing storage access issues for many Pixel users.
- Users are unable to access internal storage across all their apps, affecting a variety of services.
- Google is aware of the issue but has not provided a timeline for a fix; users are advised to avoid updating if they use multiple users on their Pixel phone.
The rollout of Android 14 saw some Pixel 6 owners locked out of their phone storage, and it appears a similar issue is now happening again but this time due to a different update, and it's affecting far more phones. New reports on Reddit show that the January 2024 Google Play System Update is causing an issue for Pixel owners with over 10 reports of the same issue from the last couple of weeks.
These users report being unable to access internal storage across all their apps, and the issue seems to be affecting more devices than last year's problem. The reports cite Pixel 8, Pixel 7, and Pixel 6 series devices, including Pixel A series models. Last time, it was tied to just the Pixel 6, and it appeared to only impact those using the multiple users feature built into Android.
Android 14 is locking some Pixel 6 users out of their phone’s storage
The issue is likely linked to having multiple user profilesIf you’re unable to access your internal storage through your phone's apps, it can mean you’re not able to view media. There may be workarounds for certain services, but the reports are so varied the issue seems to be impacting many different services. Google acknowledged the issue in a comment to 9to5Google, saying, “We’re aware of this issue and are looking into it.” So there’s no timeline on a fix for this problem if you’re suffering from it at the moment.
Last time, the issue was tied to having multiple users on your Pixel. Although that isn’t yet confirmed to be the case here, if you do use multiple users on your Pixel phone, we’d recommend avoiding installing the January 2024 Google Play System Update until this issue has been resolved. Some people in comments of the Reddit threads have said they’ve received the update, and it has worked for them, but they're people who don't use the multiple users feature. It appears to be safe for those but we won't know for sure whether it's that until we hear directly from Google.
Thanks: Mishaal
