How to fix Chrome warning “Unsafe download blocked”

Chrome's “Unsafe Download Blocked” warning is designed to protect you, but it can also interrupt legitimate downloads. In this guide, we'll help you safely bypass this feature and access the files you need without compromising your online security.

Temporarily disable Chrome's Safe Browsing feature

Before you bypass the Chrome “Unsafe Download Blocked” warning, check a few things before downloading your files, such as the official source, the site’s domain age, and more.

If you are sure that the file is legitimate, you can temporarily disable Chrome's Safe Browsing feature to bypass the warning.

To disable Safe Browsing:

1. Open Chrome and click on the Menu icon (the three dots in the upper right corner).
2. Navigate to Settings > Privacy and securityand then select Security in the middle range.
3. Choose No protection from the Safe Browsing options and click on the Turn off button on the pop-up screen.

Remember to make your browsing safer by re-enabling Safe Browsing after the download is complete.

Download via incognito mode (with secure browsing disabled)

Sometimes the “Unsafe download blocked” warning can be caused by extensions, especially security plugins. To fix this problem, download your files in incognito mode. This is because extensions are disabled in this mode unless they are explicitly allowed.

To download your files in incognito mode:

1. Open Google Chrome and click on the Menu icon (the three dots).
2. Choose New incognito window.

From there, navigate to the target link and attempt the download, remembering that you will still need to disable safe browsing when in incognito mode.

Now you might be wondering why Chrome is blocking your downloads in the first place. In the past, this has been a bit unclear. However, according to a report from The Verge, Chrome's recent updates offer more detailed warnings about suspicious downloads that can help you make informed decisions.

When you encounter these warnings, Chrome offers clearer explanations and may prompt you to scan password-protected files for malware. When you turn on Advanced Protection, your files are scanned in the cloud, significantly increasing the chance of detecting threats.

For more information on why your downloads might be blocked, see this Chrome support article. However, if you're sure the file is safe, you can prevent its download from being blocked by using one of these two methods.