Why am I getting unsuccessful files appearing in my downloads folder?

[anon(10172886)]

I have been getting multiple files in my downloads folder everyday and I continually delete them but they keep appearing. I have tried clearing the storage/cache of the downloads manager multiple times and preventing storage access from many of my apps. I have a Motorola G4 Plus on Android 7. 0.

Here is a screenshot of my downloads folder:


There was two at the bottom which had timestamps from well before I was awake. I clicked one which prompted "Couldn't download Do you want to retry downlaoding the file later or delete it from the queue?". So I retried it which said queued and now unsuccessful again.

Can I please get some advice to work out what's causing this?

Cheers

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! Do you ever see the animated download arrow appear in the status bar when these files are trying to be downloaded?

 

[anon(10172886)]

Welcome to Android Central! Do you ever see the animated download arrow appear in the status bar when these files are trying to be downloaded?

Cheers!
Nup, the animated download arrow appear never appears in the status bar. There aren't any notifications for downloads that appear between when I delete the files and when more appear.

After deleting the files from the last screenshot, I've opened the Downloads Manager again today to find heaps more:


Then I went on my PC and checked the downloads folder. Here's a screenshot of that:


Really not sure what's causing it. Should I try disabling storage permissions on all apps maybe?

 

[B. Diddy]

Hmm, I'm not sure what's causing that. I know you mentioned this already, just to be sure -- you cleared cache/data of the Download Manager, and not the Downloads app, right?

Does this happen in Safe Mode? https://motorola-global-portal.custhelp.com/app/answers/indevice_detail/a_id/111313/p/30,6720,9686

 

[anon(10172886)]

Yes I will do both again now. I have cleared both in the past when there are too many files which wipes all the unsuccessful files that can be found in the downloads app.
I will try safe mode and report back. Thanks for your help!

 

[methodman89]

What are your synching settings? Are you running a backup app?
Are the files identical in every way?

 

[anon(10172886)]

What are your synching settings? Are you running a backup app?
Are the files identical in every way?

For some mail accounts, there were errors for synching calendar. For Google, it has an error for contacts with the message "Sync is currently experiencing problems. It will be working again shortly".
I don't have any backup apps but I have the "Back up my data" setting turned on.
Potentially but I can't say for sure as the only file info I have on them is in the screenshots.

 

[B. Diddy]

For those non-Google accounts, see what happens if you remove them, then add them back again. Do you still get sync errors?

 

[anon(10172886)]

Oh that's fine, I have calendar integration disabled in that email app so I just toggled them off and the errors went with it.
I revoked storage permissions for all my apps this afternoon and when I just opened my phone, i found two new unsuccessful files both from 5 minutes ago.
Also, saw some other being created earlier today which happened to be right after opening and reading a message in Snapchat.

 

[methodman89]

On the off chance you have been hacked, and someone is attempting to access your files while you sleep, do the following
Log out of everything on your phone and turn off all data inputs.
Go to a pc, log into your Google account, and enable 2 factor authentication. Now change your password to something no one who knows you could guess.
Turn on your phone. I don't recommended this lightly, but factory reset it. When you go to set it up anew, do not do it from any backups. Go to the Playstore, click on My Apps and you'll see all the apps you've ever dld. Now select the ones you want to reinstall. Change your passwords on the app accounts, maybe a good time
for you to use a password Mgr.
My recommendation is for a worse case scenario. It's up to you, obviously. Good luck.

 

[anon(10172886)]

I found that there were two files getting stuck backing up in Google photos so I tried fixing that by going through the usual clearing cache, then data, and uninstalled updates but had no luck. So I've disabled both Google photos apps that appear in the settings and annoyingly, there was still another two unsuccessful files when I checked the downloads folder recently. It seemed like it could have been them as they come in twos, but not sure why they would come up in the downloads folder if it was.
Even after clearing the downloads manager cache, which was showing two files at 9:14 and 9:15pm, I just found these two files in my file manager app:

 

[anon(10172886)]

Sorry missed this reply.

For now, I have just disabled the downloads and downloads managers apps as they are the only apps that have record of the unsuccessful downloads. I am now more concerned about the two files that are created in my downloads folder after using snapchat as per this post above. There are lots of other people reporting it but not sure what to do about this. See one link for example: https://www.reddit.com/r/AndroidQue...suspicious_file_with_random_name_in_download/

Any tips?