HI I’m trying to install brave on my pc but I keep getting this error: download error. Repeat attempt… 3 seconds left and then: Failed to upload. My pc specs: ryzen 7 7700, 32gb ram, gtx 1050, windows 11
Perhaps you need to inspect your computer for malware? And, run some house cleaning.
After using at least Microsoft Windows Defender (plus, if you wish: whatever may also be your considered anti-malware tools - might be MalwareBytes?), then:
‘https://www.elevenforum.com/t/use-system-file-checker-sfc-to-repair-system-files-in-windows-11.720/’
And after all that work > IF you THEN believe that you need to again Un-install and then Install Brave Browser, after you backed up your data . . .
Getting acquainted with:
Where Brave Browser Profiles Are Located
With Brave Browser running, open a New Window and go to: brave://version
Scroll down to Profile Path: You should see, for
Linux OS - usually but not always:
/home/[username]/.config/BraveSoftware/Brave-Browser/[profile_folder_name]
MacOS: /Users/[username]/Library/Application Support/BraveSoftware/Brave-Browser/[profile_folder_name]
Windows OS: C:\Users\[UserName]\AppData\Local\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\[profile_folder_name]
The actual Profile folder names for [profile_folder_name] would be:
- Default
- Profile 1
- Profile 2
- Profile n [where n is the next increment: 3, 4, . . . etc.]
Upon the original installation and setup of Brave Browser (“BB”):
The 1st BB User Profile is named Profile 1 and its data is maintained within the folder named Default:
- MacOS:
/Users/[username]/Library/Application Support/BraveSoftware/Brave-Browser/Default - Windows OS:
C:\Users\[UserName]\AppData\Local\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Default
When proceeding with the creation of additional BB User Profiles:
The 2nd BB User Profile name will be Profile 2 and its data will be maintained within the folder named Profile 1:
- MacOS:
/Users/[username]/Library/Application Support/BraveSoftware/Brave-Browser/Profile 1 - Windows OS:
C:\Users\[UserName]\AppData\Local\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Profile 1
The 3rd BB User Profile name will be Profile 3 and its data will be maintained within the folder named Profile 2:
- MacOS:
/Users/[username]/Library/Application Support/BraveSoftware/Brave-Browser/Profile 2 - Windows OS:
C:\Users\[UserName]\AppData\Local\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\User Data\Profile 2
Repeating the pattern of BB User Profile creations:
- Actual 1st BB User Profile data is in folder named
Default - Actual 2nd BB User Profile data is in folder named
Profile 1 - Actual 3rd BB User Profile data is in folder named
Profile 2 - Actual 4th BB User Profile data is in folder named
Profile 3
Renaming the BB User Profile name(s) . . . DOES NOT CHANGE the folder names and structure:
- Renaming 1st BB User Profile name, from
Profile 1toBob8← still uses folder namedDefault - Renaming 2nd BB User Profile name, from
Profile 2toHope← still uses folder namedProfile 1 - Renaming 3rd BB User Profile name, from
Profile 3toEmma← still uses folder namedProfile 2 - Renaming 4th BB User Profile name, from
Profile 4toWork← still uses folder namedProfile 3
DO NOT CHANGE the names of the folders.
Also, do not swap folders that have unmatched names. For example, do not swap folder Profile 2 for folder Profile 5.
The above notes, are also at:
Determine Windows OS PC architecture - try any of:
Settings → System and then About (bottom left corner). It should be listed under Device Specifications ← scroll to that, and look for System type (example: 64‑bit operating system, x64‑based processor)
Command Prompt: wmic os get osarchitecture
64 architecture, system level installation:
C:\Program Files\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\Application\brave.exe
x86 architecture, system level installation:
C:\Program Files(x86)\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\Application\brave.exe
64 / x86 architecture, user level installation (NOTE: you must substitute your Windows OS user account name for [UserName]):
C:\Users\[UserName]\AppData\Local\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\Application\brave.exe
Installation and Un-installation of Brave Browser
NOTE: The following Un-install info includes steps for un-installing the Brave Browser updater - BraveUpdate.exe.
Install Brave Browser (Desktop)
Brave Browser Beta
‘https://brave.com/download-beta/’
‘https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/releases?q=beta&expanded=true’
Brave Browser Nightly
‘https://brave.com/download-nightly/’
‘https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/releases?q=nightly&expanded=true’
Brave Browser Stable Release
‘https://brave.com/download/’
‘https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/blob/master/CHANGELOG_DESKTOP.md’
Brave Browser for Linux OS - How to install
‘https://brave.com/linux/’
Brave Browser Release Schedule at Brave GitHub:
‘https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/wiki/Brave-Release-Schedule’
At GitHub, typical example of Brave Browser installers for Windows OS (64-bit machine) users:
ARM: ‘https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/releases/download/v1.85.118/brave-v1.85.118-win32-arm64.zip’
INTEL: ‘https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/releases/download/v1.85.118/brave-v1.85.118-win32-x64.zip’
Uninstall Brave Browser (Desktop)
The Brave Browser application brave.exe etc.:
‘Every time I open the browser it closes again directly - #20 by clifton’
The Brave Browser updater, BraveUpdate.exe:
‘Have to re-install Brave multiple times per day on Windows11 - #24 by mherrmann’
A note from Brave Support, if all you want, is: How do I delete my data in Brave?
'https://support.brave.app/hc/en-us/articles/4413256282765-How-do-I-delete-my-data-in-Brave
IF still struggling to uninstall, try:
https://crystalidea.com/uninstall-tool
File and Folder Permissions - Brave Browser (Windows OS):
Ref.: ‘https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/issues/38609’
And then, there is the following:
‘Lost cookies, extensions, filters, but tabs are there, on 2 different computers - #3 by Flex’
I asked Perplexity.ai to decipher those commands. The reply:
Those three commands are working together to take control of the Brave Browser profile folders and reset their permissions for the Administrators group.
1) takeown /F ... /R /D Y /A
takeown /F C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser /R /D Y /A
takeown– changes the owner of files/folders./F <path>– target folder: here it is the Brave-Browser folder in your profile./R– recurse into all subfolders and files./D Y– automatically answer “Yes” to any confirmation prompts when access is denied./A– make the Administrators group the owner (instead of just the current user).
Effect: Administrators become the owner of the entire Brave-Browser tree under that user profile, including all subfolders and files.
2) icacls ... /setowner Administrators /T
icacls C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser /setowner Administrators /T
icacls– manages NTFS permissions and ownership./setowner Administrators– explicitly sets the owner to the Administrators group./T– applies to the folder and all subfolders and files.
Effect: Confirms and enforces that Administrators are the owner of everything under Brave-Browser (similar goal to the first command, using a different tool).
3) icacls ... /inheritance:e /T /C
icacls C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\BraveSoftware /inheritance:e /T /C
/inheritance:e– enables permission inheritance so items inherit ACLs from their parent folder./T– recurse through all subfolders and files underBraveSoftware./C– continue even if errors occur (skips over problem files, keeps going).
Effect: Re-enables normal inherited permissions for everything under BraveSoftware, so permissions flow down from the parent instead of using only custom/blocked ACLs.
Overall purpose
Together, these commands:
- Make the Administrators group the owner of the Brave Browser data folder and all of its contents.
- Ensure that ownership is set consistently using both tools (
takeownandicacls). - Turn inheritance back on for the broader
BraveSoftwarefolder so its permissions are normalized and inherited from its parent, which can fix “Access denied” and permission corruption issues within the Brave profile.
Thanks for suggestion. Done all of this, but unfortunately I still get error
Testing . . .
TEST 1
Use Firefox to download the BraveBrowserSetup.exe installer that you will find by
a) going to:
‘https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/blob/master/CHANGELOG_DESKTOP.md’
b) then clicking on the latest Brave Browser version number, and
c) scrolling down the resulting webpage to
d) Exit / Quit everything and Restart your computer. Sign in to your administrative level Windows OS user account. Locate and run that installer:
BraveBrowserSetup.exe
So . . . the resulting location of the brave.exe will be either of:
64 architecture, system level installation:
C:\Program Files\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\Application\brave.exe
x86 architecture, system level installation:
C:\Program Files(x86)\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\Application\brave.exe
BUT NOT:
64 / x86 architecture, user level installation (NOTE: you must substitute your Windows OS user account name for [UserName]):
C:\Users\[UserName]\AppData\Local\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\Application\brave.exe
TEST 2 - IF an existing Brave Browser installation
Create a new user Profile for Testing:
Create and use AN ADDITIONAL Brave Browser user Profile (Menu --> More tools --> Add profile) - only ← meaning: Do not have any other Brave Browser user Profile tabs/windows open.
When creating this new Brave Browser user Profile for test purposes
- Do not import anything.
- Do not add any extensions.
- Do not allow/enable any Brave Browser “bells and whistles” such as Brave Rewards, Brave Talk, etc.
IF this test Brave Browser user Profile does not present your problem, then possibly, the profile that you have been using, has a problem . . . and that might be caused by one or more extensions, or too many tabs ← complex/conundrum.
Detailed info about testing - IF, in regard to memory and performance issues:
TEST 3 - IF an existing Brave Browser installation
Extensions Tests:
- test by disabling all extensions
- test by enabling each extension individually
- test by uninstalling all extensions
- test by installing each extension individually
- test combinations of extensions
- test order of installation of extensions
If you’re actually located in Russia it may be your ISP blocking you here. You can try downloading the standalone (offline) installer from our Github and see if that works:
It worked Thanks a lot
thanks for your time
Just in case they need to know, how will that affect Brave’s self-updating mechanism? Doesn’t the installer pull from the same source as the updater?
Or will there method of updating be manually downloading the offline installer, and doing it that way?
1 Like
@MasterLink good point. Yes it will try to do this and the process may end up getting blocked again.
@Ilya1 if that is the case and you find that the automatic update doesn’t work for you when a new version gets released, you’ll just have to visit the Github page for that release and download the standalone installer there as well. Simply run the [newly downloaded] installer and it should apply the latest updates – you shouldn’t need to uninstall the current version or anything.
Note that the Github Releases URL uses the format:
https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/releases/tag/v[x.x.x]
So you’ll just need to replace [x.x.x] with the latest stable version released.