Google Docs Randomly Locking Down Innocuous Files

It isn't clear why the documents were flagged, only that they were found to be 'inappropriate,' according to a pop-up message. Google is investigating.

Having trouble accessing Google Docs? You aren't the only one. On Tuesday morning, the service appeared to be randomly locking down files, ostensibly for violating the company's terms of service.

Irked Docs users took to Twitter to vent their frustrations:

It isn't clear why the documents were flagged, only that they were found to be "inappropriate," according to the Google pop-up message. In a statement, Google told PCMag that it's "investigating reports of an issue with Google Docs [and] will provide more information when appropriate."

Affected documents, however, can no longer be accessed or shared, causing headaches for users who say their files are innocuous.

Whatever the cause, the issue underscores the risk with cloud-storage services. They're convenient and largely reliable, but even a few hours of downtime can seriously derail a presentation, study session, or work day. So it's a good idea to back up important files, or set up offline access.

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