This request makes sense to me, but not sure how we inform the user about the warning sufficiently and not too annoying.
Assigning weifangsun@ to figure out how we can improve this point.

Agreed. We're thinking through a lot of these workflows right now so will keep this feedback in mind.

Alternatively, could we consider backing up users' files in Downloads to Google Drive automatically? Maybe to a specific folder in Drive called "Chrome OS Downloads folder" to make it clear?

Per our Help Center Manager - "We've had several very, very sad users come to the forums after their files were deleted. Unfortunately, their files are completely irretrievable."

Here's a few examples she provided:
https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/chromebook-central/Lzk6sT-Z68k
https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/chromebook-central/WsQIzYeRgXI
https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/chromebook-central/jD23iEyJhsY
https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/chromebook-central/tL6Uz6dhf6w
https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/chromebook-central/PL4SoazddJw
https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/chromebook-central/2S61lYgAYH8
https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/chromebook-central/dwMhzIelJAY
https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/chromebook-central/BSraJ9rGk74

RE: #c4

I had made a similar comment(#c1) and then deleted it -

> Comment 1 by denny.lockhart@gmail.com, Today (9 hours ago)
> Delete comment ⚐
> Or perhaps change the default download location to Google Drive or recommend it 
> at least. I believe everyone gets 100GB of Google Drive space with a new 
> Chromebook, that's more space than what's free on most Chrome OS devices.

> And rename 'Downloads' to 'Temporary' so it's obvious to everyone. 

I deleted the comment because I didn't know if that's the best path moving forward. With larger & larger storage in Pixelbooks, Chromebooks, etc. sync issues could be a real problem I think. 
Maybe provide a way to selectively choose which *important* files to sync and not worry about backing up everything.
I don't know what would be best tho, I'm just throwing out ideas.

~Denny

Adding some additional comments from one of the TCs:

This page (and the built in Help app)
https://support.google.com/chromebook/answer/1700055?hl=en
states:
Your Chromebook's hard drive has limited space, so your Chromebook will sometimes delete files to free up space. To keep your files for a long time, save them to Google Drive or an external storage device.


Of course, most users never see this help page or warning.

There is no mention, that I can find, of what happens when ChromeOS detects an error and forces a powerwash, or if the user forgets/changes the password, or if there is one of the MANY ChromeOS bugs that prevent login. This warning needs to be explicitly added and described in detail.

The latest firmware update for TPM vulnerability requires a Powerwash. In spite of the seemingly explicit warnings, and actions users must take to do the update, we have already had a couple users express surprise at losing their files.

I believe we need big scary warning screens with option to abort and do a backup before proceeding. Or, an option to do an automatic backup to Drive before doing a Powerwash.

I dread the posts from Pixelbook users who have taken the time to store and organize their complete music or photo collection on their enormous drives. Then they are gone.

None of those ideas will protect against the actual "Chrome OS is missing ..." events, which seem to happen too frequently.

Screencastify is a good example of an extension with a great warning in settings
and whose data would be lost.

The user has to make an effort to go to the settings options and connect Google Drive to the app in 3 steps.

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Suggestion: This is an all too common problem, ever since Chromebooks were introduced. The warning on the help page "Free up space on your Chromebook," is way at the bottom, and very easy to overlook. 

With Android apps putting more pressure on local storage, the problem is likely to happen more frequently. 

I can't remember the last time I saw the low space warning, but it would be very helpful if the warning popup linked to this (or similar) help page.
https://support.google.com/chromebook/answer/1061547?hl=en

 Issue 741591  has been merged into this issue.

(Bulk Edit) Adding the new conops Chrome OS hotlist to all open issues with the "#CBC-RS/TC-watchlist" tag, our former tracking tag.

Until I ran across this ticket, I had no idea that Chrome OS had this policy:
"if your Chromebook runs low on space, it might automatically delete your downloaded files". 

Yikes! I agree that needs a warning in the UI somewhere. 

https://support.google.com/chromebook/answer/1061547?hl=en&source=genius-rts&vid=0-1184455675655-1548089371529

There's a related change in M72 where you can create folders parallel to Downloads with different names:
https://mspoweruser.com/google-tests-new-feature-to-make-the-chrome-os-file-manager-more-desktop-like/

I hope that as part of that change, Chrome OS is only auto-cleaning the "Downloads" folder and not other folders in "My Files".