October 17, 2023

Upcoming changes to third-party cookie requirements in Google Drive

What's changing
Google Chrome and other browsers have begun phasing out third-party cookies in order to better protect user privacy. Starting January 2, 2024, Drive will start serving downloads without requiring third-party cookies.

If you have specific workflows in place that rely on Drive's download URLs or use an app which relies on Drive's download URLs, you'll need to switch to the Drive and Docs publishing flows by January 2, 2024. Specific instructions are below.

Why it's important
Serving downloads without requiring third-party cookies will work to improve usability, security, and privacy for Drive users.

Additional details
Learn more about how to audit your code to look for third-party cookies and what action you can take to ensure you're all set for the end of third-party cookies here.

End users and developers:
Use an iframe (HTML element that loads another HTML page within the document) on your website to load the content. You can do this by going to the file in Drive and taking the next relevant step:

• For Workspace files (Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Forms file types) use the Google Docs publishing URL of the file.
• For other files, once opened in Drive, select "Open in new window" from the overflow menu, and then open the overflow menu and select "Embed item...", which provides the iframe HTML tag.

Rollout pace
Switch to the Drive and Docs publishing flows by January 2, 2024

Resources
Google Help: Prepare for phasing out third-party cookies