Mount Protondrive on Linux fails

Help and Support
1

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hi
after configuring rclone for mounting protondrive with ubuntu 24.04 i am getting the error below. in protondrive iself i have only set the login password (no 2FA or other scurity). according to this article the protondrive-app-version is required to make it work --> Proton Drive. since there is no linux app i am unable to enter a value.
rclone config:

type = protondrive
username = help@gideon.ch
password = MyPassword``à
any help is much appreciated

#### What is the problem you are having with rclone?

#### Run the command 'rclone version' and share the full output of the command.

```rclone v1.73.5
- os/version: ubuntu 24.04 (64 bit)
- os/kernel: 6.17.0-113020-tuxedo (x86_64)
- os/type: linux
- os/arch: amd64
- go/version: go1.25.9
- go/linking: static
- go/tags: none```


#### Which cloud storage system are you using? (eg Google Drive)

#### The command you were trying to run (eg `rclone copy /tmp remote:tmp`)

<!--  You should use 3 backticks to begin and end your paste to make it readable.   -->

rclone mount proton: ProtonDrive --vfs-cache-mode writes


#### Please run 'rclone config redacted' and share the full output. If you get command not found, please make sure to update rclone.

<!--  You should use 3 backticks to begin and end your paste to make it readable.   -->


type = protondrive
username = help@gideon.ch
password = XXX
### Double check the config for sensitive info before posting publicly```

A log from the command that you were trying to run with the -vv flag

```2026/04/23 12:04:28 DEBUG : rclone: Version "v1.73.5" starting with parameters ["rclone" "mount" "proton:" "ProtonDrive" "--vfs-cache-mode" "writes" "-vv"]
2026/04/23 12:04:28 DEBUG : Creating backend with remote "proton:"
2026/04/23 12:04:28 DEBUG : Using config file from "/home/freeman/.config/rclone/rclone.conf"
2026/04/23 12:04:28 CRITICAL: Failed to create file system for "proton:": didn't find section in config file ("proton")
freeman@Xiphos:~$```
2

welcome to the forum,

best to test using simple commands, such as rclone lsd, instead of compex rclone mount

rclone cannot find a remote named proton

need to post the full output, not just a snippet

3

thanks !

i am new to linux so please bear with me.

freeman@Xiphos:~$ rclone ls protondrive -vv
2026/04/23 15:13:02 DEBUG : rclone: Version "v1.73.5" starting with parameters ["rclone" "ls" "proton
drive" "-vv"]
2026/04/23 15:13:02 DEBUG : Creating backend with remote "protondrive"
2026/04/23 15:13:02 DEBUG : Using config file from "/home/freeman/.config/rclone/rclone.conf"
2026/04/23 15:13:02 DEBUG : fs cache: renaming cache item "protondrive" to be canonical "/home/freeman/protondrive"
2026/04/23 15:13:02 ERROR : error listing: directory not found
2026/04/23 15:13:02 DEBUG : 4 go routines active
2026/04/23 15:13:02 NOTICE: Failed to ls with 2 errors: last error was: directory not found

as i understand, the mounting point needs to be canonical. therefore i tried the following:

freeman@Xiphos:~$ rclone mount proton: /home/freeman/ProtonDrive --vfs-cache-mode writes -vv
2026/04/23 15:25:37 DEBUG : rclone: Version "v1.73.5" starting with parameters ["rclone" "mount" "proton:" "/home/freeman/ProtonDrive" "--vfs-cache-mode" "writes" "-vv"]
2026/04/23 15:25:37 DEBUG : Creating backend with remote "proton:"
2026/04/23 15:25:37 DEBUG : Using config file from "/home/freeman/.config/rclone/rclone.conf"
2026/04/23 15:25:37 CRITICAL: Failed to create file system for "proton:": didn't find section in conf
ig file ("proton")

rclone config redated brings the same result as i hav already posted:

reeman@Xiphos:~$ rclone config redacted
[ProtonDrive]
type = protondrive
username = help@gideon.ch
password = XXX

Double check the config for sensitive info before posting publicly

thanks

4

i tried also the ls command with the full path to the mounting point:

freeman@Xiphos:~$ rclone ls /home/freeman/ProtonDrive -vv
2026/04/23 15:42:32 DEBUG : rclone: Version "v1.73.5" starting with parameters ["rclone" "ls" "/home/freeman/ProtonDrive" "-vv"]
2026/04/23 15:42:32 DEBUG : Creating backend with remote "/home/freeman/ProtonDrive"
2026/04/23 15:42:32 DEBUG : Using config file from "/home/freeman/.config/rclone/rclone.conf"
2026/04/23 15:42:32 DEBUG : 4 go routines active

5

as per the config file, the name of the remote is ProtonDrive

so, the correct command is rclone ls ProtonDrive: -vv

6

i am learning…and there is an answer to both commands…

freeman@Xiphos:~$ rclone ls ProtonDrive: -vv
2026/04/23 15:54:31 DEBUG : rclone: Version "v1.73.5" starting with parameters ["rclone" "ls" "ProtonDrive:" "-vv"]
2026/04/23 15:54:31 DEBUG : Creating backend with remote "ProtonDrive:"
2026/04/23 15:54:31 DEBUG : Using config file from "/home/freeman/.config/rclone/rclone.conf"
2026/04/23 15:54:31 DEBUG : proton drive root link ID '': Using username and password to log in
2026/04/23 15:54:34.989697 WARN RESTY 422 POST Our systems detected unusual activity targeting your account. To protect you from potential compromise, we have temporarily limited access to it. If this persists or you believe this is in error, please contact us at (Code=2028, Status=422), Attempt 1
2026/04/23 15:54:34.989849 ERROR RESTY 422 POST Our systems detec
ted unusual activity targeting your account. To protect you from potential compromise, we have temporarily limited access to it. If this persists or you believe this is in error, please contact us at ht
tps://proton.me/support/appeal-abuse (Code=2028, Status=422)
2026/04/23 15:54:34 CRITICAL: Failed to create file system for "ProtonDrive:": couldn't initialize a
new proton drive instance: 422 POST Our systems detected unusual
activity targeting your account. To protect you from potential compromise, we have temporarily limited access to it. If this persists or you believe this is in error, please contact us at (Code=2028, Status=422)

freeman@Xiphos:~$ rclone mount ProtonDrive: ProtonDrive --vfs-cache-mode writes -vv
2026/04/23 16:12:11 DEBUG : rclone: Version "v1.73.5" starting with parameters ["rclone" "mount" "ProtonDrive:" "ProtonDrive" "--vfs-cache-mode" "writes" "-vv"]
2026/04/23 16:12:11 DEBUG : Creating backend with remote "ProtonDrive:"
2026/04/23 16:12:11 DEBUG : Using config file from "/home/freeman/.config/rclone/rclone.conf"
2026/04/23 16:12:11 DEBUG : proton drive root link ID '': Using username and password to log in
2026/04/23 16:12:13.797389 WARN RESTY 422 POST Our systems detect
ed unusual activity targeting your account. To protect you from potential compromise, we have temporarily limited access to it. If this persists or you believe this is in error, please contact us at htt
ps://proton.me/support/appeal-abuse (Code=2028, Status=422), Attempt 1
2026/04/23 16:12:13.797504 ERROR RESTY 422 POST Our systems detec
ted unusual activity targeting your account. To protect you from potential compromise, we have temporarily limited access to it. If this persists or you believe this is in error, please contact us at Abuse appeals form | Proton (Code=2028, Status=422)
2026/04/23 16:12:13 CRITICAL: Failed to create file system for "ProtonDrive:": couldn't initialize a
new proton drive instance: 422 POST https://mail.proton.me/api/auth/v4: Our systems detected unusual activity targeting your account. To protect you from potential compromise, we have temporarily limited access to it. If this persists or you believe this is in error, please contact us at (Code=2028, Status=422)
freeman@Xiphos:~$ ^C

7

as i already posted, rclone does not support proton.
contact proton tech support.

i cannot provide further assistance
good luck!

8

thank you for the information and all the best

9

if you contact them, please post their reply into this forum.

10

i contacted rclone for help and received the answer below. any ideas to make it work with the standard proton or webdav remote in rclone ?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Hello,

Thank you for contacting us.

We are sorry to hear that you are having issues with Rclone. Rclone is a third-party tool that Proton does not own or maintain, so we are unable to provide you with direct support for your issues with it.

Proton values the open-source community - we both publish our own code as open source, and also try to maintain good relationships with open-source projects. We have reached out to the maintainer of the Proton Drive functionality in rclone to raise awareness of your issue, but we encourage you to bring these issues directly to the maintainers whenever possible.

However, even though we have provided all details to Rclone, they have decided to stop maintaining it and have fully ended support for it as you can see from their Status page:
https://rclone.org/tiers/

Proton Drive is marked as Tier 5, which means that it is deprecated and no longer supported:

In the meantime, on desktop, we can suggest using our dedicated Proton Drive applications (Windows/macOS) or the Proton Drive web client.

Thank you for your understanding.

If you have any further questions or issues, do not hesitate to contact us at any time.

Kindest Regards,

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

hi
as there is no linux app for proton drive i tried to mount it with rclone. i used this info but was not successful:

https://rclone.org/protondrive/

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Terminal Output from post above removed<<<<<<<<<<<<

please let me know if there is a way to mount proton drive on linux (to use with a file manager) with rclone or webdav (also seems not to be supported).
if this is not possible please give a short statement that i could provide to the rclone forum.

thank you for your help