How to solve Android Emulator java.io.FileNotFoundException open failed: EACCES (Permission denied)

Following error in Android application is very annoying and you may waste several hours by hunting the root cause:

D/file: java.io.FileNotFoundException: /storage/emulated/0/Download/20190604_084533.jpg: 
open failed: EACCES (Permission denied)

It might occur even when the manifest is correct and contains proper permission:

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE"/>

Here is sample code which will pass on file existence check, but the execution will fail on readBytes:

var file:File = File("/storage/emulated/0/Download/20190604_084533.jpg")
if (file.exists()) {
    val content:ByteArray;
    Log.d("file", "exist")
    try {
        content = f.readBytes()
     } catch (FileNotFoundException) {
        Log.d("file", e.toString())
     }

} else {
     Log.d("file", "does not exist")
}

To fix this problem it is necessary to go to Settings – Apps – My App – Permission.

Access to Storage is probably disabled. Tap Storage to enable it:

With enabled Storage option, the application was able to read the file.

To solve this problem in a proper way, it’s necessary to add a request for permission to the code. Here is a sample in Kotlin:

val MY_READ_EXTERNAL_REQUEST : Int = 1
if (checkSelfPermission(
    Manifest.permission.READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE) != PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED) {
        requestPermissions(arrayOf(Manifest.permission.READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE), MY_READ_EXTERNAL_REQUEST)
}

You can find more details about requesting permissions in Android documentation.