Google Drive

Manage files, folders, and shared drives on Google Drive

Overview

Provides file management on Google Drive: upload binary files, download files (including Google Docs, Sheets, Slides and Drawings exported to a format you choose), copy, move, rename, delete, share files and folders, search across drives, create folders, and administer shared drives. Both personal My Drive and shared drives are supported. Download operations produce binary data on the output item; upload operations consume binary data from an upstream node.

Category: Data & Storage
Tool Name: google_drive
Version: 1

Appearance: Icon: si-googledrive | Color: #4285F4

Node Type

Action (Binary) — handles file/binary data operations

Input / Output

Direction	Port(s)
Input	Input
Output	Output, Error

Credentials

This tool requires Google Drive OAuth2 credentials. See the Credentials Guide for setup instructions.

Resources

Resource	Value
File	file
Folder	folder
File/Folder	fileFolder
Shared Drive	drive

fileFolder is the search resource — it looks across files and folders together.

Operations

The available operations depend on the selected resource — file operations first, then folder, file/folder and shared drive.

Operation	Value	Description
Copy	copy	Copy a file
Create From Text	createFromText	Create a file from text content
Delete	delete	Delete or trash a file
Download	download	Download a file
Move	move	Move a file to another folder
Share	share	Share a file with a user, group, or domain
Update	update	Update file metadata or content
Upload	upload	Upload a binary file to Google Drive
Create	create	Create a new folder
Delete	delete	Delete or trash a folder
Share	share	Share a folder
Search	search	Search files and folders
Create	create	Create a shared drive
Delete	delete	Delete a shared drive
Get	get	Get a shared drive
List	list	List shared drives
Update	update	Update a shared drive

Parameters

File: Upload

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Input Binary Field	string	Yes	data	Name of the binary property containing the file data to upload.
File Name	string	No	—	The name of the file. If not specified, the original binary file name is used. Supports expressions.
Parent Drive	string	No	My Drive	The drive where to upload the file. Use “My Drive” for personal drive or a shared drive ID.
Parent Folder	string	No	root	The folder where to upload the file. Use “root” for the drive root.
Options	collection	No	{}	Upload behaviour and metadata.
— Simplify Output	boolean	No	true	Whether to return simplified output.
— Keep Revision Forever	boolean	No	false	Whether to pin this revision forever.
— OCR Language	string	No	—	ISO 639-1 language hint for OCR.
— Use Content As Indexable Text	boolean	No	false	Whether to use uploaded content as indexable text.
— Properties (JSON)	json	No	{}	Key-value properties visible to all apps (JSON object).
— App Properties (JSON)	json	No	{}	Key-value properties private to the requesting app (JSON object).

File: Download

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
File ID	string	Yes	—	The ID of the file. Can be found in the file URL. Supports expressions.
Options	collection	No	{}	Download destination and export formats.
— Binary Property Name	string	No	data	Name of the binary property to write the downloaded file to. Names are case-sensitive — see the upstream node’s Binary Data panel for the exact names to use.
— File Name	string	No	—	Override the downloaded file name.
— Google Docs Export Format	options	No	text/html	Format to export Google Docs as.
				Options: text/html, application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document (DOCX), application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.text (ODT), application/pdf, application/rtf, text/plain
— Google Sheets Export Format	options	No	text/csv	Format to export Google Sheets as.
				Options: text/csv, application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet (XLSX), application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.spreadsheet (ODS), application/pdf
— Google Slides Export Format	options	No	application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.presentationml.presentation	Format to export Google Slides as.
				Options: application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.presentationml.presentation (PPTX), application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.presentation (ODP), application/pdf
— Google Drawings Export Format	options	No	image/jpeg	Format to export Google Drawings as.
				Options: image/jpeg, application/pdf, image/png, image/svg+xml

File: Copy

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
File ID	string	Yes	—	The ID of the file. Can be found in the file URL. Supports expressions.
File Name	string	No	—	Name of the copied file. Defaults to “Copy of {original name}”. Supports expressions.
Copy In Same Folder	boolean	No	true	Whether to copy to the same folder as the original.
Target Drive	string	No	My Drive	Target drive ID for the copy. (shown when Copy In Same Folder is false)
Target Folder	string	No	root	Target folder ID for the copy. (shown when Copy In Same Folder is false)
Options	collection	No	{}	Extra properties for the copy.
— Copy Requires Writer Permission	boolean	No	false	Whether to disable copy/print/download for readers and commenters.
— Description	string	No	—	A short description of the copied file.

File: Create From Text

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
File Content	string	No	—	The text content of the file to create. Supports expressions.
File Name	string	No	—	Name of the file. Defaults to “Untitled”. Supports expressions.
Parent Drive	string	No	My Drive	The drive where to upload the file. Use “My Drive” for personal drive or a shared drive ID.
Parent Folder	string	No	root	The folder where to upload the file. Use “root” for the drive root.
Options	collection	No	{}	Conversion behaviour and metadata.
— Convert to Google Document	boolean	No	false	Whether to create a Google Doc instead of a .txt file. Requires Google Docs API to be enabled.
— Keep Revision Forever	boolean	No	false	Whether to pin this revision forever.
— OCR Language	string	No	—	ISO 639-1 language hint for OCR.
— Use Content As Indexable Text	boolean	No	false	Whether to use the content as indexable text.
— Properties (JSON)	json	No	{}	Key-value properties visible to all apps (JSON object).
— App Properties (JSON)	json	No	{}	Key-value properties private to the requesting app (JSON object).

File: Move

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
File ID	string	Yes	—	The ID of the file. Can be found in the file URL. Supports expressions.
Target Drive	string	No	My Drive	Drive to move the file to.
Target Folder	string	No	root	Folder to move the file to.

File: Update

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
File ID	string	Yes	—	The ID of the file. Can be found in the file URL. Supports expressions.
Change File Content	boolean	No	false	Whether to upload new binary content to replace the file.
Input Binary Field	string	No	data	Binary property containing the new file content. (shown when Change File Content is true)
New File Name	string	No	—	New name for the file. Leave empty to keep the current name. Supports expressions.
Options	collection	No	{}	Metadata to change and fields to return.
— Keep Revision Forever	boolean	No	false	Whether to pin this revision forever.
— OCR Language	string	No	—	ISO 639-1 language hint for OCR.
— Use Content As Indexable Text	boolean	No	false	Whether to use the content as indexable text.
— Move to Trash	boolean	No	false	Whether to move the file to trash.
— Return Fields	multiOptions	No	[]	Which file properties to return.
				Options: * (all), id, kind, name, mimeType, starred, trashed, explicitlyTrashed, exportLinks, hasThumbnail, iconLink, permissions, shared, spaces, thumbnailLink, version, webViewLink
— Properties (JSON)	json	No	{}	Key-value properties visible to all apps (JSON object).
— App Properties (JSON)	json	No	{}	Key-value properties private to the requesting app (JSON object).

File: Delete

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
File ID	string	Yes	—	The ID of the file. Can be found in the file URL. Supports expressions.
Options	collection	No	{}	Deletion behaviour.
— Delete Permanently	boolean	No	false	Whether to permanently delete instead of trashing.

File: Share

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
File ID	string	Yes	—	The ID of the file. Can be found in the file URL. Supports expressions.
Permission Role	options	No	reader	The role to grant.
				Options: reader, writer, commenter, fileOrganizer, organizer, owner
Permission Type	options	No	user	The scope of the permission.
				Options: user, group, domain, anyone
Email Address	string	No	—	Email address of the user or group. (shown when Permission Type is user, group)
Domain	string	No	—	The domain to share with. (shown when Permission Type is domain)
Options	collection	No	{}	Notification and ownership settings.
— Allow File Discovery	boolean	No	false	Whether to allow file discovery through search.
— Email Message	string	No	—	Custom message for the notification email.
— Send Notification Email	boolean	No	false	Whether to email the recipient about the share.
— Transfer Ownership	boolean	No	false	Whether to transfer ownership to the recipient.
— Move To New Owners Root	boolean	No	false	Whether to move the file to the new owner’s root folder.
— Use Domain Admin Access	boolean	No	false	Whether to act as a domain administrator.

Folder: Create

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Folder Name	string	No	—	Name of the new folder. Defaults to “Untitled”. Supports expressions.
Parent Drive	string	No	My Drive	Drive where the folder will be created.
Parent Folder	string	No	root	Parent folder ID. Use “root” for drive root.
Options	collection	No	{}	Folder appearance and output shape.
— Simplify Output	boolean	No	true	Whether to return simplified output.
— Folder Color	string	No	—	Hex RGB color for the folder.

Folder: Delete

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Folder ID	string	Yes	—	The ID of the folder. Supports expressions.
Options	collection	No	{}	Deletion behaviour.
— Delete Permanently	boolean	No	false	Whether to permanently delete instead of trashing.

Folder: Share

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Folder ID	string	Yes	—	The ID of the folder. Supports expressions.
Permission Role	options	No	reader	The role to grant.
				Options: reader, writer, commenter, fileOrganizer, organizer, owner
Permission Type	options	No	user	The scope of the permission.
				Options: user, group, domain, anyone
Email Address	string	No	—	Email address of the user or group. (shown when Permission Type is user, group)
Domain	string	No	—	The domain to share with. (shown when Permission Type is domain)
Options	collection	No	{}	Notification and ownership settings.
— Allow File Discovery	boolean	No	false	Whether to allow file discovery through search.
— Email Message	string	No	—	Custom message for the notification email.
— Send Notification Email	boolean	No	false	Whether to email the recipient about the share.
— Transfer Ownership	boolean	No	false	Whether to transfer ownership to the recipient.
— Move To New Owners Root	boolean	No	false	Whether to move the file to the new owner’s root folder.
— Use Domain Admin Access	boolean	No	false	Whether to act as a domain administrator.

File/Folder: Search

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Search Method	options	No	name	How the Search Query is interpreted.
				Options: name (search by name), query (advanced Drive query)
Search Query	string	No	—	File or folder name to search for (partial match), or a full Drive query string for advanced search. Supports expressions.
Return All	boolean	No	false	Whether to return all results or only up to a given limit.
Limit	number	No	50	Max number of results. (shown when Return All is false)
Filter	collection	No	{}	Narrow the scope of the search.
— Drive ID	string	No	—	Scope search to a specific drive. Leave empty for all drives.
— Folder ID	string	No	—	Only search direct children of this folder.
— What to Search	options	No	all	Which kinds of item to return.
				Options: all (files and folders), files, folders
— Include Trashed	boolean	No	false	Whether to include trashed items in the results.
Options	collection	No	{}	Response shaping.
— Return Fields	multiOptions	No	[]	Which file properties to return.
				Options: * (all), id, kind, name, mimeType, starred, trashed, explicitlyTrashed, exportLinks, hasThumbnail, iconLink, permissions, shared, spaces, thumbnailLink, version, webViewLink

Shared Drive: Create

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Name	string	Yes	—	The name of the shared drive. Supports expressions.
Options	collection	No	{}	Appearance and restrictions for the new drive.
— Color RGB	string	No	—	Hex RGB color for the shared drive.
— Hidden	boolean	No	false	Whether the shared drive is hidden from the drive list.
— Restrictions (JSON)	json	No	{}	JSON object with restriction booleans: adminManagedRestrictions, copyRequiresWriterPermission, domainUsersOnly, driveMembersOnly.

Shared Drive: Get

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Drive ID	string	Yes	—	The ID of the shared drive. Supports expressions.
Options	collection	No	{}	Access mode.
— Use Domain Admin Access	boolean	No	false	Whether to act as a domain administrator.

Shared Drive: List

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Return All	boolean	No	false	Whether to return all shared drives or only up to a given limit.
Limit	number	No	100	Max number of shared drives to return. (shown when Return All is false)
Options	collection	No	{}	Search and access options.
— Query	string	No	—	Search query for shared drives.
— Use Domain Admin Access	boolean	No	false	Whether to act as a domain administrator.

Shared Drive: Update

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Drive ID	string	Yes	—	The ID of the shared drive. Supports expressions.
Update Fields	collection	No	{}	Properties of the shared drive to change.
— Name	string	No	—	New name for the shared drive.
— Color RGB	string	No	—	Hex RGB color for the shared drive.
— Restrictions (JSON)	json	No	{}	JSON object with restriction booleans.

Shared Drive: Delete

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Drive ID	string	Yes	—	The ID of the shared drive. Supports expressions.

All Operations

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Authentication	options	No	oAuth2	Authentication method to use.
				Options: oAuth2, serviceAccount
Google Account	credential	No	—	Connect or select your Google account. (shown when Authentication is oAuth2)
Service Account Email	string	Yes	—	The email address of the Google service account. (shown when Authentication is serviceAccount)
Private Key	string	Yes	—	The private key from the service account JSON key file. (shown when Authentication is serviceAccount)
Max Concurrency	number	No	5	Maximum number of items to process concurrently. Google Drive recommends lower concurrency due to per-user rate limits.

Output Data

Every operation produces exactly one output item. Results are merged into the input item’s JSON, so the incoming fields stay available downstream, and binary data on the input item is forwarded.

Operation	Output
file / upload, copy, createFromText, move, update	The Drive file metadata (id, name, mimeType, webViewLink, parents …).
file / download	JSON unchanged; the file is written to the binary property you named, alongside any binary already on the item.
file / delete	id — the file that was removed — and success: true.
file / share, folder / share	The permission Google Drive created (id, type, role …).
folder / create	The new folder’s metadata.
folder / delete	folderId and success: true.
fileFolder / search	A results array — one entry per match, or an empty array when nothing matched.
drive / create, get, update	The shared drive’s metadata.
drive / list	A results array — one entry per shared drive.
drive / delete	success: true.

A file metadata result looks like this:

{
  "id": "1ABC123DEF456GHI789JKL",
  "name": "Q4-2024-Report.pdf",
  "mimeType": "application/pdf",
  "webViewLink": "https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ABC123DEF456GHI789JKL/view"
}

Because Search and List return arrays on a single item, use a Split Out node on results when you want one workflow item per match.

Usage Examples

• Download a file from Google Drive
• Upload a binary file to a Google Drive folder
• Search for files by name in Google Drive
• Copy a file to another folder
• Create a shared drive
• Share a file with a specific user
• Export a Google Doc as PDF

Example Configuration

Upload binary data from an upstream node:

{
  "type": "google_drive",
  "parameters": {
    "resource": "file",
    "operation": "upload",
    "inputDataFieldName": "data",
    "name": "{{ $json.fileName }}",
    "driveId": "My Drive",
    "folderId": "root",
    "options": {
      "keepRevisionForever": true,
      "useContentAsIndexableText": true
    }
  }
}

Download a file, exporting Google-native formats on the way out:

{
  "type": "google_drive",
  "parameters": {
    "resource": "file",
    "operation": "download",
    "fileId": "{{ $json.id }}",
    "options": {
      "binaryPropertyName": "fileData",
      "fileName": "converted-doc",
      "docsToFormat": "application/pdf",
      "sheetsToFormat": "text/csv"
    }
  }
}

Copy a file into a different drive and folder:

{
  "type": "google_drive",
  "parameters": {
    "resource": "file",
    "operation": "copy",
    "fileId": "1ABC123DEF456GHI789JKL",
    "name": "Copy of Important Document",
    "sameFolder": false,
    "driveId": "0ABCD1234567890",
    "folderId": "1DEF456GHI789ABC123",
    "options": {
      "copyRequiresWriterPermission": true,
      "description": "Copied for review"
    }
  }
}

Create a Google Doc from text:

{
  "type": "google_drive",
  "parameters": {
    "resource": "file",
    "operation": "createFromText",
    "content": "{{ $json.body }}",
    "name": "{{ $json.title }}",
    "driveId": "My Drive",
    "folderId": "root",
    "options": {
      "convertToGoogleDocument": true
    }
  }
}

Share a file with a colleague and notify them:

{
  "type": "google_drive",
  "parameters": {
    "resource": "file",
    "operation": "share",
    "fileId": "1ABC123DEF456GHI789JKL",
    "permissionRole": "writer",
    "permissionType": "user",
    "emailAddress": "colleague@example.com",
    "options": {
      "sendNotificationEmail": true,
      "emailMessage": "Please review this document"
    }
  }
}

Replace a file’s contents and rename it:

{
  "type": "google_drive",
  "parameters": {
    "resource": "file",
    "operation": "update",
    "fileId": "1ABC123DEF456GHI789JKL",
    "changeFileContent": true,
    "inputDataFieldName": "data",
    "newUpdatedFileName": "Updated Document v2.pdf",
    "options": {
      "keepRevisionForever": true
    }
  }
}

Create a folder:

{
  "type": "google_drive",
  "parameters": {
    "resource": "folder",
    "operation": "create",
    "name": "Project Files",
    "driveId": "0ABCD1234567890",
    "parentFolderId": "root",
    "options": {
      "simplifyOutput": true,
      "folderColorRgb": "#ff0000"
    }
  }
}

Search by name within one drive:

{
  "type": "google_drive",
  "parameters": {
    "resource": "fileFolder",
    "operation": "search",
    "searchMethod": "name",
    "queryString": "budget",
    "returnAll": false,
    "limit": 50,
    "filter": {
      "driveId": "0ABCD1234567890",
      "whatToSearch": "all",
      "includeTrashed": false
    },
    "options": {
      "fields": ["name", "id", "mimeType"]
    }
  }
}

Search with a raw Drive query:

{
  "type": "google_drive",
  "parameters": {
    "resource": "fileFolder",
    "operation": "search",
    "searchMethod": "query",
    "queryString": "mimeType='application/pdf' and modifiedTime > '2023-01-01T00:00:00'",
    "returnAll": true,
    "filter": {
      "includeTrashed": false
    }
  }
}

Create a shared drive:

{
  "type": "google_drive",
  "parameters": {
    "resource": "drive",
    "operation": "create",
    "name": "Marketing Team Drive",
    "options": {
      "colorRgb": "#4285f4",
      "hidden": false,
      "restrictions": "{\"copyRequiresWriterPermission\": true}"
    }
  }
}

List shared drives matching a query:

{
  "type": "google_drive",
  "parameters": {
    "resource": "drive",
    "operation": "list",
    "returnAll": false,
    "limit": 25,
    "options": {
      "q": "name contains 'Project'"
    }
  }
}

Error Handling

Mode	Behavior
stop	Halts workflow on first error
continue	Skips failed items, passes successful ones through
errorPort	Routes failed items to Error output port

Tips

Manage Google Drive files, folders, and shared drives: upload, download, copy, move, search, share, and more.

• My Drive and root are the defaults for a personal drive. Replace Parent Drive with a shared drive ID and Parent Folder with a folder ID to work inside a shared drive.
• Google-native files are exported, not downloaded verbatim. Docs, Sheets, Slides and Drawings each have their own export format option; pick the one that matches how the downstream node will read the file.
• Delete trashes by default. Turn on Delete Permanently only when the file should not be recoverable.
• Search has two modes. name does a partial name match on whatever you type; query passes your string through as a Drive query, which lets you filter on mime type, dates and parents.
• Narrow searches with Filter. Scoping to a drive or a folder, and excluding trashed items, keeps result sets small and requests cheap.
• Share needs a recipient that matches Permission Type. user and group take an Email Address, domain takes a Domain, and anyone takes neither.
• Copy defaults to the original’s folder. Turn off Copy In Same Folder to reveal the Target Drive and Target Folder parameters.
• Keep Max Concurrency modest. Google Drive enforces per-user rate limits, so a high value tends to produce errors rather than throughput.