Properties Service

The Properties service lets you store simple data in key-value pairs scoped to one script, one user of a script, or one document in which an add-on is used. It is typically used to store developer configuration or user preferences. Properties are never shared between scripts.

To view the daily quotas and storage limits for the Properties service, see Quotas for Google Services.

Comparison of property stores

The PropertiesService global object offers three methods, each of which returns a similar Properties object but with different access rights, as shown in the following table:

	Script Properties	User Properties	Document Properties
Method to access	getScriptProperties()	getUserProperties()	getDocumentProperties()
Data shared among	All users of a script, add-on, or web app	The current user of a script, add-on, or web app	All users of an add-on in the open document
Typically used for	App-wide configuration data, like the username and password for the developer's external database	User-specific settings, like metric or imperial units	Document-specific data, like the source URL for an embedded chart

Data format

The Properties service stores all data as strings in key-value pairs. Data types that are not already strings are automatically converted to strings, including methods contained within saved objects.

Saving data

To save a single value, call the method Properties.setProperty(key, value) of the appropriate store, as shown in the following example:

service/propertyService.gs

View on GitHub

try {
  // Set a property in each of the three property stores.
  const scriptProperties = PropertiesService.getScriptProperties();
  const userProperties = PropertiesService.getUserProperties();
  const documentProperties = PropertiesService.getDocumentProperties();

  scriptProperties.setProperty('SERVER_URL', 'http://www.example.com/');
  userProperties.setProperty('DISPLAY_UNITS', 'metric');
  documentProperties.setProperty('SOURCE_DATA_ID',
      '1j3GgabZvXUF177W0Zs_2v--H6SPCQb4pmZ6HsTZYT5k');
} catch (err) {
  // TODO (developer) - Handle exception
  console.log('Failed with error %s', err.message);
}

To save data in bulk, pass a map of key-value pairs to Properties.setProperties(properties). Each key-value pair of the object in the parameter is stored as a separate property:

service/propertyService.gs

View on GitHub

try {
  // Set multiple script properties in one call.
  const scriptProperties = PropertiesService.getScriptProperties();
  scriptProperties.setProperties({
    'cow': 'moo',
    'sheep': 'baa',
    'chicken': 'cluck'
  });
} catch (err) {
  // TODO (developer) - Handle exception
  console.log('Failed with error %s', err.message);
}

Reading data

To retrieve a single value that you have previously saved, call Properties.getProperty(key):

service/propertyService.gs

View on GitHub

try {
  // Get the value for the user property 'DISPLAY_UNITS'.
  const userProperties = PropertiesService.getUserProperties();
  const units = userProperties.getProperty('DISPLAY_UNITS');
  console.log('values of units %s', units);
} catch (err) {
  // TODO (developer) - Handle exception
  console.log('Failed with error %s', err.message);
}

To retrieve all values in the current property store, call Properties.getProperties():

service/propertyService.gs

View on GitHub

try {
  // Get multiple script properties in one call, then log them all.
  const scriptProperties = PropertiesService.getScriptProperties();
  const data = scriptProperties.getProperties();
  for (const key in data) {
    console.log('Key: %s, Value: %s', key, data[key]);
  }
} catch (err) {
  // TODO (developer) - Handle exception
  console.log('Failed with error %s', err.message);
}

Modifying data

The methods getProperty() and getProperties() return a copy of the stored data, not a live view, so changing the returned object will not update the value in the property store. To update the data in the store, simply save it again:

service/propertyService.gs

View on GitHub

try {
  // Change the unit type in the user property 'DISPLAY_UNITS'.
  const userProperties = PropertiesService.getUserProperties();
  let units = userProperties.getProperty('DISPLAY_UNITS');
  units = 'imperial'; // Only changes local value, not stored value.
  userProperties.setProperty('DISPLAY_UNITS', units); // Updates stored value.
} catch (err) {
  // TODO (developer) - Handle exception
  console.log('Failed with error %s', err.message);
}

Deleting data

To delete a single value, call Properties.deleteProperty(key):

service/propertyService.gs

View on GitHub

try {
  // Delete the user property 'DISPLAY_UNITS'.
  const userProperties = PropertiesService.getUserProperties();
  userProperties.deleteProperty('DISPLAY_UNITS');
} catch (err) {
  // TODO (developer) - Handle exception
  console.log('Failed with error %s', err.message);
}

To delete all properties in the current store, call Properties.deleteAllProperties():

service/propertyService.gs

View on GitHub

try {
  // Get user properties in the current script.
  const userProperties = PropertiesService.getUserProperties();
  // Delete all user properties in the current script.
  userProperties.deleteAllProperties();
} catch (err) {
  // TODO (developer) - Handle exception
  console.log('Failed with error %s', err.message);
}

Manage script properties manually

You can manually add up to fifty custom properties, as strings in key-value pairs, from the project settings page. To add more than fifty properties, you need to add them programmatically using the methods described above in Saving data. When you set script properties from the project settings page, you can’t reference script variables.

Add script properties

1. Open your Apps Script project.
2. At the left, click Project Settings .
3. To add the first property, under Script Properties click Add script property.
4. To add second and subsequent properties, under Script Properties click Edit script properties > Add script property.
5. For Property, enter the key name.
6. For Value, enter the value for the key.
7. (Optional) To add more properties, click Add script property.
8. Click Save script properties.

Edit script properties

1. Open your Apps Script project.
2. At the left, click Project Settings .
3. Under Script Properties, click Edit script properties.
4. Make changes to the key name and key value for each property you want to change.
5. Click Save script properties.

Delete script properties

1. Open your Apps Script project.
2. At the left, click Project Settings .
3. Under Script Properties, click Edit script properties.
4. Next to the property that you want to delete, click Remove .
5. Click Save script properties.