Download & export files

The Google Drive API supports several types of download and export actions, as listed in the following table:

Downloads	Blob file content using the files.get method with the alt=media URL parameter. Blob file content at an earlier version using the revisions.get method with the alt=media URL parameter. Blob file content in a browser using the webContentLink field.
Exports	Google Workspace document content in a format that your app can handle, using files.export. Google Workspace document content in a browser using the exportLinks field. Google Workspace document content at an earlier version in a browser using the exportLinks field.

The rest of this guide provides detailed instructions for performing these types of download and export actions.

Download blob file content

To download a blob file stored on Drive, use the files.get method with the ID of the file to download and the alt=media URL parameter. The alt=media URL parameter tells the server that a download of content is being requested as an alternative response format.

The alt=media URL parameter is a system parameter available across all Google REST APIs. If you use a client library for the Drive API, you don't need to explicitly set this parameter.

The following code sample shows how to use the files.get method to download a file with the Drive API client libraries.

Note: If you're using the older Drive API v2, you can find code samples in GitHub. Learn how to migrate to Drive API v3.

Java

drive/snippets/drive_v3/src/main/java/DownloadFile.java

View on GitHub

import com.google.api.client.googleapis.json.GoogleJsonResponseException;
import com.google.api.client.http.HttpRequestInitializer;
import com.google.api.client.http.javanet.NetHttpTransport;
import com.google.api.client.json.gson.GsonFactory;
import com.google.api.services.drive.Drive;
import com.google.api.services.drive.DriveScopes;
import com.google.auth.http.HttpCredentialsAdapter;
import com.google.auth.oauth2.GoogleCredentials;
import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.OutputStream;
import java.util.Arrays;

/* Class to demonstrate use-case of drive's download file. */
public class DownloadFile {

  /**
   * Download a Document file in PDF format.
   *
   * @param realFileId file ID of any workspace document format file.
   * @return byte array stream if successful, {@code null} otherwise.
   * @throws IOException if service account credentials file not found.
   */
  public static ByteArrayOutputStream downloadFile(String realFileId) throws IOException {
        /* Load pre-authorized user credentials from the environment.
           TODO(developer) - See https://developers.google.com/identity for
          guides on implementing OAuth2 for your application.*/
    GoogleCredentials credentials = GoogleCredentials.getApplicationDefault()
        .createScoped(Arrays.asList(DriveScopes.DRIVE_FILE));
    HttpRequestInitializer requestInitializer = new HttpCredentialsAdapter(
        credentials);

    // Build a new authorized API client service.
    Drive service = new Drive.Builder(new NetHttpTransport(),
        GsonFactory.getDefaultInstance(),
        requestInitializer)
        .setApplicationName("Drive samples")
        .build();

    try {
      OutputStream outputStream = new ByteArrayOutputStream();

      service.files().get(realFileId)
          .executeMediaAndDownloadTo(outputStream);

      return (ByteArrayOutputStream) outputStream;
    } catch (GoogleJsonResponseException e) {
      // TODO(developer) - handle error appropriately
      System.err.println("Unable to move file: " + e.getDetails());
      throw e;
    }
  }
}

Python

drive/snippets/drive-v3/file_snippet/download_file.py

View on GitHub

from __future__ import print_function

import io

import google.auth
from googleapiclient.discovery import build
from googleapiclient.errors import HttpError
from googleapiclient.http import MediaIoBaseDownload


def download_file(real_file_id):
    """Downloads a file
    Args:
        real_file_id: ID of the file to download
    Returns : IO object with location.

    Load pre-authorized user credentials from the environment.
    TODO(developer) - See https://developers.google.com/identity
    for guides on implementing OAuth2 for the application.
    """
    creds, _ = google.auth.default()

    try:
        # create drive api client
        service = build('drive', 'v3', credentials=creds)

        file_id = real_file_id

        # pylint: disable=maybe-no-member
        request = service.files().get_media(fileId=file_id)
        file = io.BytesIO()
        downloader = MediaIoBaseDownload(file, request)
        done = False
        while done is False:
            status, done = downloader.next_chunk()
            print(F'Download {int(status.progress() * 100)}.')

    except HttpError as error:
        print(F'An error occurred: {error}')
        file = None

    return file.getvalue()


if __name__ == '__main__':
    download_file(real_file_id='1KuPmvGq8yoYgbfW74OENMCB5H0n_2Jm9')

Node.js

drive/snippets/drive_v3/file_snippets/download_file.js

View on GitHub

/**
 * Downloads a file
 * @param{string} realFileId file ID
 * @return{obj} file status
 * */
async function downloadFile(realFileId) {
  // Get credentials and build service
  // TODO (developer) - Use appropriate auth mechanism for your app

  const {GoogleAuth} = require('google-auth-library');
  const {google} = require('googleapis');

  const auth = new GoogleAuth({
    scopes: 'https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive',
  });
  const service = google.drive({version: 'v3', auth});

  fileId = realFileId;
  try {
    const file = await service.files.get({
      fileId: fileId,
      alt: 'media',
    });
    console.log(file.status);
    return file.status;
  } catch (err) {
    // TODO(developer) - Handle error
    throw err;
  }
}

PHP

drive/snippets/drive_v3/src/DriveDownloadFile.php

View on GitHub

use Google\Client;
use Google\Service\Drive;
function downloadFile()
 {
    try {

      $client = new Client();
      $client->useApplicationDefaultCredentials();
      $client->addScope(Drive::DRIVE);
      $driveService = new Drive($client);
      $realFileId = readline("Enter File Id: ");
      $fileId = '0BwwA4oUTeiV1UVNwOHItT0xfa2M';
      $fileId = $realFileId;
      $response = $driveService->files->get($fileId, array(
          'alt' => 'media'));
      $content = $response->getBody()->getContents();
      return $content;

    } catch(Exception $e) {
      echo "Error Message: ".$e;
    }

}

.NET

drive/snippets/drive_v3/DriveV3Snippets/DownloadFile.cs

View on GitHub

using Google.Apis.Auth.OAuth2;
using Google.Apis.Download;
using Google.Apis.Drive.v3;
using Google.Apis.Services;

namespace DriveV3Snippets
{
    // Class to demonstrate use-case of drive's download file.
    public class DownloadFile
    {
        /// <summary>
        /// Download a Document file in PDF format.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="fileId">file ID of any workspace document format file.</param>
        /// <returns>byte array stream if successful, null otherwise.</returns>
        public static MemoryStream DriveDownloadFile(string fileId)
        {
            try
            {
                /* Load pre-authorized user credentials from the environment.
                 TODO(developer) - See https://developers.google.com/identity for 
                 guides on implementing OAuth2 for your application. */
                GoogleCredential credential = GoogleCredential
                    .GetApplicationDefault()
                    .CreateScoped(DriveService.Scope.Drive);

                // Create Drive API service.
                var service = new DriveService(new BaseClientService.Initializer
                {
                    HttpClientInitializer = credential,
                    ApplicationName = "Drive API Snippets"
                });

                var request = service.Files.Get(fileId);
                var stream = new MemoryStream();

                // Add a handler which will be notified on progress changes.
                // It will notify on each chunk download and when the
                // download is completed or failed.
                request.MediaDownloader.ProgressChanged +=
                    progress =>
                    {
                        switch (progress.Status)
                        {
                            case DownloadStatus.Downloading:
                            {
                                Console.WriteLine(progress.BytesDownloaded);
                                break;
                            }
                            case DownloadStatus.Completed:
                            {
                                Console.WriteLine("Download complete.");
                                break;
                            }
                            case DownloadStatus.Failed:
                            {
                                Console.WriteLine("Download failed.");
                                break;
                            }
                        }
                    };
                request.Download(stream);

                return stream;
            }
            catch (Exception e)
            {
                // TODO(developer) - handle error appropriately
                if (e is AggregateException)
                {
                    Console.WriteLine("Credential Not found");
                }
                else
                {
                    throw;
                }
            }
            return null;
        }
    }
}

This code sample uses a library method that adds the alt=media URL parameter to the underlying HTTP request.

File downloads started from your app must be authorized with a scope that allows read access to the file content. For example, an app using the drive.readonly.metadata scope isn't authorized to download the file contents. This code sample uses the restricted “drive” file scope that allows users to view and manage all of your Drive files. To learn more about Drive scopes, refer to API-specific authorization and authentication information.

Users with edit permissions can restrict downloading by read-only users through setting the copyRequiresWriterPermission field to false.

Files identified as abusive (such as harmful software) are only downloadable by the file owner. Additionally, the get query parameter acknowledgeAbuse=true must be included to indicate that the user has acknowledged the risk of downloading potentially unwanted software or other abusive files. Your application should interactively warn the user before using this query parameter.

Partial download

Partial download involves downloading only a specified portion of a file. You can specify the portion of the file you want to download by using a byte range with the Range header. For example:

Range: bytes=500-999

Note: Partial downloads are not supported while exporting Google Workspace documents.

Download blob file content at an earlier version

To download the content of blob files at an earlier version, use the revisions.get method with the ID of the file to download, the ID of the revision, and the alt=media URL parameter. The alt=media URL parameter tells the server that a download of content is being requested as an alternative response format. Similar to files.get, the revisions.get method also accepts the optional query parameter acknowledgeAbuse and the Range header. For more information on downloading revisions, see Download and publish file revisions.

Download blob file content in a browser

To download the content of blob files stored on Drive within a browser, instead of through the API, use the webContentLink field of the Files resource. If the user has download access to the file, a link for downloading the file and its contents is returned. You can either redirect a user to this URL, or offer it as a clickable link.

Export Google Workspace document content

To export Google Workspace document byte content, use the files.export method with the ID of the file to export and the correct MIME type. Exported content is limited to 10 MB.

The following code sample shows how to use the files.export method to export a Google Workspace document in PDF format using the Drive API client libraries:

Note: If you're using the older Drive API v2, you can find code samples in GitHub. Learn how to migrate to Drive API v3.

Java

drive/snippets/drive_v3/src/main/java/ExportPdf.java

View on GitHub

import com.google.api.client.googleapis.json.GoogleJsonResponseException;
import com.google.api.client.http.HttpRequestInitializer;
import com.google.api.client.http.javanet.NetHttpTransport;
import com.google.api.client.json.gson.GsonFactory;
import com.google.api.services.drive.Drive;
import com.google.api.services.drive.DriveScopes;
import com.google.auth.http.HttpCredentialsAdapter;
import com.google.auth.oauth2.GoogleCredentials;
import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.OutputStream;
import java.util.Arrays;

/* Class to demonstrate use-case of drive's export pdf. */
public class ExportPdf {

  /**
   * Download a Document file in PDF format.
   *
   * @param realFileId file ID of any workspace document format file.
   * @return byte array stream if successful, {@code null} otherwise.
   * @throws IOException if service account credentials file not found.
   */
  public static ByteArrayOutputStream exportPdf(String realFileId) throws IOException {
    // Load pre-authorized user credentials from the environment.
    // TODO(developer) - See https://developers.google.com/identity for
    // guides on implementing OAuth2 for your application.
    GoogleCredentials credentials = GoogleCredentials.getApplicationDefault()
        .createScoped(Arrays.asList(DriveScopes.DRIVE_FILE));
    HttpRequestInitializer requestInitializer = new HttpCredentialsAdapter(
        credentials);

    // Build a new authorized API client service.
    Drive service = new Drive.Builder(new NetHttpTransport(),
        GsonFactory.getDefaultInstance(),
        requestInitializer)
        .setApplicationName("Drive samples")
        .build();

    OutputStream outputStream = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
    try {
      service.files().export(realFileId, "application/pdf")
          .executeMediaAndDownloadTo(outputStream);

      return (ByteArrayOutputStream) outputStream;
    } catch (GoogleJsonResponseException e) {
      // TODO(developer) - handle error appropriately
      System.err.println("Unable to export file: " + e.getDetails());
      throw e;
    }
  }
}

Python

drive/snippets/drive-v3/file_snippet/export_pdf.py

View on GitHub

from __future__ import print_function

import io

import google.auth
from googleapiclient.discovery import build
from googleapiclient.errors import HttpError
from googleapiclient.http import MediaIoBaseDownload


def export_pdf(real_file_id):
    """Download a Document file in PDF format.
    Args:
        real_file_id : file ID of any workspace document format file
    Returns : IO object with location

    Load pre-authorized user credentials from the environment.
    TODO(developer) - See https://developers.google.com/identity
    for guides on implementing OAuth2 for the application.
    """
    creds, _ = google.auth.default()

    try:
        # create drive api client
        service = build('drive', 'v3', credentials=creds)

        file_id = real_file_id

        # pylint: disable=maybe-no-member
        request = service.files().export_media(fileId=file_id,
                                               mimeType='application/pdf')
        file = io.BytesIO()
        downloader = MediaIoBaseDownload(file, request)
        done = False
        while done is False:
            status, done = downloader.next_chunk()
            print(F'Download {int(status.progress() * 100)}.')

    except HttpError as error:
        print(F'An error occurred: {error}')
        file = None

    return file.getvalue()


if __name__ == '__main__':
    export_pdf(real_file_id='1zbp8wAyuImX91Jt9mI-CAX_1TqkBLDEDcr2WeXBbKUY')

Node.js

drive/snippets/drive_v3/file_snippets/export_pdf.js

View on GitHub

/**
 * Download a Document file in PDF format
 * @param{string} fileId file ID
 * @return{obj} file status
 * */
async function exportPdf(fileId) {
  const {GoogleAuth} = require('google-auth-library');
  const {google} = require('googleapis');

  // Get credentials and build service
  // TODO (developer) - Use appropriate auth mechanism for your app
  const auth = new GoogleAuth({
    scopes: 'https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive',
  });
  const service = google.drive({version: 'v3', auth});

  try {
    const result = await service.files.export({
      fileId: fileId,
      mimeType: 'application/pdf',
    });
    console.log(result.status);
    return result;
  } catch (err) {
    // TODO(developer) - Handle error
    throw err;
  }
}

PHP

drive/snippets/drive_v3/src/DriveExportPdf.php

View on GitHub

use Google\Client;
use Google\Service\Drive;
function exportPdf()
{
    try {
        $client = new Client();
        $client->useApplicationDefaultCredentials();
        $client->addScope(Drive::DRIVE);
        $driveService = new Drive($client);
        $realFileId = readline("Enter File Id: ");
        $fileId = '1ZdR3L3qP4Bkq8noWLJHSr_iBau0DNT4Kli4SxNc2YEo';
        $fileId = $realFileId;
        $response = $driveService->files->export($fileId, 'application/pdf', array(
            'alt' => 'media'));
        $content = $response->getBody()->getContents();
        return $content;

    }  catch(Exception $e) {
         echo "Error Message: ".$e;
    }

}

.NET

drive/snippets/drive_v3/DriveV3Snippets/ExportPdf.cs

View on GitHub

using Google.Apis.Auth.OAuth2;
using Google.Apis.Download;
using Google.Apis.Drive.v3;
using Google.Apis.Services;

namespace DriveV3Snippets
{
    // Class to demonstrate use of Drive export pdf
    public class ExportPdf
    {
        /// <summary>
        /// Download a Document file in PDF format.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="fileId">Id of the file.</param>
        /// <returns>Byte array stream if successful, null otherwise</returns>
        public static MemoryStream DriveExportPdf(string fileId)
        {
            try
            {
                /* Load pre-authorized user credentials from the environment.
                 TODO(developer) - See https://developers.google.com/identity for 
                 guides on implementing OAuth2 for your application. */
                GoogleCredential credential = GoogleCredential.GetApplicationDefault()
                    .CreateScoped(DriveService.Scope.Drive);

                // Create Drive API service.
                var service = new DriveService(new BaseClientService.Initializer
                {
                    HttpClientInitializer = credential,
                    ApplicationName = "Drive API Snippets"
                });

                var request = service.Files.Export(fileId, "application/pdf");
                var stream = new MemoryStream();
                // Add a handler which will be notified on progress changes.
                // It will notify on each chunk download and when the
                // download is completed or failed.
                request.MediaDownloader.ProgressChanged +=
                    progress =>
                    {
                        switch (progress.Status)
                        {
                            case DownloadStatus.Downloading:
                            {
                                Console.WriteLine(progress.BytesDownloaded);
                                break;
                            }
                            case DownloadStatus.Completed:
                            {
                                Console.WriteLine("Download complete.");
                                break;
                            }
                            case DownloadStatus.Failed:
                            {
                                Console.WriteLine("Download failed.");
                                break;
                            }
                        }
                    };
                request.Download(stream);
                return stream;
            }
            catch (Exception e)
            {
                // TODO(developer) - handle error appropriately
                if (e is AggregateException)
                {
                    Console.WriteLine("Credential Not found");
                }
                else
                {
                    throw;
                }
            }
            return null;
        }
    }
}

This code sample uses the restricted drive scope that allows users to view and manage all of your Drive files. To learn more about Drive scopes, refer to API-specific authorization and authentication information.

The code sample also declares the export MIME type as application/pdf. For a complete list of all export MIME types supported for each Google Workspace document, refer to Export MIME types for Google Workspace documents.

Export Google Workspace document content in a browser

To export Google Workspace document content within a browser, use the exportLinks field of the Files resource. Depending on the document type, a link to download the file and its contents is returned for every MIME type available. You can either redirect a user to a URL, or offer it as a clickable link.

Export Google Workspace document content an earlier version in a browser

To export Google Workspace document content at an earlier version within a browser, use the revisions.get method with the ID of the file to download and the ID of the revision. If the user has download access to the file, a link for downloading the file and its contents is returned. You can either redirect a user to this URL, or offer it as a clickable link.