The ACL for a shortcut inherits the ACL of the parent. The shortcut's ACL
cannot be changed directly.
A targetId pointing to the target file or folder, also referred to as the
"target."
A targetMimeType indicating the MIME type for the target. The
targetMimeType is used to determine the type icon to display. The target's
MIME type is copied to the targetMimeType field when the shortcut is
created.
The targetId and targetMimeType fields are part of the shortcutDetails
field within the file resource.
A shortcut can only have one parent. If a shortcut file is required in other
Drive locations, the shortcut file can be copied to the
additional locations.
When the target is deleted, or when the current user loses access to the
target, the user's shortcut pointing to the target breaks.
The title of a shortcut can differ from the target. When a shortcut is
created, the title of the target is used as the title of the shortcut. After
creation, the shortcut's title and target's title can be changed
independently. If the target's name is changed, previously created shortcuts
retain the old title.
The MIME type of a shortcut can become stale. While rare, a blob file's MIME
type changes when a revision of a different type is uploaded, but any
shortcuts pointing to the updated file retain the original MIME type. For
example, if you upload a JPG file to Drive, then upload an
AVI revision, Drive identifies the change and updates the
thumbnail for the actual file. However, the shortcut continues to have a JPG
thumbnail.
In Google Account Data
Export
also known as Google Takeout, shortcuts are represented as Netscape
bookmark files containing links to the target.
To create a shortcut, set the MIME type to
application/vnd.google-apps.shortcut, set the targetId to the file or folder
the shortcut should link to, and call files.create to create a shortcut.
The following examples show how to create a shortcut using a client library:
By default, the shortcut is created on the current user's My
Drive and shortcuts are only created for files or folders for
which the current user has access.
Search for a shortcut
To search for a shortcut, use the query string q with
files.list to filter the shortcuts to
return.
mimeType operator values
Where:
query_term is the query term or field to search upon. To view the query
terms that can be used to filter shared drives, refer to Search query
terms.
operator specifies the condition for the query term. To view which
operators you can use with each query term, refer to Query operators.
values are the specific values you want to use to filter your search
results.
For example, the following query string filters the search to return all
shortcuts to spreadsheet files:
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Missing the information I need","missingTheInformationINeed","thumb-down"],["Too complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-08-18 UTC."],[],[],null,["*Shortcuts* are files that link to other files or folders on Google Drive.\nShortcuts have these characteristics:\n\n- An `application/vnd.google-apps.shortcut` MIME type. For more information,\n see [Google Workspace \\& Google Drive supported MIME\n types](/workspace/drive/api/guides/mime-types).\n\n- The ACL for a shortcut inherits the ACL of the parent. The shortcut's ACL\n cannot be changed directly.\n\n- A `targetId` pointing to the target file or folder, also referred to as the\n \"target.\"\n\n- A `targetMimeType` indicating the MIME type for the target. The\n `targetMimeType` is used to determine the type icon to display. The target's\n MIME type is copied to the `targetMimeType` field when the shortcut is\n created.\n\n- The `targetId` and `targetMimeType` fields are part of the `shortcutDetails`\n field within the [file](/workspace/drive/api/reference/rest/v3/files) resource.\n\n- A shortcut can only have one parent. If a shortcut file is required in other\n Drive locations, the shortcut file can be copied to the\n additional locations.\n\n- When the target is deleted, or when the current user loses access to the\n target, the user's shortcut pointing to the target breaks.\n\n- The title of a shortcut can differ from the target. When a shortcut is\n created, the title of the target is used as the title of the shortcut. After\n creation, the shortcut's title and target's title can be changed\n independently. If the target's name is changed, previously created shortcuts\n retain the old title.\n\n- The MIME type of a shortcut can become stale. While rare, a blob file's MIME\n type changes when a revision of a different type is uploaded, but any\n shortcuts pointing to the updated file retain the original MIME type. For\n example, if you upload a JPG file to Drive, then upload an\n AVI revision, Drive identifies the change and updates the\n thumbnail for the actual file. However, the shortcut continues to have a JPG\n thumbnail.\n\n- In [Google Account Data\n Export](https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/3024190)\n also known as Google Takeout, shortcuts are represented as Netscape\n bookmark files containing links to the target.\n\nFor more information, see [Find files \\& folders with Google Drive\nshortcuts](https://support.google.com/drive/answer/9700156)\n.\n| **Important:** Previously, shortcuts were the term for files that pointed to content stored by an application. That type of \"shortcut\" was renamed to *third-party shortcut* . For further information, see [Create a shortcut file to\n| content stored by your app](/workspace/drive/api/guides/third-party-shortcuts).\n\nCreate a shortcut\n\nTo create a shortcut, set the MIME type to\n`application/vnd.google-apps.shortcut`, set the `targetId` to the file or folder\nthe shortcut should link to, and call [`files.create`](/workspace/drive/api/reference/rest/v3/files/create) to create a shortcut.\n| **Note:** If you're using V2 of the API, use [`files.insert`](/workspace/drive/api/v2/reference/files/insert).\n\nThe following examples show how to create a shortcut using a client library: \n\nPython \n\n file_metadata = {\n 'name': '\u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003eFILE_NAME\u003c/var\u003e',\n 'mimeType': 'text/plain'\n }\n file = drive_service.files().create(body=file_metadata, fields='id').execute()\n print('File ID: %s' % file.get('id'))\n shortcut_metadata = {\n 'Name': '\u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003eSHORTCUT_NAME\u003c/var\u003e',\n 'mimeType': 'application/vnd.google-apps.shortcut',\n 'shortcutDetails': {\n 'targetId': file.get('id')\n }\n }\n shortcut = drive_service.files().create(body=shortcut_metadata,\n fields='id,shortcutDetails').execute()\n print('File ID: %s, Shortcut Target ID: %s, Shortcut Target MIME type: %s' % (\n shortcut.get('id'),\n shortcut.get('shortcutDetails').get('targetId'),\n shortcut.get('shortcutDetails').get('targetMimeType')))\n\nNode.js \n\n var fileMetadata = {\n 'name': '\u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003eFILE_NAME\u003c/var\u003e',\n 'mimeType': 'text/plain'\n };\n drive.files.create({\n 'resource': fileMetadata,\n 'fields': 'id'\n }, function (err, file) {\n if (err) {\n // Handle error\n console.error(err);\n } else {\n console.log('File Id: ' + file.id);\n shortcutMetadata = {\n 'name': '\u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003eSHORTCUT_NAME\u003c/var\u003e',\n 'mimeType': 'application/vnd.google-apps.shortcut'\n 'shortcutDetails': {\n 'targetId': file.id\n }\n };\n drive.files.create({\n 'resource': shortcutMetadata,\n 'fields': 'id,name,mimeType,shortcutDetails'\n }, function(err, shortcut) {\n if (err) {\n // Handle error\n console.error(err);\n } else {\n console.log('Shortcut Id: ' + shortcut.id +\n ', Name: ' + shortcut.name +\n ', target Id: ' + shortcut.shortcutDetails.targetId +\n ', target MIME type: ' + shortcut.shortcutDetails.targetMimeType);\n }\n }\n }\n });\n\nReplace the following:\n\n- \u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003eFILE_NAME\u003c/var\u003e: the file name requiring a shortcut.\n- \u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003eSHORTCUT_NAME\u003c/var\u003e: the name for this shortcut.\n\nBy default, the shortcut is created on the current user's My\nDrive and shortcuts are only created for files or folders for\nwhich the current user has access.\n\nSearch for a shortcut\n\nTo search for a shortcut, use the query string `q` with\n[`files.list`](/workspace/drive/api/v3/reference/files/list) to filter the shortcuts to\nreturn.\n\n`mimeType `*operator values*\n\nWhere:\n\n- *query_term* is the query term or field to search upon. To view the query terms that can be used to filter shared drives, refer to [Search query\n terms](/workspace/drive/api/guides/ref-search-terms#file_properties).\n- *operator* specifies the condition for the query term. To view which operators you can use with each query term, refer to [Query operators](/workspace/drive/api/guides/ref-search-terms#operators).\n- *values* are the specific values you want to use to filter your search results.\n\nFor example, the following query string filters the search to return all\nshortcuts to spreadsheet files: \n\n q: mimeType='application/vnd.google-apps.shortcut' AND shortcutDetails.targetMimeType='application/vnd.google-apps.spreadsheet'"]]