To create a file that contains no metadata or content, use the
files.create
method with no parameters.
The file is given a kind
of drive.file
, an id
, a name
of "Untitled", and
a mimeType
of application/octet-stream
. The uploadType
is marked as
required but defaults to media
, so you don't actually have to supply it.
For more information about Drive file limits, see File and folder limits.
Create metadata-only files
Metadata-only files contain no content. Metadata is data (such as name
,
mimeType
, and createdTime
) that describes the file. Fields like name
are
user-agnostic and appear the same for each user, whereas fields such as
viewedByMeTime
contain user-specific values.
One example of a metadata-only file is a folder with the MIME type
application/vnd.google-apps.folder
. For more information, see Create and
populate folders. Another example is a shortcut that
points to another file on Drive with the MIME type
application/vnd.google-apps.shortcut
. For more information, see Create a
shortcut to a Drive file.
Upload thumbnails
Drive automatically generates thumbnails for many common file types, such as Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides. Thumbnails help the user to better identify Drive files.
For file types that Drive can't generate a standard thumbnail
for, you can provide a thumbnail image generated by your application. During
file creation or update, upload a thumbnail by setting the
contentHints.thumbnail
field on the files
resource.
Specifically:
- Set the
contentHints.thumbnail.image
field to the URL and filename safe base64-encoded image (see RFC 4648 section 5). - Set the
contentHints.thumbnail.mimeType
field to the appropriate MIME type for the thumbnail.
If Drive can generate a thumbnail from the file, it uses the automatically generated one and ignores any you might have uploaded. If it can't generate a thumbnail, it uses the one you provide.
Thumbnails should adhere to these rules:
- Can be uploaded in PNG, GIF, or JPG formats.
- The recommended width is 1600 pixels.
- The minimum width is 220 pixels.
- The maximum file size is 2 MB.
- They should be updated by your application with each save.
For more information, see the files
resource.
Related topics
Here are a few next steps you might try:
To upload file data when you create or update a file, see Upload file data.
To create a file in a specific folder, see Create a file in a specific folder.