Manage shared drives

This guide contains tasks related to managing shared drives, such as creating shared drives and managing members and permissions, using the Google Drive API.

If you want to specify the fields to return in the response, you can set the fields system parameter with any method of the drives resource. If you don't specify the fields parameter, the server returns a default set of fields specific to the method. For example, the list method returns only the kind, id, and name fields for each shared drive. For more information, see Return specific fields.

To learn more about shared drive folder limits, see Shared drive folder limits.

Create a shared drive

To create a shared drive, use the create method on the drives resource with the requestId parameter.

The requestId parameter identifies the logical attempt for idempotent creation of a shared drive. If the request times out or returns an indeterminate backend error, the same request can be repeated and won't create duplicates. The requestId and body of the request must remain the same.

The following code sample shows how to create a shared drive:

Java

drive/snippets/drive_v3/src/main/java/CreateDrive.java
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.DriveScopes;
import com.google.api.services.drive.model.Drive;
import com.google.auth.http.HttpCredentialsAdapter;
import com.google.auth.oauth2.GoogleCredentials;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.util.Arrays;
import java.util.UUID;

/* class to demonstrate use-case of Drive's create drive. */
public class CreateDrive {

  /**
   * Create a drive.
   *
   * @return Newly created drive id.
   * @throws IOException if service account credentials file not found.
   */
  public static String createDrive() 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));
    HttpRequestInitializer requestInitializer = new HttpCredentialsAdapter(
        credentials);

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

    Drive driveMetadata = new Drive();
    driveMetadata.setName("Project Resources");
    String requestId = UUID.randomUUID().toString();
    try {
      Drive drive = service.drives().create(requestId,
              driveMetadata)
          .execute();
      System.out.println("Drive ID: " + drive.getId());

      return drive.getId();
    } catch (GoogleJsonResponseException e) {
      // TODO(developer) - handle error appropriately
      System.err.println("Unable to create drive: " + e.getDetails());
      throw e;
    }
  }
}

Python

drive/snippets/drive-v3/drive_snippet/create_drive.py
import uuid

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


def create_drive():
  """Create a drive.
  Returns:
      Id of the created drive

  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)

    drive_metadata = {"name": "Project Resources"}
    request_id = str(uuid.uuid4())
    # pylint: disable=maybe-no-member
    drive = (
        service.drives()
        .create(body=drive_metadata, requestId=request_id, fields="id")
        .execute()
    )
    print(f'Drive ID: {drive.get("id")}')

  except HttpError as error:
    print(f"An error occurred: {error}")
    drive = None

  return drive.get("id")


if __name__ == "__main__":
  create_drive()

Node.js

drive/snippets/drive_v3/drive_snippets/create_drive.js
/**
 * Create a drive.
 * */
async function createDrive() {
  // 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 uuid = require('uuid');

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

  const driveMetadata = {
    name: 'Project resources',
  };
  const requestId = uuid.v4();
  try {
    const Drive = await service.drives.create({
      resource: driveMetadata,
      requestId: requestId,
      fields: 'id',
    });
    console.log('Drive Id:', Drive.data.id);
    return Drive.data.id;
  } catch (err) {
    // TODO(developer) - Handle error
    throw err;
  }
}

PHP

drive/snippets/drive_v3/src/DriveCreateDrive.php
<?php
use Google\Client;
use Google\Service\Drive;
use Ramsey\Uuid\Uuid;
function createDrive()
{
    try {
        $client = new Client();
        $client->useApplicationDefaultCredentials();
        $client->addScope(Drive::DRIVE);
        $driveService = new Drive($client);

        $driveMetadata = new Drive\Drive(array(
                'name' => 'Project Resources'));
        $requestId = Uuid::uuid4()->toString();
        $drive = $driveService->drives->create($requestId, $driveMetadata, array(
                'fields' => 'id'));
        printf("Drive ID: %s\n", $drive->id);
        return $drive->id;
    } catch(Exception $e)  {
        echo "Error Message: ".$e;
    }  

}

.NET

drive/snippets/drive_v3/DriveV3Snippets/CreateDrive.cs
using Google.Apis.Auth.OAuth2;
using Google.Apis.Drive.v3;
using Google.Apis.Drive.v3.Data;
using Google.Apis.Services;

namespace DriveV3Snippets
{
    // Class to demonstrate use of Drive's create drive.
    public class CreateDrive
    {
        /// <summary>
        /// Create a drive.
        /// </summary>
        /// <returns>newly created drive Id.</returns>
        public static string DriveCreateDrive()
        {
            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 driveMetadata = new Drive()
                {
                    Name = "Project Resources"
                };
                var requestId = Guid.NewGuid().ToString();
                var request = service.Drives.Create(driveMetadata, requestId);
                request.Fields = "id";
                var drive = request.Execute();
                Console.WriteLine("Drive ID: " + drive.Id);
                return drive.Id;
            }
            catch (Exception e)
            {
                // TODO(developer) - handle error appropriately
                if (e is AggregateException)
                {
                    Console.WriteLine("Credential Not found");
                }
                else
                {
                    throw;
                }
            }
            return null;
        }
    }
}

Calls to the create method are idempotent.

If the shared drive was successfully created on a previous request or due to a retry, the method returns an instance of the drives resource. Sometimes, such as after a prolonged time or if the body of the request has changed, a 409 error might be returned indicating the requestId must be discarded.

Get a shared drive

To get metadata for a shared drive, use the get method on the drives resource with the driveId path parameter. If you don't know the drive ID, you can list all shared drives using the list method.

The get method returns a shared drive as an instance of a drives resource.

To issue the request as a domain administrator, set the useDomainAdminAccess query parameter to true. For more information, see Manage shared drives as domain administrators.

List shared drives

To list a user's shared drives, use the list method on the drives resource. The method returns a list of shared drives.

Pass the following query parameters to customize pagination of, or to filter, shared drives:

  • pageSize: The maximum number of shared drives to return per page.

  • pageToken: A page token, received from a previous list call. Provide this token to retrieve the subsequent page.

  • q: Query string for searching shared drives. For more information, see Search for shared drives.

  • useDomainAdminAccess: Set to true to issue the request as a domain administrator to return all shared drives of the domain in which the requester is an administrator. For more information, see Manage shared drives as domain administrators.

Update a shared drive

To update the metadata for a shared drive, use the update method on the drives resource with the driveId path parameter.

The method returns a shared drive as an instance of a drives resource.

To issue the request as a domain administrator, set the useDomainAdminAccess query parameter to true. For more information, see Manage shared drives as domain administrators.

Hide and unhide a shared drive

To hide a shared drive from the default view, use the hide method on the drives resource with the driveId parameter.

When a shared drive is hidden, Drive marks the shared drive resource as hidden=true. Hidden shared drives don't appear in the Drive UI or in the list of returned files.

To restore a shared drive to the default view, use the unhide method on the drives resource with the driveId parameter.

Both methods return a shared drive as an instance of a drives resource.

Delete a shared drive

To permanently delete a shared drive, use the delete method on the drives resource with the driveId parameter.

Before deleting a shared drive, all content in the shared drive must be moved to the trash or deleted. The user must also have role=organizer on the shared drive folder. For more information, see Trash or delete files and folders.

Pass the following query parameters to filter shared drives:

  • useDomainAdminAccess: Set to true to issue the request as a domain administrator to return all shared drives of the domain in which the requester is an administrator. For more information, see Manage shared drives as domain administrators.

  • allowItemDeletion: Set to true to delete items within the shared drive. Only supported when useDomainAdminAccess is also set to true.

Add or remove shared drive members

Add or remove shared drive members using the permissions resource.

To add a member, create the permission on the shared drive. Permission methods can also be used on individual files within a shared drive to grant members additional privileges or allow non-members to collaborate on specific items.

For more information and sample code, see Share files, folders, and drives.

Manage shared drives as domain administrators

Apply the useDomainAdminAccess parameter with the drives and permissions resources to manage shared drives across an organization.

Users calling these methods with useDomainAdminAccess=true must have the Drive and Docs administrator privilege. Administrators can search for shared drives or update permissions for shared drives owned by their organization, regardless of the administrator's membership in any given shared drive.

When using service accounts, you might have to impersonate an authenticated administrator using service account impersonation. Note that service accounts do not belong to your Google Workspace domain, unlike user accounts. If you share Google Workspace assets, like documents or events, with your entire Google Workspace domain, they're not shared with service accounts. For more information, see Service accounts overview.

Recover a shared drive that doesn't have an organizer

The following code sample shows how to recover shared drives that no longer have an organizer.

Java

drive/snippets/drive_v3/src/main/java/RecoverDrive.java
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.DriveScopes;
import com.google.api.services.drive.model.Drive;
import com.google.api.services.drive.model.DriveList;
import com.google.api.services.drive.model.Permission;
import com.google.auth.http.HttpCredentialsAdapter;
import com.google.auth.oauth2.GoogleCredentials;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.Arrays;
import java.util.List;

/* class to demonstrate use-case of Drive's shared drive without an organizer. */
public class RecoverDrive {

  /**
   * Find all shared drives without an organizer and add one.
   *
   * @param realUser User's email id.
   * @return All shared drives without an organizer.
   * @throws IOException if shared drive not found.
   */
  public static List<Drive> recoverDrives(String realUser)
      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));
    HttpRequestInitializer requestInitializer = new HttpCredentialsAdapter(
        credentials);

    // Build a new authorized API client service.
    com.google.api.services.drive.Drive service =
        new com.google.api.services.drive.Drive.Builder(new NetHttpTransport(),
            GsonFactory.getDefaultInstance(),
            requestInitializer)
            .setApplicationName("Drive samples")
            .build();
    List<Drive> drives = new ArrayList<Drive>();

    // Find all shared drives without an organizer and add one.
    // Note: This example does not capture all cases. Shared drives
    // that have an empty group as the sole organizer, or an
    // organizer outside the organization are not captured. A
    // more exhaustive approach would evaluate each shared drive
    // and the associated permissions and groups to ensure an active
    // organizer is assigned.
    String pageToken = null;
    Permission newOrganizerPermission = new Permission()
        .setType("user")
        .setRole("organizer");

    newOrganizerPermission.setEmailAddress(realUser);


    do {
      DriveList result = service.drives().list()
          .setQ("organizerCount = 0")
          .setFields("nextPageToken, drives(id, name)")
          .setUseDomainAdminAccess(true)
          .setPageToken(pageToken)
          .execute();
      for (Drive drive : result.getDrives()) {
        System.out.printf("Found drive without organizer: %s (%s)\n",
            drive.getName(), drive.getId());
        // Note: For improved efficiency, consider batching
        // permission insert requests
        Permission permissionResult = service.permissions()
            .create(drive.getId(), newOrganizerPermission)
            .setUseDomainAdminAccess(true)
            .setSupportsAllDrives(true)
            .setFields("id")
            .execute();
        System.out.printf("Added organizer permission: %s\n",
            permissionResult.getId());

      }

      drives.addAll(result.getDrives());

      pageToken = result.getNextPageToken();
    } while (pageToken != null);

    return drives;
  }
}

Python

drive/snippets/drive-v3/drive_snippet/recover_drives.py
import google.auth
from googleapiclient.discovery import build
from googleapiclient.errors import HttpError


def recover_drives(real_user):
  """Find all shared drives without an organizer and add one.
  Args:
      real_user:User ID for the new organizer.
  Returns:
      drives object

  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)

    drives = []

    # pylint: disable=maybe-no-member
    page_token = None
    new_organizer_permission = {
        "type": "user",
        "role": "organizer",
        "emailAddress": "user@example.com",
    }
    new_organizer_permission["emailAddress"] = real_user

    while True:
      response = (
          service.drives()
          .list(
              q="organizerCount = 0",
              fields="nextPageToken, drives(id, name)",
              useDomainAdminAccess=True,
              pageToken=page_token,
          )
          .execute()
      )
      for drive in response.get("drives", []):
        print(
            "Found shared drive without organizer: "
            f"{drive.get('title')}, {drive.get('id')}"
        )
        permission = (
            service.permissions()
            .create(
                fileId=drive.get("id"),
                body=new_organizer_permission,
                useDomainAdminAccess=True,
                supportsAllDrives=True,
                fields="id",
            )
            .execute()
        )
        print(f'Added organizer permission: {permission.get("id")}')

      drives.extend(response.get("drives", []))
      page_token = response.get("nextPageToken", None)
      if page_token is None:
        break

  except HttpError as error:
    print(f"An error occurred: {error}")

  return drives


if __name__ == "__main__":
  recover_drives(real_user="gduser1@workspacesamples.dev")

Node.js

drive/snippets/drive_v3/drive_snippets/recover_drives.js
/**
 * Find all shared drives without an organizer and add one.
 * @param{string} userEmail user ID to assign ownership to
 * */
async function recoverDrives(userEmail) {
  // 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});
  const drives = [];
  const newOrganizerPermission = {
    type: 'user',
    role: 'organizer',
    emailAddress: userEmail, // Example: 'user@example.com'
  };

  let pageToken = null;
  try {
    const res = await service.drives.list({
      q: 'organizerCount = 0',
      fields: 'nextPageToken, drives(id, name)',
      useDomainAdminAccess: true,
      pageToken: pageToken,
    });
    Array.prototype.push.apply(drives, res.data.items);
    for (const drive of res.data.drives) {
      console.log(
          'Found shared drive without organizer:',
          drive.name,
          drive.id,
      );
      await service.permissions.create({
        resource: newOrganizerPermission,
        fileId: drive.id,
        useDomainAdminAccess: true,
        supportsAllDrives: true,
        fields: 'id',
      });
    }
    pageToken = res.nextPageToken;
  } catch (err) {
    // TODO(developer) - Handle error
    throw err;
  }
  return drives;
}

PHP

drive/snippets/drive_v3/src/DriveRecoverDrives.php
<?php
use Google\Client;
use Google\Service\Drive;
use Ramsey\Uuid\Uuid;
function recoverDrives()
{
   try {
    $client = new Client();
    $client->useApplicationDefaultCredentials();
    $client->addScope(Drive::DRIVE);
    $driveService = new Drive($client);

    $realUser = readline("Enter user email address: ");

    $drives = array();
    // Find all shared drives without an organizer and add one.
    // Note: This example does not capture all cases. Shared drives
    // that have an empty group as the sole organizer, or an
    // organizer outside the organization are not captured. A
    // more exhaustive approach would evaluate each shared drive
    // and the associated permissions and groups to ensure an active
    // organizer is assigned.
    $pageToken = null;
    $newOrganizerPermission = new Drive\Permission(array(
        'type' => 'user',
        'role' => 'organizer',
        'emailAddress' => 'user@example.com'
    ));
    $newOrganizerPermission['emailAddress'] = $realUser;
    do {
        $response = $driveService->drives->listDrives(array(
            'q' => 'organizerCount = 0',
            'fields' => 'nextPageToken, drives(id, name)',
            'useDomainAdminAccess' => true,
            'pageToken' => $pageToken
        ));
        foreach ($response->drives as $drive) {
            printf("Found shared drive without organizer: %s (%s)\n",
                $drive->name, $drive->id);
            $permission = $driveService->permissions->create($drive->id,
                $newOrganizerPermission,
                array(
                    'fields' => 'id',
                    'useDomainAdminAccess' => true,
                    'supportsAllDrives' => true
                ));
            printf("Added organizer permission: %s\n", $permission->id);
        }
        array_push($drives, $response->drives);
        $pageToken = $response->pageToken;
    } while ($pageToken != null);
    return $drives;
   } catch(Exception $e) {
      echo "Error Message: ".$e;
   }
}

.NET

drive/snippets/drive_v3/DriveV3Snippets/RecoverDrives.cs
using Google.Apis.Auth.OAuth2;
using Google.Apis.Drive.v3;
using Google.Apis.Drive.v3.Data;
using Google.Apis.Services;

namespace DriveV3Snippets
{
    // Class to demonstrate use-case of Drive's shared drive without an organizer.
    public class RecoverDrives
    {
        /// <summary>
        /// Find all shared drives without an organizer and add one.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="realUser">User ID for the new organizer.</param>
        /// <returns>all shared drives without an organizer.</returns>
        public static IList<Drive> DriveRecoverDrives(string realUser)
        {
            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 drives = new List<Drive>();
                // Find all shared drives without an organizer and add one.
                // Note: This example does not capture all cases. Shared drives
                // that have an empty group as the sole organizer, or an
                // organizer outside the organization are not captured. A
                // more exhaustive approach would evaluate each shared drive
                // and the associated permissions and groups to ensure an active
                // organizer is assigned.
                string pageToken = null;
                var newOrganizerPermission = new Permission()
                {
                    Type = "user",
                    Role = "organizer",
                    EmailAddress = realUser
                };

                do
                {
                    var request = service.Drives.List();
                    request.UseDomainAdminAccess = true;
                    request.Q = "organizerCount = 0";
                    request.Fields = "nextPageToken, drives(id, name)";
                    request.PageToken = pageToken;
                    var result = request.Execute();
                    foreach (var drive in result.Drives)
                    {
                        Console.WriteLine(("Found abandoned shared drive: {0} ({1})",
                            drive.Name, drive.Id));
                        // Note: For improved efficiency, consider batching
                        // permission insert requests
                        var permissionRequest = service.Permissions.Create(
                            newOrganizerPermission,
                            drive.Id
                        );
                        permissionRequest.UseDomainAdminAccess = true;
                        permissionRequest.SupportsAllDrives = true;
                        permissionRequest.Fields = "id";
                        var permissionResult = permissionRequest.Execute();
                        Console.WriteLine("Added organizer permission: {0}", permissionResult.Id);
                    }

                    pageToken = result.NextPageToken;
                } while (pageToken != null);

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

Prevent users from downloading, printing, or copying your file

You can limit how users can download, print, and copy files within shared drives.

To determine whether the user can change organizer-applied download restrictions of a shared drive, check the capabilities.canChangeDownloadRestriction boolean field. If capabilities.canChangeDownloadRestriction is set to true, download restrictions can be applied to the shared drive. For more information, see Understand file capabilities.

The drives resource contains a collection of boolean restrictions fields used to indicate whether an action can be performed on a shared drive. Restrictions apply to a shared drive or items inside a shared drive. Restrictions can be set using the drives.update method.

To apply download restrictions to a shared drive, a shared drive manager can set the restrictions.downloadRestriction field of the drives resource using the DownloadRestriction object. Setting the restrictedForReaders boolean field to true declares that both download and copy are restricted for readers. Setting the restrictedForWriters boolean field to true declares that both download and copy are restricted for writers. Note that if the restrictedForWriters field is true, download and copy is also restricted for readers. Similarly, setting restrictedForWriters to true and restrictedForReaders to false is equivalent to setting both restrictedForWriters and restrictedForReaders to true.

Backward compatibility

With the introduction of the DownloadRestriction object, the functionality of the restrictions.copyRequiresWriterPermission boolean field has been updated.

Now, setting restrictions.copyRequiresWriterPermission to true updates the restrictedForReaders boolean field of the DownloadRestriction object to true to declare that both download and copy are restricted for readers.

Setting the copyRequiresWriterPermission field to false updates both the restrictedForWriters and restrictedForReaders fields to false. This means download or copy restriction settings are removed for all users.

Fields that control download, print, and copy features

The following table lists drives resource fields that affect download, print, and copy functionality:

Field Description Version
capabilities.canCopy Whether the current user can copy files in a shared drive. v2 & v3
capabilities.canDownload Whether the current user can download files in a shared drive. v2 & v3
capabilities.canChangeCopyRequiresWriterPermission Whether the current user can change the copyRequiresWriterPermission restriction of a shared drive. v2 & v3
capabilities.canResetDriveRestrictions Whether the current user can reset the shared drive restrictions to defaults. v2 & v3
capabilities.canChangeDownloadRestriction Whether the current user can change the download restriction of a shared drive. v3 only
restrictions.copyRequiresWriterPermission Whether the options to copy, print, or download files inside a shared drive are disabled for readers and commenters. When true, it sets the similarly named field to true for any file inside this shared drive. v2 & v3
restrictions.downloadRestriction The download restrictions applied by shared drive managers. v3 only

Folder limits

Shared drive folders have some storage limits. For information, see Shared drive limits in Google Drive.

Item cap

Each user's shared drive has a limit of 500,000 items, including files, folders, and shortcuts.

When the limit is reached, the shared drive can no longer accept items. To resume receiving files, users must permanently delete items from the shared drive. Note that items in the trash count toward the limit, but permanently-deleted items don't. For more information, see Trash or delete files and folders.

Folder-depth limit

A folder in a shared drive can't contain more than 100 levels of nested folders. This means that a child folder cannot be stored under a folder that's more than 99 levels deep. This limitation only applies to child folders.

Attempts to add more than 100 levels of folders returns a teamDriveHierarchyTooDeep HTTP status code response.