Google Drive n8n integrationAutomate Google Drive with n8n.

Copying leaves the original untouched and returns a second file, with its own ID, ready to be edited or shared without risk.

• File: the file to copy, picked from the list, by URL, or by ID with an expression such as {{ $json.id }}.
• Parent Drive and Parent Folder: the drive and the folder where the copy lands, both required.
• File Name: left empty, Drive names the copy “Copy of” followed by the original file name.

Text produced upstream, a summary, a CSV payload, a transcript, becomes a real file in Drive without ever touching a local disk.

• File Content: the text the file is built from.
• File Name: left empty, the file is called Untitled.
• Parent Drive and Parent Folder: the destination, chosen from the list, by URL or by ID.
• Convert to Google Document (Options): creates a Google Document instead of the default .txt, and needs the Google Docs API enabled in the Google API Console.

Deleting closes the life of a file in the drive. A single option decides the rest: bin, or immediate removal.

• File: the target file. Its ID sits in the shareable link, the one Share > Copy link gives you, between /d/ and /edit.
• Delete Permanently: on, the file goes straight away; off, it moves to the trash.

Pulling the bytes into the run is what makes a file usable by the next node: an OCR step, a mail attachment, an upload somewhere else.

• File: the file to download, selected from the list, by URL or by ID.
• Put Output File in Field: the name of the binary field the following nodes will read, data for instance.
• File Name: the name carried by the output file, data.pdf for instance.

A move changes the parent folder without creating a duplicate. The operation asks for nothing beyond the file and its destination.

• File: the file to move.
• Parent Drive: the drive the file is moved to.
• Parent Folder: the folder that receives it.

Sharing adds a permission to a file. That is how a client, a colleague or an entire domain gets access without anyone opening the Drive interface.

• Permissions: the permission being added.
• Role: Reader, Commenter, Writer, File Organizer, Organizer or Owner.
• Type: User and Group need an Email Address, Domain needs a Domain, Anyone opens it to everybody, and Allow File Discovery decides whether search can surface it.
• Send Notification Email and Email Message: the notification mail and the plain text message it carries.

An update rewrites the file in place: new content, new name, new metadata, and the ID stays the same for everything already pointing at it.

• File to Update: the file being rewritten.
• Change File Content and Input Data Field Name: send new binary data, taken from the field listed in the Binary tab of the Input panel.
• New Updated File Name: left empty, the name does not change.
• Move to Trash (Options): only the owner of a file may trash it.

Any binary item already in the run, a generated PDF, a fetched image, a mail attachment, reaches the drive through this operation.

• Input Data Field Name: required, the binary field carrying the file.
• Parent Drive and Parent Folder: both required, the drive and the folder that receive the upload.
• File Name: left empty, the original file name is kept.
• Simplify Output (Options): returns a lighter response instead of every field.

Listing what a drive holds goes through this operation, either by name or with the Google query string syntax.

• Search Method: Search File/Folder Name also returns partial matches, Advanced Search takes a query string.
• Return All and Limit: Return All chains the API pages, otherwise Limit caps the number of items.
• Filter: Drive, Folder (direct children only), What to Search for Files, Folders or both, File Types by MIME type, Include Trashed Items, and Fields.

A folder created from a workflow gives each client, project or month its own place, named by an expression rather than by hand.

• Parent Drive and Parent Folder: both required, the drive and the parent folder of the new one.
• Folder Name: left empty, the folder is called Untitled.
• Folder Color (Options): an RGB hex string; an unsupported color falls back to the closest one in the palette.

Removing a folder takes away the container, with the same choice as for a file: trash, or gone for good.

• Folder: the folder to delete, picked from the list, by URL or by ID.
• Delete Permanently (Options): on, the folder disappears immediately; off, it lands in the trash.

Setting permissions on the folder instead of on each file is the practical way to open a whole space at once.

• Folder: the folder being shared.
• Permissions: Role and Type, exactly as for a file.
• Transfer Ownership (Options): hands ownership to the chosen user and downgrades the current owner to writer; Move To New Owners Root only applies when the item is not in a shared drive.

Opening a shared drive from a workflow comes down to one field, its name, and to options that fix how it behaves from day one.

• Name: the name of the shared drive being created.
• Hidden (Options): the drive stays out of the default view.
• Color RGB, Restrictions and Capabilities (Options): the color as an RGB hex string, and the collections that frame what the drive allows.

No option at all on this one. A single field points at the shared drive, and it is permanently gone the moment the node runs, which is exactly why it deserves a guard upstream.

• Shared Drive: the drive to delete, chosen from the list, by URL or by ID, for instance {{ $json.id }}.

Reading one shared drive returns its record, which is what a workflow needs before deciding whether to write into it.

• Shared Drive: the drive to read.
• Use Domain Admin Access (Options): issues the request as a domain administrator, and access is granted when the requester administers the domain the shared drive belongs to.

The inventory operation: it returns the shared drives the credential can see, all of them or only the first ones.

• Return All and Limit: every shared drive, or a capped number of them.
• Query (Options): a query string that narrows the search among shared drives.
• Use Domain Admin Access (Options): runs the listing with domain administrator rights.

Renaming or recoloring a shared drive after the fact goes through Update Fields, which only sends what you fill in.

• Shared Drive: the drive being updated.
• Name: the updated name of the shared drive.
• Color RGB and Restrictions: the new color as an RGB hex string, and the collection of restrictions.