This guide explains how to create and manage files in Google Drive.
Create file
To create a file in Drive 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.
Manage thumbnail images
Thumbnails help users identify Drive files. Drive can automatically generate thumbnails for common file types or you can provide a thumbnail image generated by your app. For more information, see Upload thumbnails.
Copy an existing file
To copy a file, and apply any requested updates, use the
files.copy
method. To find the fileId
to
copy, use the files.list
method.
Note that you need to use an appropriate Drive API scope to authorize the call. For more information on Drive scopes, see Choose Google Drive API scopes.
Limits and considerations
As you prepare to copy files, take note of these limits and considerations:
Permissions:
- The
copyRequiresWriterPermission
file restriction determines who can copy the file. For more information, see Prevent users from downloading, printing, or copying your file. - The
capabilities/canCopy
field of afiles
resource determines whether the user can copy a file. For more information, see Capabilities. - The user that created the copy owns the copied file. No other sharing settings from the source file are replicated. If the copy is created in a shared folder, it inherits the permissions of that folder.
- A copied file's ownership might change and the copy might not inherit the original file's sharing settings. These settings might need to be reset.
- The
File management:
- Some files, like third-party shortcuts, can never be copied.
- You can only copy a file into one parent folder. Specifying multiple
parents isn't supported. If the
parents
field isn't specified, the file inherits any discoverable parents from the source file. - Even though a folder is a type of file, you can't copy a folder.
Instead, create a destination folder and set the
parents
field of the existing files to the destination folder. You can then delete the original source folder. - Unless a new filename is specified, the
files.copy
method produces a file with the same name as the original. - Excessive use of
files.copy
can lead to exceeding your Drive API quota limits. For more information, see Usage limits.
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.
To work with file metadata, see Manage file metadata.
To delete a file, see Trash or delete files and folders.