Method: files.insert

Inserts a new file.

This method supports an /upload URI and accepts uploaded media with the following characteristics:

  • Maximum file size: 5,120 GB
  • Accepted Media MIME types:*/*

Note: Specify a valid MIME type, rather than the literal */* value. The literal */* is only used to indicate that any valid MIME type can be uploaded.

For more information on uploading files, see Upload file data.

Apps creating shortcuts with files.insert must specify the MIME type application/vnd.google-apps.shortcut.

Apps should specify a file extension in the title property when inserting files with the API. For example, an operation to insert a JPEG file should specify something like "title": "cat.jpg" in the metadata.

Subsequent GET requests include the read-only fileExtension property populated with the extension originally specified in the title property. When a Google Drive user requests to download a file, or when the file is downloaded through the sync client, Drive builds a full filename (with extension) based on the title. In cases where the extension is missing, Drive attempts to determine the extension based on the file's MIME type.

HTTP request

  • Upload URI, for media upload requests:
    POST https://www.googleapis.com/upload/drive/v2/files
  • Metadata URI, for metadata-only requests:
    POST https://www.googleapis.com/drive/v2/files

The URL uses gRPC Transcoding syntax.

Query parameters

Parameters
uploadType

string

The type of upload request to the /upload URI. If you are uploading data with an /upload URI, this field is required. If you are creating a metadata-only file, this field is not required. Additionally, this field is not shown in the "Try this method" widget because the widget doesn't support data uploads.

Acceptable values are:

  • media - Simple upload. Upload the media only, without any metadata.
  • multipart - Multipart upload. Upload both the media and its metadata, in a single request.
  • resumable - Resumable upload. Upload the file in a resumable fashion, using a series of at least two requests where the first request includes the metadata.
convert

boolean

Whether to convert this file to the corresponding Docs Editors format.
enforceSingleParent
(deprecated)

boolean

Deprecated: Creating files in multiple folders is no longer supported.
ocr

boolean

Whether to attempt OCR on .jpg, .png, .gif, or .pdf uploads.
ocrLanguage

string

If ocr is true, hints at the language to use. Valid values are BCP 47 codes.
pinned

boolean

Whether to pin the head revision of the uploaded file. A file can have a maximum of 200 pinned revisions.
supportsAllDrives

boolean

Whether the requesting application supports both My Drives and shared drives.
supportsTeamDrives
(deprecated)

boolean

Deprecated: Use supportsAllDrives instead.
timedTextLanguage

string

The language of the timed text.
timedTextTrackName

string

The timed text track name.
useContentAsIndexableText

boolean

Whether to use the content as indexable text.
visibility

enum (Visibility)

The visibility of the new file. This parameter is only relevant when convert=false.
includePermissionsForView

string

Specifies which additional view's permissions to include in the response. Only published is supported.
includeLabels

string

A comma-separated list of IDs of labels to include in the labelInfo part of the response.

Request body

The request body contains an instance of File.

Response body

If successful, the response body contains an instance of File.

Authorization scopes

Requires one of the following OAuth scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/docs
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.appdata
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.apps.readonly
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.file

Some scopes are restricted and require a security assessment for your app to use them. For more information, see the Authorization guide.