Store application-specific data

    The application data folder is a special hidden folder that your app can use to store application-specific data, such as configuration files. The application data folder is automatically created when you attempt to create a file in it. Use this folder to store any files that the user shouldn't directly interact with. This folder is only accessible by your app and its contents are hidden from the user and from other Google Drive apps.

    The application data folder is deleted when a user uninstalls your app from their My Drive. Users can also delete your app's data folder manually.

    Application data folder scope

    Before you can access the application data folder, you must request access to the https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.appdata non-sensitive scope. For more information about scopes and how to request access to them, refer to Choose Google Drive API scopes . For more information about specific OAuth 2.0 scopes, see OAuth 2.0 Scopes for Google APIs .

    How the application data folder differs from Drive backup folders

    The application data folder is separate from your Drive backup folder.

    The application data folder is a configuration folder that's created per third-party app and each third-party app can store data in it. Only the application that created the data in the appDataFolder can access it. The folder can't be accessed using the Drive user interface (UI).

    Your Drive backup folder is a reserved folder that Drive writes device backups to and it's visible in the Drive UI.

    Constraints on the application data folder

    The following constraints are enforced when working with the application data folder:

    • You can't share files or folders inside the application data folder. Attempting to do so generates a notSupportedForAppDataFolderFiles error with the following error message: "Method not supported for files within the Application Data folder."

    • You can't move files in the appDataFolder between storage locations (spaces). Attempting to do so generates a notSupportedForAppDataFolderFiles error with the following error message: "Method not supported for files within the Application Data folder." For more information, see File organization .

    • You can't trash files or folders inside the application data folder. Attempting to do so generates a notSupportedForAppDataFolderFiles error with the following error message: "Files within the Application Data folder cannot be trashed."

    Create a file in the application data folder

    To create a file in the application data folder, specify appDataFolder in the parents property of the file and use the files.create method to create the file in the folder.

    The following code sample shows how to insert a file into a folder using a client library and a curl command.

    Java

    drive/snippets/drive_v3/src/main/java/UploadAppData.java
     import 
  
 com.google.api.client.googleapis.json.GoogleJsonResponseException 
 ; 
 import 
  
 com.google.api.client.http.FileContent 
 ; 
 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.Drive 
 ; 
 import 
  
 com.google.api.services.drive.DriveScopes 
 ; 
 import 
  
 com.google.api.services.drive.model.File 
 ; 
 import 
  
 com.google.auth.http.HttpCredentialsAdapter 
 ; 
 import 
  
 com.google.auth.oauth2.GoogleCredentials 
 ; 
 import 
  
 java.io.IOException 
 ; 
 import 
  
 java.util.Arrays 
 ; 
 import 
  
 java.util.Collections 
 ; 
 /** 
 * Class to demonstrate use-case of create file in the application data folder. 
 */ 
 public 
  
 class 
 UploadAppData 
  
 { 
  
 /** 
 * Creates a file in the application data folder. 
 * 
 * @return Created file's Id. 
 */ 
  
 public 
  
 static 
  
 String 
  
 uploadAppData 
 () 
  
 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 
  
 = 
  
 null 
 ; 
  
 try 
  
 { 
  
 credentials 
  
 = 
  
 GoogleCredentials 
 . 
 getApplicationDefault 
 () 
  
 . 
 createScoped 
 ( 
 Arrays 
 . 
 asList 
 ( 
 DriveScopes 
 . 
 DRIVE_APPDATA 
 )); 
  
 } 
  
 catch 
  
 ( 
 IOException 
  
 e 
 ) 
  
 { 
  
 e 
 . 
 printStackTrace 
 (); 
  
 } 
  
 HttpRequestInitializer 
  
 requestInitializer 
  
 = 
  
 new 
  
 HttpCredentialsAdapter 
 ( 
  
 credentials 
 ); 
  
 // Build a new authorized API client service. 
  
 Drive 
  
 service 
  
 = 
  
 new 
  
 Drive 
 . 
 Builder 
 ( 
 new 
  
 NetHttpTransport 
 (), 
  
 GsonFactory 
 . 
 getDefaultInstance 
 (), 
  
 requestInitializer 
 ) 
  
 . 
 setApplicationName 
 ( 
 "Drive samples" 
 ) 
  
 . 
 build 
 (); 
  
 try 
  
 { 
  
 // File's metadata. 
  
 File 
  
 fileMetadata 
  
 = 
  
 new 
  
 File 
 (); 
  
 fileMetadata 
 . 
 setName 
 ( 
 "config.json" 
 ); 
  
 fileMetadata 
 . 
 setParents 
 ( 
 Collections 
 . 
 singletonList 
 ( 
 "appDataFolder" 
 )); 
  
 java 
 . 
 io 
 . 
 File 
  
 filePath 
  
 = 
  
 new 
  
 java 
 . 
 io 
 . 
 File 
 ( 
 "files/config.json" 
 ); 
  
 FileContent 
  
 mediaContent 
  
 = 
  
 new 
  
 FileContent 
 ( 
 "application/json" 
 , 
  
 filePath 
 ); 
  
 File 
  
 file 
  
 = 
  
 service 
 . 
 files 
 (). 
 create 
 ( 
 fileMetadata 
 , 
  
 mediaContent 
 ) 
  
 . 
 setFields 
 ( 
 "id" 
 ) 
  
 . 
 execute 
 (); 
  
 System 
 . 
 out 
 . 
 println 
 ( 
 "File ID: " 
  
 + 
  
 file 
 . 
 getId 
 ()); 
  
 return 
  
 file 
 . 
 getId 
 (); 
  
 } 
  
 catch 
  
 ( 
 GoogleJsonResponseException 
  
 e 
 ) 
  
 { 
  
 // TODO(developer) - handle error appropriately 
  
 System 
 . 
 err 
 . 
 println 
 ( 
 "Unable to create file: " 
  
 + 
  
 e 
 . 
 getDetails 
 ()); 
  
 throw 
  
 e 
 ; 
  
 } 
  
 } 
 }

    Python

    drive/snippets/drive-v3/app_data_snippet/upload_appdata.py
     import 
  
 google.auth 
 from 
  
 googleapiclient.discovery 
  
 import 
 build 
 from 
  
 googleapiclient.errors 
  
 import 
 HttpError 
 from 
  
 googleapiclient.http 
  
 import 
 MediaFileUpload 
 def 
  
 upload_appdata 
 (): 
  
 """Insert a file in the application data folder and prints file Id. 
 Returns : ID's of the inserted files 
 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 
 : 
 # call drive api client 
 service 
 = 
 build 
 ( 
 "drive" 
 , 
 "v3" 
 , 
 credentials 
 = 
 creds 
 ) 
 # pylint: disable=maybe-no-member 
 file_metadata 
 = 
 { 
 "name" 
 : 
 "abc.txt" 
 , 
 "parents" 
 : 
 [ 
 "appDataFolder" 
 ]} 
 media 
 = 
 MediaFileUpload 
 ( 
 "abc.txt" 
 , 
 mimetype 
 = 
 "text/txt" 
 , 
 resumable 
 = 
 True 
 ) 
 file 
 = 
 ( 
 service 
 . 
 files 
 () 
 . 
 create 
 ( 
 body 
 = 
 file_metadata 
 , 
 media_body 
 = 
 media 
 , 
 fields 
 = 
 "id" 
 ) 
 . 
 execute 
 () 
 ) 
 print 
 ( 
 f 
 'File ID: 
 { 
 file 
 . 
 get 
 ( 
 "id" 
 ) 
 } 
 ' 
 ) 
 except 
 HttpError 
 as 
 error 
 : 
 print 
 ( 
 f 
 "An error occurred: 
 { 
 error 
 } 
 " 
 ) 
 file 
 = 
 None 
 return 
 file 
 . 
 get 
 ( 
 "id" 
 ) 
 if 
 __name__ 
 == 
 "__main__" 
 : 
 upload_appdata 
 ()

    Node.js

    drive/snippets/drive_v3/appdata_snippets/upload_appdata.js
     /** 
 * Insert a file in the application data folder and prints file Id 
 * */ 
 async 
  
 function 
  
 uploadAppdata 
 () 
  
 { 
  
 // 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 
  
 fs 
  
 = 
  
 require 
 ( 
 'fs' 
 ); 
  
 const 
  
 auth 
  
 = 
  
 new 
  
 GoogleAuth 
 ({ 
  
 scopes 
 : 
  
 'https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.appdata' 
 , 
  
 }); 
  
 const 
  
 service 
  
 = 
  
 google 
 . 
 drive 
 ({ 
 version 
 : 
  
 'v3' 
 , 
  
 auth 
 }); 
  
 const 
  
 fileMetadata 
  
 = 
  
 { 
  
 name 
 : 
  
 'config.json' 
 , 
  
 parents 
 : 
  
 [ 
 'appDataFolder' 
 ], 
  
 }; 
  
 const 
  
 media 
  
 = 
  
 { 
  
 mimeType 
 : 
  
 'application/json' 
 , 
  
 body 
 : 
  
 fs 
 . 
 createReadStream 
 ( 
 'files/config.json' 
 ), 
  
 }; 
  
 try 
  
 { 
  
 const 
  
 file 
  
 = 
  
 await 
  
 service 
 . 
 files 
 . 
 create 
 ({ 
  
 requestBody 
 : 
  
 fileMetadata 
 , 
  
 media 
 : 
  
 media 
 , 
  
 fields 
 : 
  
 'id' 
 , 
  
 }); 
  
 console 
 . 
 log 
 ( 
 'File Id:' 
 , 
  
 file 
 . 
 data 
 . 
 id 
 ); 
  
 return 
  
 file 
 . 
 data 
 . 
 id 
 ; 
  
 } 
  
 catch 
  
 ( 
 err 
 ) 
  
 { 
  
 // TODO(developer) - Handle error 
  
 throw 
  
 err 
 ; 
  
 } 
 }

    PHP

    drive/snippets/drive_v3/src/DriveUploadAppData.php
    < ?php 
 use Google\Client; 
 use Google\Service\Drive; 
 function uploadAppData() 
 { 
 try { 
 $client = new Client(); 
 $client->useApplicationDefaultCredentials(); 
 $client->addScope(Drive::DRIVE); 
 $client->addScope(Drive::DRIVE_APPDATA); 
 $driveService = new Drive($client); 
 $fileMetadata = new Drive\DriveFile(array( 
 'name' => 'config.json', 
 'parents' => array('appDataFolder') 
 )); 
 $content = file_get_contents('../files/config.json'); 
 $file = $driveService->files->create($fileMetadata, array( 
 'data' => $content, 
 'mimeType' => 'application/json', 
 'uploadType' => 'multipart', 
 'fields' => 'id')); 
 printf("File ID: %s\n", $file->id); 
 return $file->id; 
 } catch(Exception $e) { 
 echo "Error Message: ".$e; 
 } 
 }

    .NET

    drive/snippets/drive_v3/DriveV3Snippets/UploadAppData.cs
     using 
  
 Google.Apis.Auth.OAuth2 
 ; 
 using 
  
 Google.Apis.Drive.v3 
 ; 
 using 
  
 Google.Apis.Services 
 ; 
 namespace 
  
 DriveV3Snippets 
 { 
  
 // Class of demonstrate the use of Drive upload app data. 
  
 public 
  
 class 
  
 UploadAppData 
  
 { 
  
 /// <summary> 
  
 /// Insert a file in the application data folder and prints file Id. 
  
 /// </summary> 
  
 /// <param name="filePath">File path to upload.</param> 
  
 /// <returns>ID's of the inserted files, null otherwise.</returns> 
  
 public 
  
 static 
  
 string 
  
 DriveUploadAppData 
 ( 
 string 
  
 filePath 
 ) 
  
 { 
  
 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 
 . 
 DriveAppdata 
 ); 
  
 // Create Drive API service. 
  
 var 
  
 service 
  
 = 
  
 new 
  
 DriveService 
 ( 
 new 
  
 BaseClientService 
 . 
 Initializer 
  
 { 
  
 HttpClientInitializer 
  
 = 
  
 credential 
 , 
  
 ApplicationName 
  
 = 
  
 "Drive API Snippets" 
  
 }); 
  
 var 
  
 fileMetadata 
  
 = 
  
 new 
  
 Google 
 . 
 Apis 
 . 
 Drive 
 . 
 v3 
 . 
 Data 
 . 
 File 
 () 
  
 { 
  
 Name 
  
 = 
  
 "config.json" 
 , 
  
 Parents 
  
 = 
  
 new 
  
 List<string> 
 () 
  
 { 
  
 "appDataFolder" 
  
 } 
  
 }; 
  
 FilesResource 
 . 
 CreateMediaUpload 
  
 request 
 ; 
  
 using 
  
 ( 
 var 
  
 stream 
  
 = 
  
 new 
  
 FileStream 
 ( 
 filePath 
 , 
  
 FileMode 
 . 
 Open 
 )) 
  
 { 
  
 request 
  
 = 
  
 service 
 . 
 Files 
 . 
 Create 
 ( 
  
 fileMetadata 
 , 
  
 stream 
 , 
  
 "application/json" 
 ); 
  
 request 
 . 
 Fields 
  
 = 
  
 "id" 
 ; 
  
 request 
 . 
 Upload 
 (); 
  
 } 
  
 var 
  
 file 
  
 = 
  
 request 
 . 
 ResponseBody 
 ; 
  
 // Prints the file id. 
  
 Console 
 . 
 WriteLine 
 ( 
 "File ID: " 
  
 + 
  
 file 
 . 
 Id 
 ); 
  
 return 
  
 file 
 . 
 Id 
 ; 
  
 } 
  
 catch 
  
 ( 
 Exception 
  
 e 
 ) 
  
 { 
  
 // TODO(developer) - handle error appropriately 
  
 if 
  
 ( 
 e 
  
 is 
  
 AggregateException 
 ) 
  
 { 
  
 Console 
 . 
 WriteLine 
 ( 
 "Credential Not found" 
 ); 
  
 } 
  
 else 
  
 { 
  
 throw 
 ; 
  
 } 
  
 } 
  
 return 
  
 null 
 ; 
  
 } 
  
 } 
 }

    curl

    Request:

     curl  
--request  
POST  
 \ 
 'https://content.googleapis.com/drive/v3/files' 
  
 \ 
  
-H  
 'authorization: Bearer ACCESS_TOKEN 
' 
  
 \ 
  
-H  
 'content-type: application/json' 
  
 \ 
  
-H  
 'x-origin: https://explorer.apis.google.com' 
  
 \ 
  
--data-raw  
 '{"name": "config.json", "parents":["appDataFolder"]}'

    Replace ACCESS_TOKEN with your app's OAuth 2.0 token.

    Response:

      { 
  
 "kind" 
 : 
  
 "drive#file" 
 , 
  
 "id" 
 : 
  
  FILE_ID 
 
 , 
  
 "name" 
 : 
  
 "config.json" 
 , 
  
 "mimeType" 
 : 
  
 "application/json" 
 }

    For further information on creating files in folders, refer to Create and populate folders .

    Search for files in the application data folder

    To search for files in the application data folder, set the spaces field to appDataFolder and use the files.list method.

    The following code sample shows how to search for files in the application data folder using a client library and a curl command.

    Java

    drive/snippets/drive_v3/src/main/java/ListAppData.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.Drive 
 ; 
 import 
  
 com.google.api.services.drive.DriveScopes 
 ; 
 import 
  
 com.google.api.services.drive.model.File 
 ; 
 import 
  
 com.google.api.services.drive.model.FileList 
 ; 
 import 
  
 com.google.auth.http.HttpCredentialsAdapter 
 ; 
 import 
  
 com.google.auth.oauth2.GoogleCredentials 
 ; 
 import 
  
 java.io.IOException 
 ; 
 import 
  
 java.util.Arrays 
 ; 
 /** 
 * Class to demonstrate use-case of list 10 files in the application data folder. 
 */ 
 public 
  
 class 
 ListAppData 
  
 { 
  
 /** 
 * list down files in the application data folder. 
 * 
 * @return list of 10 files. 
 */ 
  
 public 
  
 static 
  
 FileList 
  
 listAppData 
 () 
  
 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 
  
 = 
  
 null 
 ; 
  
 try 
  
 { 
  
 credentials 
  
 = 
  
 GoogleCredentials 
 . 
 getApplicationDefault 
 () 
  
 . 
 createScoped 
 ( 
 Arrays 
 . 
 asList 
 ( 
 DriveScopes 
 . 
 DRIVE_APPDATA 
 )); 
  
 } 
  
 catch 
  
 ( 
 IOException 
  
 e 
 ) 
  
 { 
  
 e 
 . 
 printStackTrace 
 (); 
  
 } 
  
 HttpRequestInitializer 
  
 requestInitializer 
  
 = 
  
 new 
  
 HttpCredentialsAdapter 
 ( 
  
 credentials 
 ); 
  
 // Build a new authorized API client service. 
  
 Drive 
  
 service 
  
 = 
  
 new 
  
 Drive 
 . 
 Builder 
 ( 
 new 
  
 NetHttpTransport 
 (), 
  
 GsonFactory 
 . 
 getDefaultInstance 
 (), 
  
 requestInitializer 
 ) 
  
 . 
 setApplicationName 
 ( 
 "Drive samples" 
 ) 
  
 . 
 build 
 (); 
  
 try 
  
 { 
  
 FileList 
  
 files 
  
 = 
  
 service 
 . 
 files 
 (). 
 list 
 () 
  
 . 
 setSpaces 
 ( 
 "appDataFolder" 
 ) 
  
 . 
 setFields 
 ( 
 "nextPageToken, files(id, name)" 
 ) 
  
 . 
 setPageSize 
 ( 
 10 
 ) 
  
 . 
 execute 
 (); 
  
 for 
  
 ( 
 File 
  
 file 
  
 : 
  
 files 
 . 
 getFiles 
 ()) 
  
 { 
  
 System 
 . 
 out 
 . 
 printf 
 ( 
 "Found file: %s (%s)\n" 
 , 
  
 file 
 . 
 getName 
 (), 
  
 file 
 . 
 getId 
 ()); 
  
 } 
  
 return 
  
 files 
 ; 
  
 } 
  
 catch 
  
 ( 
 GoogleJsonResponseException 
  
 e 
 ) 
  
 { 
  
 // TODO(developer) - handle error appropriately 
  
 System 
 . 
 err 
 . 
 println 
 ( 
 "Unable to list files: " 
  
 + 
  
 e 
 . 
 getDetails 
 ()); 
  
 throw 
  
 e 
 ; 
  
 } 
  
 } 
 }

    Python

    drive/snippets/drive-v3/app_data_snippet/list_appdata.py
     import 
  
 google.auth 
 from 
  
 googleapiclient.discovery 
  
 import 
 build 
 from 
  
 googleapiclient.errors 
  
 import 
 HttpError 
 def 
  
 list_appdata 
 (): 
  
 """List all files inserted in the application data folder 
 prints file titles with Ids. 
 Returns : List of items 
 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 
 : 
 # call drive api client 
 service 
 = 
 build 
 ( 
 "drive" 
 , 
 "v3" 
 , 
 credentials 
 = 
 creds 
 ) 
 # pylint: disable=maybe-no-member 
 response 
 = 
 ( 
 service 
 . 
 files 
 () 
 . 
 list 
 ( 
 spaces 
 = 
 "appDataFolder" 
 , 
 fields 
 = 
 "nextPageToken, files(id, name)" 
 , 
 pageSize 
 = 
 10 
 , 
 ) 
 . 
 execute 
 () 
 ) 
 for 
 file 
 in 
 response 
 . 
 get 
 ( 
 "files" 
 , 
 []): 
 # Process change 
 print 
 ( 
 f 
 'Found file: 
 { 
 file 
 . 
 get 
 ( 
 "name" 
 ) 
 } 
 , 
 { 
 file 
 . 
 get 
 ( 
 "id" 
 ) 
 } 
 ' 
 ) 
 except 
 HttpError 
 as 
 error 
 : 
 print 
 ( 
 f 
 "An error occurred: 
 { 
 error 
 } 
 " 
 ) 
 response 
 = 
 None 
 return 
 response 
 . 
 get 
 ( 
 "files" 
 ) 
 if 
 __name__ 
 == 
 "__main__" 
 : 
 list_appdata 
 ()

    Node.js

    drive/snippets/drive_v3/appdata_snippets/list_appdata.js
     /** 
 * Copyright 2022 Google LLC 
 * 
 * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); 
 * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License. 
 * You may obtain a copy of the License at 
 * 
 *     https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0 
 * 
 * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software 
 * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, 
 * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. 
 * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and 
 * limitations under the License. 
 */ 
 /** 
 * List all files inserted in the application data folder 
 * */ 
 async 
  
 function 
  
 listAppdata 
 () 
  
 { 
  
 // 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.appdata' 
 , 
  
 }); 
  
 const 
  
 service 
  
 = 
  
 google 
 . 
 drive 
 ({ 
 version 
 : 
  
 'v3' 
 , 
  
 auth 
 }); 
  
 try 
  
 { 
  
 const 
  
 res 
  
 = 
  
 await 
  
 service 
 . 
 files 
 . 
 list 
 ({ 
  
 spaces 
 : 
  
 'appDataFolder' 
 , 
  
 fields 
 : 
  
 'nextPageToken, files(id, name)' 
 , 
  
 pageSize 
 : 
  
 100 
 , 
  
 }); 
  
 res 
 . 
 data 
 . 
 files 
 . 
 forEach 
 ( 
 function 
 ( 
 file 
 ) 
  
 { 
  
 console 
 . 
 log 
 ( 
 'Found file:' 
 , 
  
 file 
 . 
 name 
 , 
  
 file 
 . 
 id 
 ); 
  
 }); 
  
 return 
  
 res 
 . 
 data 
 . 
 files 
 ; 
  
 } 
  
 catch 
  
 ( 
 err 
 ) 
  
 { 
  
 // TODO(developer) - Handle error 
  
 throw 
  
 err 
 ; 
  
 } 
 } 
 module 
 . 
 exports 
  
 = 
  
 listAppdata 
 ;

    PHP

    drive/snippets/drive_v3/src/DriveListAppData.php
    < ?php 
 use Google\Client; 
 use Google\Service\Drive; 
 function listAppData() 
 { 
 try { 
 $client = new Client(); 
 $client->useApplicationDefaultCredentials(); 
 $client->addScope(Drive::DRIVE); 
 $driveService = new Drive($client); 
 $response = $driveService->files->listFiles(array( 
 'spaces' => 'appDataFolder', 
 'fields' => 'nextPageToken, files(id, name)', 
 'pageSize' => 10 
 )); 
 foreach ($response->files as $file) { 
 printf("Found file: %s (%s)", $file->name, $file->id); 
 } 
 return $response->files; 
 }catch(Exception $e) { 
 echo "Error Message: ".$e; 
 } 
 }

    .NET

    drive/snippets/drive_v3/DriveV3Snippets/ListAppData.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 list files in the application data folder. 
  
 public 
  
 class 
  
 ListAppData 
  
 { 
  
 /// <summary> 
  
 /// List down files in the application data folder. 
  
 /// </summary> 
  
 /// <returns>list of 10 files, null otherwise.</returns> 
  
 public 
  
 static 
  
 FileList 
  
 DriveListAppData 
 () 
  
 { 
  
 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 
 . 
 DriveAppdata 
 ); 
  
 // Create Drive API service. 
  
 var 
  
 service 
  
 = 
  
 new 
  
 DriveService 
 ( 
 new 
  
 BaseClientService 
 . 
 Initializer 
  
 { 
  
 HttpClientInitializer 
  
 = 
  
 credential 
 , 
  
 ApplicationName 
  
 = 
  
 "Drive API Snippets" 
  
 }); 
  
 var 
  
 request 
  
 = 
  
 service 
 . 
 Files 
 . 
 List 
 (); 
  
 request 
 . 
 Spaces 
  
 = 
  
 "appDataFolder" 
 ; 
  
 request 
 . 
 Fields 
  
 = 
  
 "nextPageToken, files(id, name)" 
 ; 
  
 request 
 . 
 PageSize 
  
 = 
  
 10 
 ; 
  
 var 
  
 result 
  
 = 
  
 request 
 . 
 Execute 
 (); 
  
 foreach 
  
 ( 
 var 
  
 file 
  
 in 
  
 result 
 . 
 Files 
 ) 
  
 { 
  
 // Prints the list of 10 file names. 
  
 Console 
 . 
 WriteLine 
 ( 
 "Found file: {0} ({1})" 
 , 
  
 file 
 . 
 Name 
 , 
  
 file 
 . 
 Id 
 ); 
  
 } 
  
 return 
  
 result 
 ; 
  
 } 
  
 catch 
  
 ( 
 Exception 
  
 e 
 ) 
  
 { 
  
 // TODO(developer) - handle error appropriately 
  
 if 
  
 ( 
 e 
  
 is 
  
 AggregateException 
 ) 
  
 { 
  
 Console 
 . 
 WriteLine 
 ( 
 "Credential Not found" 
 ); 
  
 } 
  
 else 
  
 { 
  
 throw 
 ; 
  
 } 
  
 } 
  
 return 
  
 null 
 ; 
  
 } 
  
 } 
 }

    curl

    Request:

     curl  
 \ 
  
-X  
GET  
 \ 
  
-H  
 "Authorization: Bearer ACCESS_TOKEN 
" 
  
 \ 
  
 "https://www.googleapis.com/drive/v3/files?spaces=appDataFolder&fields=files(id,name,mimeType,size,modifiedTime)"

    Replace ACCESS_TOKEN with your app's OAuth 2.0 token.

    Response:

      { 
  
 "files" 
 : 
  
 [ 
  
 { 
  
 "mimeType" 
 : 
  
 "application/json" 
 , 
  
 "size" 
 : 
  
 "256" 
 , 
  
 "id" 
 : 
  
  FILE_ID 
 
 , 
  
 "name" 
 : 
  
 "config.json" 
 , 
  
 "modifiedTime" 
 : 
  
 "2025-04-03T23:40:05.860Z" 
  
 }, 
  
 { 
  
 "mimeType" 
 : 
  
 "text/plain" 
 , 
  
 "size" 
 : 
  
 "128" 
 , 
  
 "id" 
 : 
  
  FILE_ID 
 
 , 
  
 "name" 
 : 
  
 "user_settings.txt" 
 , 
  
 "modifiedTime" 
 : 
  
 "2025-04-02T17:52:29.020Z" 
  
 } 
  
 ] 
 }

    Download files from the application data folder

    To download a file from the application data folder, use the files.get method with the alt=media URL parameter to retrieve the file contents in the response body. For more information, and to view code samples, go to Download blob file content .

    The following code sample shows how to download files in the application data folder using a curl command. The response body will vary depending on what's saved.

    curl

    Request:

     curl  
 \ 
  
-X  
GET  
 \ 
  
-H  
 "Authorization: Bearer ACCESS_TOKEN 
" 
  
 \ 
  
 "https://www.googleapis.com/drive/v3/files/ FILE_ID 
?alt=media"

    Replace the following:

    • ACCESS_TOKEN : Your app's OAuth 2.0 token.
    • FILE_ID : The ID of the file you want to download.
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