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Change the default storage class of a bucket

This page shows you how to change the default storage class for a bucket . When you upload an object to the bucket, if you don't specify a storage class for the object, the object is assigned the bucket's default storage class. To learn more about storage classes, see Storage Classes .

Required roles

In order to get the required permissions for changing a bucket's storage class, ask your administrator to grant you the Storage Admin ( roles/storage.admin ) IAM role on the bucket.

This predefined role contains the permissions required to change a bucket's storage class. To see the exact permissions that are required, expand the Required permissionssection:

Required permissions

storage.buckets.get
- This permission is only required if you plan on using the Google Cloud console to perform the instructions on this page.
storage.buckets.list
- This permission is only required if you plan on using the Google Cloud console to perform the instructions on this page.
storage.buckets.update

You might also be able to get these permissions with custom roles .

For instructions on granting roles on buckets, see Use IAM with buckets .

Change the default storage class of a bucket

Console

In the Google Cloud console, go to the Cloud Storage Buckets page.

Go to Buckets
In the list of buckets, click the name of the bucket whose storage class you want to change.
In the Bucket detailspage, click the Configurationtab.
Click the Editicon ( ) for Default storage class.
In the overlay window, select the new default storage class you would like for your bucket.
Click Save.

To learn how to get detailed error information about failed Cloud Storage operations in the Google Cloud console, see Troubleshooting .

Command line

Use the gcloud storage buckets update command with the --default-storage-class flag:

gcloud storage buckets update gs:// BUCKET_NAME 
--default-storage-class= STORAGE_CLASS

Where:

BUCKET_NAME is the name of the relevant bucket. For example, my-bucket .
STORAGE_CLASS is the new storage class you want for your bucket. For example, nearline .

The response looks like the following example:

Setting default storage class to "nearline" for bucket gs://my-bucket

Client libraries

C++

For more information, see the Cloud Storage C++ API reference documentation .

To authenticate to Cloud Storage, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for client libraries .

  namespace 
  
 gcs 
  
 = 
  
 :: 
 google 
 :: 
 cloud 
 :: 
 storage 
 ; 
 using 
  
 :: 
 google 
 :: 
 cloud 
 :: 
 StatusOr 
 ; 
 []( 
 gcs 
 :: 
 Client 
  
 client 
 , 
  
 std 
 :: 
 string 
  
 const 
&  
 bucket_name 
 , 
  
 std 
 :: 
 string 
  
 const 
&  
 storage_class 
 ) 
  
 { 
  
 StatusOr<gcs 
 :: 
 BucketMetadata 
>  
 original 
  
 = 
  
 client 
 . 
 GetBucketMetadata 
 ( 
 bucket_name 
 ); 
  
 if 
  
 ( 
 ! 
 original 
 ) 
  
 throw 
  
 std 
 :: 
 move 
 ( 
 original 
 ). 
 status 
 (); 
  
 gcs 
 :: 
 BucketMetadata 
  
 desired 
  
 = 
  
 * 
 original 
 ; 
  
 desired 
 . 
 set_storage_class 
 ( 
 storage_class 
 ); 
  
 StatusOr<gcs 
 :: 
 BucketMetadata 
>  
 patched 
  
 = 
  
 client 
 . 
 PatchBucket 
 ( 
 bucket_name 
 , 
  
 * 
 original 
 , 
  
 desired 
 ); 
  
 if 
  
 ( 
 ! 
 patched 
 ) 
  
 throw 
  
 std 
 :: 
 move 
 ( 
 patched 
 ). 
 status 
 (); 
  
 std 
 :: 
 cout 
 << 
 "Storage class for bucket " 
 << 
 patched 
 - 
> name 
 () 
 << 
 " has been patched to " 
 << 
 patched 
 - 
> storage_class 
 () 
 << 
 "." 
 << 
 " 
 \n 
 Full metadata: " 
 << 
 * 
 patched 
 << 
 " 
 \n 
 " 
 ; 
 }

C#

For more information, see the Cloud Storage C# API reference documentation .

To authenticate to Cloud Storage, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for client libraries .

  using 
  
 Google.Apis.Storage.v1.Data 
 ; 
 using 
  
  Google.Cloud.Storage.V1 
 
 ; 
 using 
  
 System 
 ; 
 public 
  
 class 
  
 ChangeDefaultStorageClassSample 
 { 
  
 public 
  
 Bucket 
  
 ChangeDefaultStorageClass 
 ( 
 string 
  
 bucketName 
  
 = 
  
 "your-bucket-name" 
 , 
  
 string 
  
 storageClass 
  
 = 
  
  StorageClasses 
 
 . 
  Standard 
 
 ) 
  
 { 
  
 var 
  
 storage 
  
 = 
  
  StorageClient 
 
 . 
  Create 
 
 (); 
  
 var 
  
 bucket 
  
 = 
  
 storage 
 . 
 GetBucket 
 ( 
 bucketName 
 ); 
  
 bucket 
 . 
 StorageClass 
  
 = 
  
 storageClass 
 ; 
  
 bucket 
  
 = 
  
 storage 
 . 
 UpdateBucket 
 ( 
 bucket 
 ); 
  
 Console 
 . 
 WriteLine 
 ( 
 $"Default storage class for bucket {bucketName} changed to {storageClass}." 
 ); 
  
 return 
  
 bucket 
 ; 
  
 } 
 }

Go

For more information, see the Cloud Storage Go API reference documentation .

To authenticate to Cloud Storage, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for client libraries .

  import 
  
 ( 
  
 "context" 
  
 "fmt" 
  
 "io" 
  
 "time" 
  
 "cloud.google.com/go/storage" 
 ) 
 // changeDefaultStorageClass changes the storage class on a bucket. 
 func 
  
 changeDefaultStorageClass 
 ( 
 w 
  
 io 
 . 
  Writer 
 
 , 
  
 bucketName 
  
 string 
 ) 
  
 error 
  
 { 
  
 // bucketName := "bucket-name" 
  
 ctx 
  
 := 
  
 context 
 . 
 Background 
 () 
  
 client 
 , 
  
 err 
  
 := 
  
 storage 
 . 
 NewClient 
 ( 
 ctx 
 ) 
  
 if 
  
 err 
  
 != 
  
 nil 
  
 { 
  
 return 
  
 fmt 
 . 
 Errorf 
 ( 
 "storage.NewClient: %w" 
 , 
  
 err 
 ) 
  
 } 
  
 defer 
  
 client 
 . 
 Close 
 () 
  
 ctx 
 , 
  
 cancel 
  
 := 
  
 context 
 . 
 WithTimeout 
 ( 
 ctx 
 , 
  
 time 
 . 
 Second 
 * 
 10 
 ) 
  
 defer 
  
 cancel 
 () 
  
 bucket 
  
 := 
  
 client 
 . 
  Bucket 
 
 ( 
 bucketName 
 ) 
  
 newStorageClass 
  
 := 
  
 "COLDLINE" 
  
 bucketAttrsToUpdate 
  
 := 
  
 storage 
 . 
  BucketAttrsToUpdate 
 
 { 
  
 StorageClass 
 : 
  
 newStorageClass 
 , 
  
 } 
  
 if 
  
 _ 
 , 
  
 err 
  
 := 
  
 bucket 
 . 
 Update 
 ( 
 ctx 
 , 
  
 bucketAttrsToUpdate 
 ); 
  
 err 
  
 != 
  
 nil 
  
 { 
  
 return 
  
 fmt 
 . 
 Errorf 
 ( 
 "Bucket(%q).Update: %w" 
 , 
  
 bucketName 
 , 
  
 err 
 ) 
  
 } 
  
 fmt 
 . 
 Fprintf 
 ( 
 w 
 , 
  
 "Default storage class for bucket %v has been set to %v\n" 
 , 
  
 bucketName 
 , 
  
 newStorageClass 
 ) 
  
 return 
  
 nil 
 }

Java

For more information, see the Cloud Storage Java API reference documentation .

To authenticate to Cloud Storage, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for client libraries .

  import 
  
 com.google.cloud.storage. Bucket 
 
 ; 
 import 
  
 com.google.cloud.storage. Storage 
 
 ; 
 import 
  
 com.google.cloud.storage. StorageClass 
 
 ; 
 import 
  
 com.google.cloud.storage. StorageOptions 
 
 ; 
 public 
  
 class 
 ChangeDefaultStorageClass 
  
 { 
  
 public 
  
 static 
  
 void 
  
 changeDefaultStorageClass 
 ( 
 String 
  
 projectId 
 , 
  
 String 
  
 bucketName 
 ) 
  
 { 
  
 // The ID of your GCP project 
  
 // String projectId = "your-project-id"; 
  
 // The ID of your GCS bucket 
  
 // String bucketName = "your-unique-bucket-name"; 
  
 // See the StorageClass documentation for other valid storage classes: 
  
 // https://googleapis.dev/java/google-cloud-clients/latest/com/google/cloud/storage/StorageClass.html 
  
  StorageClass 
 
  
 storageClass 
  
 = 
  
  StorageClass 
 
 . 
 COLDLINE 
 ; 
  
  Storage 
 
  
 storage 
  
 = 
  
  StorageOptions 
 
 . 
 newBuilder 
 (). 
 setProjectId 
 ( 
 projectId 
 ). 
 build 
 (). 
  getService 
 
 (); 
  
  Bucket 
 
  
 bucket 
  
 = 
  
 storage 
 . 
  get 
 
 ( 
 bucketName 
 ); 
  
 bucket 
  
 = 
  
 bucket 
 . 
  toBuilder 
 
 (). 
 setStorageClass 
 ( 
 storageClass 
 ). 
 build 
 (). 
 update 
 (); 
  
 System 
 . 
 out 
 . 
 println 
 ( 
  
 "Default storage class for bucket " 
  
 + 
  
 bucketName 
  
 + 
  
 " has been set to " 
  
 + 
  
 bucket 
 . 
 getStorageClass 
 ()); 
  
 } 
 }

Node.js

For more information, see the Cloud Storage Node.js API reference documentation .

To authenticate to Cloud Storage, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for client libraries .

  /** 
 * TODO(developer): Uncomment the following lines before running the sample. 
 */ 
 // The ID of your GCS bucket 
 // const bucketName = 'your-unique-bucket-name'; 
 // The name of a storage class 
 // See the StorageClass documentation for other valid storage classes: 
 // https://googleapis.dev/java/google-cloud-clients/latest/com/google/cloud/storage/StorageClass.html 
 // const storageClass = 'coldline'; 
 // Imports the Google Cloud client library 
 const 
  
 { 
 Storage 
 } 
  
 = 
  
 require 
 ( 
 ' @google-cloud/storage 
' 
 ); 
 // Creates a client 
 const 
  
 storage 
  
 = 
  
 new 
  
 Storage 
 (); 
 async 
  
 function 
  
 changeDefaultStorageClass 
 () 
  
 { 
  
 await 
  
 storage 
 . 
 bucket 
 ( 
 bucketName 
 ). 
 setStorageClass 
 ( 
 storageClass 
 ); 
  
 console 
 . 
 log 
 ( 
 ` 
 ${ 
 bucketName 
 } 
 has been set to 
 ${ 
 storageClass 
 } 
 ` 
 ); 
 } 
 changeDefaultStorageClass 
 (). 
 catch 
 ( 
 console 
 . 
 error 
 );

PHP

For more information, see the Cloud Storage PHP API reference documentation .

To authenticate to Cloud Storage, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for client libraries .

  use Google\Cloud\Storage\StorageClient; 
 /** 
 * Change the default storage class for the given bucket. 
 * 
 * @param string $bucketName The name of your Cloud Storage bucket. 
 *        (e.g. 'my-bucket') 
 */ 
 function change_default_storage_class(string $bucketName): void 
 { 
 $storage = new StorageClient(); 
 $bucket = $storage->bucket($bucketName); 
 $storageClass = 'COLDLINE'; 
 $bucket->update([ 
 'storageClass' => $storageClass, 
 ]); 
 printf( 
 'Default storage class for bucket %s has been set to %s', 
 $bucketName, 
 $storageClass 
 ); 
 }

Python

For more information, see the Cloud Storage Python API reference documentation .

To authenticate to Cloud Storage, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for client libraries .

  from 
  
 google.cloud 
  
 import 
  storage 
 
 from 
  
 google.cloud.storage 
  
 import 
  constants 
 
 def 
  
 change_default_storage_class 
 ( 
 bucket_name 
 ): 
  
 """Change the default storage class of the bucket""" 
 # bucket_name = "your-bucket-name" 
 storage_client 
 = 
  storage 
 
 . 
  Client 
 
 () 
 bucket 
 = 
 storage_client 
 . 
  get_bucket 
 
 ( 
 bucket_name 
 ) 
 bucket 
 . 
 storage_class 
 = 
  constants 
 
 . 
 COLDLINE_STORAGE_CLASS 
 bucket 
 . 
 patch 
 () 
 print 
 ( 
 f 
 "Default storage class for bucket 
 { 
 bucket_name 
 } 
 has been set to 
 { 
 bucket 
 . 
 storage_class 
 } 
 " 
 ) 
 return 
 bucket

Ruby

For more information, see the Cloud Storage Ruby API reference documentation .

To authenticate to Cloud Storage, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for client libraries .

  def 
  
 change_default_storage_class 
  
 bucket_name 
 : 
  
 # The ID of your GCS bucket 
  
 # bucket_name = "your-unique-bucket-name" 
  
 require 
  
 "google/cloud/storage" 
  
 storage 
  
 = 
  
 Google 
 :: 
 Cloud 
 :: 
  Storage 
 
 . 
  new 
 
  
 bucket 
  
 = 
  
 storage 
 . 
 bucket 
  
 bucket_name 
  
 bucket 
 . 
 storage_class 
  
 = 
  
 "COLDLINE" 
  
 puts 
  
 "Default storage class for bucket 
 #{ 
 bucket_name 
 } 
 has been set to 
 #{ 
 bucket 
 . 
 storage_class 
 } 
 " 
 end

REST APIs

JSON API

Have gcloud CLI installed and initialized , which lets you generate an access token for the Authorization header.
Create a JSON file that contains the following information:
```
 { 
  
 "storageClass" 
 : 
  
 " STORAGE_CLASS 
" 
 } 
```
Where STORAGE_CLASS is the new storage class you want for your bucket. For example, nearline .

Use cURL to call the JSON API with a PATCH Bucket request:

curl -X PATCH --data-binary @ JSON_FILE_NAME 
\
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth print-access-token)" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  "https://storage.googleapis.com/storage/v1/b/ BUCKET_NAME 
?fields=storageClass"

Where:

JSON_FILE_NAME is the path for the JSON file that you created in Step 2.
BUCKET_NAME is the name of the relevant bucket. For example, my-bucket .

XML API

Have gcloud CLI installed and initialized , which lets you generate an access token for the Authorization header.
Create an XML file that contains the following information:
```
<StorageClass> STORAGE_CLASS 
</StorageClass>
```
Where STORAGE_CLASS is the name of the new storage class you want for your bucket. For example, nearline .
Use cURL to call the XML API with a PUT Bucket request scoped to ?storageClass :
```
curl -X PUT --data-binary @ XML_FILE_NAME 
\
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth print-access-token)" \
  "https://storage.googleapis.com/ BUCKET_NAME 
?storageClass"
```
Where:
- XML_FILE_NAME is the path for the XML file that you created in Step 2.
- BUCKET_NAME is the name of the relevant bucket. For example, my-bucket .

What's next

Move or rename a bucket .
Upload an object .
Change the storage class of an object .
Manage object lifecycles .
Learn about automatic storage class management using Autoclass .

Except as otherwise noted, the content of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License , and code samples are licensed under the Apache 2.0 License . For details, see the Google Developers Site Policies . Java is a registered trademark of Oracle and/or its affiliates.

Last updated 2025-09-04 UTC.

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