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reader, or add the feed URL directly:https://developers.google.com/feeds/drive-release-notes.xml.
This page contains release notes for features and updates to the
Drive API. We recommend that
Drive API developers periodically check this list for any new
announcements.
July 16, 2025
The Drive API has changed how download, print, and copy restrictions are applied.
Users with the role ofownerororganizercan apply restrictions to other users withwriterroles, in addition toreaderroles. Users can directly apply restrictions on files using theitemDownloadRestrictionfield within theDownloadRestrictionsMetadataobject. Determination of whether file restrictions can be changed is controlled by the newcapabilities.canChangeItemDownloadRestrictionfield.
Similarly, users with the role of shared driveorganizercan directly apply restrictions on shared drives using thedownloadRestrictionfield within theRestrictionsobject. Determination of whether shared drive restrictions can be changed is also controlled by thecapabilities.canChangeDownloadRestrictionfield.
While the previous field (copyRequiresWriterPermission) that controlled download, print, and copy restrictions is still available, the functionality is different for both reading from and writing to the field. We recommend that you use the newDownloadRestrictionobject to enforce how users can download, print, and copy files.
For more information about how download, print, and copy restrictions are now applied for My Drive and shared drive files, see:
Generally Available: The Google Drive API now supports folders with limited access which allow you to restrict folders to specific users. Folders with limited access broadens the expansive access model from shared drives to My Drive.
To limit access to a folder, developers can set the booleaninheritedPermissionsDisabledfield on thefilesresource totrue. Developers can also opt in to expansive access API behavior in My Drive ahead of any future mandatory enforcement by setting theenforceExpansiveAccessrequest parameter totrueon thepermissions.delete()andpermissions.update()methods.
The Google Drive API returns a long-running operation (LRO) every time you call thefiles.downloadmethod to download blob file content or export Google Workspace document content either through the Drive API or its client libraries.
Thefiles.downloadmethod returns anOperationresource to the client. You can use theOperationinterface to asynchronously retrieve the status of the API method by polling the operation through theGetOperationRequestmethod.
Thefiles.downloadmethod is the only way to download Google Vids files in MP4 format and is typically best suited to downloading most video files.
Each user can have up to500 million itemsthat were created by that account, no matter where those items reside. Previously, users could create an unlimited number of items in Drive.
November 21, 2023
A user's My Drive can't contain more than100 levels of nested folders. Previously, folders in My Drive could be at an unlimited depth.
July 24, 2023
A new content restriction parameter that only the file owner can modify (ownerRestricted) was added.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Missing the information I need","missingTheInformationINeed","thumb-down"],["Too complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-08-28 UTC."],[],[],null,["# Google Drive API release notes\n\nTo get the latest product updates delivered to you, add the URL of this page to your\n[feed\nreader](https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_feed_aggregators), or add the feed URL directly: `https://developers.google.com/feeds/drive-release-notes.xml`.\nThis page contains release notes for features and updates to the\nDrive API. We recommend that\nDrive API developers periodically check this list for any new\nannouncements.\n\nJuly 16, 2025\n-------------\n\nThe Drive API has changed how download, print, and copy restrictions are applied.\n\nUsers with the role of `owner` or `organizer` can apply restrictions to other users with `writer` roles, in addition to `reader` roles. Users can directly apply restrictions on files using the `itemDownloadRestriction` field within the [`DownloadRestrictionsMetadata`](https://developers.google.com/workspace/drive/api/reference/rest/v3/files#downloadrestrictionsmetadata) object. Determination of whether file restrictions can be changed is controlled by the new `capabilities.canChangeItemDownloadRestriction` field.\n\nSimilarly, users with the role of shared drive `organizer` can directly apply restrictions on shared drives using the `downloadRestriction` field within the [`Restrictions`](https://developers.google.com/workspace/drive/api/reference/rest/v3/drives#Drive.FIELDS.restrictions) object. Determination of whether shared drive restrictions can be changed is also controlled by the `capabilities.canChangeDownloadRestriction` field.\n\nWhile the previous field (`copyRequiresWriterPermission`) that controlled download, print, and copy restrictions is still available, the functionality is different for both reading from and writing to the field. We recommend that you use the new `DownloadRestriction` object to enforce how users can download, print, and copy files.\n\nFor more information about how download, print, and copy restrictions are now applied for My Drive and shared drive files, see:\n\n- [Protect file content](https://developers.google.com/workspace/drive/api/guides/content-restrictions#download-print-copy)\n- [Manage shared drives](https://developers.google.com/workspace/drive/api/guides/manage-shareddrives#download-print-copy)\n\nJuly 07, 2025\n-------------\n\n**(Developer Preview)**: You can now subscribe to events in Google Drive. The following event types are supported:\n\n- A file is added to a folder or shared drive.\n- A file is moved to a folder or shared drive.\n- A file is edited or a new revision is uploaded.\n- A file is trashed or removed from the trash.\n- An access proposal is created or resolved on a file.\n\nFor details, see [Subscribe to Google Drive events](https://developers.google.com/workspace/events/guides/events-drive) in the Google Workspace Events API documentation. For information on how to receive Google Drive events from Google Cloud Pub/Sub, see [Work with events from Google Drive](https://developers.google.com/workspace/drive/api/guides/events-overview).\n\nFebruary 19, 2025\n-----------------\n\n**Generally Available**: The Google Drive API now supports folders with limited access which allow you to restrict folders to specific users. Folders with limited access broadens the expansive access model from shared drives to My Drive.\n\nTo limit access to a folder, developers can set the boolean `inheritedPermissionsDisabled` field on the [`files`](https://developers.google.com/drive/api/reference/rest/v3/files) resource to `true`. Developers can also opt in to expansive access API behavior in My Drive ahead of any future mandatory enforcement by setting the `enforceExpansiveAccess` request parameter to `true` on the [`permissions.delete()`](https://developers.google.com/drive/api/reference/rest/v3/permissions/delete) and [`permissions.update()`](https://developers.google.com/drive/api/reference/rest/v3/permissions/update) methods.\n\nTo learn more, see [Manage folders with limited and expansive access](https://developers.google.com/drive/api/guides/limited-expansive-access).\n\nSeptember 13, 2024\n------------------\n\nThe Google Drive API returns a long-running operation (LRO) every time you call the [`files.download`](https://developers.google.com/drive/api/reference/rest/v3/files/download) method to download blob file content or export Google Workspace document content either through the Drive API or its client libraries.\n\nThe `files.download` method returns an [`Operation`](https://cloud.google.com/service-infrastructure/docs/service-management/reference/rpc/google.longrunning#operation) resource to the client. You can use the `Operation` interface to asynchronously retrieve the status of the API method by polling the operation through the [`GetOperationRequest`](https://cloud.google.com/service-infrastructure/docs/service-management/reference/rpc/google.longrunning#getoperationrequest) method.\n\nThe `files.download` method is the only way to download Google Vids files in MP4 format and is typically best suited to downloading most video files.\n\nTo learn more, see [Manage long-running operations](https://developers.google.com/drive/api/guides/long-running-operations).\n\nJuly 11, 2024\n-------------\n\nThe Google Drive API now supports the `drive.meet.readonly` scope. This restricted scope lets you view Drive files created or edited by Google Meet.\n\nFor details, see [Choose Google Drive API scopes](https://developers.google.com/drive/api/guides/api-specific-auth).\n\nJanuary 26, 2024\n----------------\n\nYou can now get a list of the user's installed apps in v3, with information about each app's supported MIME types, file extensions, and other details.\n\nThe [`apps`](https://developers.google.com/drive/api/reference/rest/v3/apps) resource represents a user's list of installed apps and it supports the following methods:\n\n- [Get](https://developers.google.com/drive/api/reference/rest/v3/apps/get) a specific installed app.\n\n- [List](https://developers.google.com/drive/api/reference/rest/v3/apps/list) all the installed apps.\n\nJanuary 24, 2024\n----------------\n\nEach user can have up to [500 million items](https://developers.google.com/drive/api/guides/folder#user-limit) that were created by that account, no matter where those items reside. Previously, users could create an unlimited number of items in Drive.\n\nNovember 21, 2023\n-----------------\n\nA user's My Drive can't contain more than [100 levels of nested folders](https://developers.google.com/drive/api/guides/folder#depth-limit). Previously, folders in My Drive could be at an unlimited depth.\n\nJuly 24, 2023\n-------------\n\nA new content restriction parameter that only the file owner can modify (`ownerRestricted`) was added.\n\nIn addition, three capabilities were added:\n\n- `capabilities.canModifyEditorContentRestriction`\n- `capabilities.canModifyOwnerContentRestriction`\n- `capabilities.canRemoveContentRestriction`\n\nFor details, see [Protect file content](https://developers.google.com/drive/api/guides/content-restrictions). \nThe `capabilities.canModifyContentRestriction` parameter was deprecated.\n\nMarch 10, 2013\n--------------\n\nThe Google Drive API is now generally available."]]
