Introduction to n8n Node: Shared Google Drive Folder

---

Introduction

Are you having trouble working with files shared on Google Drive in n8n? The default Google Drive node cannot search for files in shared folders?

Today I would like to introduce n8n-nodes-shared-folder-google-drive – a community n8n node that I developed to completely solve this problem!

---

Problem to Solve

The built-in Google Drive node in n8n encounters serious issues when working with shared folders:

• Cannot find files in shared folders
• Cannot search for files in shared folders
• Lacks important API parameters
• “File not found” error with existing files
• Cannot access Team Drives/Shared Drives

Cause: Default node is missing important parameters such as supportsAllDrives=true, includeItemsFromAllDrives=true, and sharedWithMe for shared folders.

---

Solutions

n8n-nodes-shared-folder-google-drive is an n8n community node specially designed to:

• Powerful file search in all shared folders
• Work with shared folders easily
• Support upload/download files in shared folders
• Seamless integration with Google OAuth2
• Automatically add required API parameters

---

Key Features

Smart File Search

• All shared files: Search in all files shared with you
• Specific folder: Search in a specific folder
• Powerful query: Support Google Drive API search syntax
• File type: Filter by file type (PDF, video, image, etc.)

Folder Management

• List Items: List files/folders in shared folder
• Get Item: Get metadata or download file content
• Upload Item: Upload files to shared folders
• Update/Remove: Manage metadata and delete files

Flexible Interface

• Simple Mode: Search all shared files (no ID required)
• Query Language: Use Google Drive query syntax
• Error Handling: Smart error handling with continue-on-fail

---

Settings

Method 1: Via Community Nodes (Recommended)

1. Go to Settings > Community Nodes in n8n
2. Select Install
3. Import: n8n-nodes-shared-folder-google-drive
4. Accept and install
5. Restart n8n

Method 2: Manual Installation

cd ~/.n8n/nodes
npm install n8n-nodes-shared-folder-google-drive

---

OAuth2 Configuration

1. In n8n, create a new credential: Shared Folder Google Drive OAuth2 API
2. Go to Google Cloud Console
3. Create a new project or select an existing project
4. Enable Google Drive API
5. Create OAuth 2.0 Client ID
6. Add authorized redirect URI: https://your-n8n-instance.com/rest/oauth2-credential/callback
7. Copy Client ID and Client Secret into n8n
8. Connect your Google account

---

How to Get Folder ID

1. Open the shared folder in Google Drive
2. Look at the URL: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/16prcpIImJ6vb73yh05q_zaT4qQJhQzJK
3. Copy the ID part: 16prcpIImJ6vb73yh05q_zaT4qQJhQzJK

---

Common Search Syntax

Find files in a specific folder:

'FOLDER_ID' in parents

Find videos in a folder:

'FOLDER_ID' in parents and mimeType contains 'video'

Find PDFs by name:

name contains 'invoice' and mimeType = 'application/pdf'

Find recent files:

modifiedTime > '2024-11-01T00:00:00'

Find large files (over 10MB):

'FOLDER_ID' in parents and size > 10485760

Find files by time range:

createdTime > '2024-11-01T00:00:00' and createdTime < '2024-11-30T23:59:59'

Search by content:

fullText contains 'invoice'

Search with multiple conditions:

(name contains 'report' or name contains 'report') and mimeType = 'application/pdf'

---

Real-World Use Cases

1. Automatically Clean Up Old Files

modifiedTime < '2024-10-01T00:00:00' and trashed = false

2. Invoice Backup

name contains 'invoice' and mimeType = 'application/pdf' and modifiedTime > '2024-11-01'

3. Media Management

mimeType contains 'video' and size > 104857600

4. Data Sync (files modified within 7 days)

modifiedTime > '2024-11-16T00:00:00'

5. Word File Processing

mimeType = 'application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document'

---

Comparison With Default Node

Feature	Built-in Node (Default)	Shared Folder Node (Custom)
Search in Shared Folders	❌ Not working	✅ Works perfectly
Requires Folder ID	❗ Required	➖ Not required (optional)
Supports sharedWithMe	❌ No	✅ Yes
Full Google Query support	⚠️ Limited	✅ Full
404 error when accessing folder	🔥 Frequent	🛠️ Fixed
Upload to Shared Folders	🚫 Limited	✅ Works well

---

Tips and Tricks

Performance Tips

• Use the field parameter to retrieve only necessary fields
• Limit the limit with a reasonable value (100-1000)
• Use specific queries instead of fetching all

Search Tips

• Use quotes for file names with spaces: name contains "my file"
• Combine multiple conditions with and, or
• Use not to exclude: not trashed = true

Best Practices

Backup important data before performing bulk operations

Test the query in the Google Drive UI before adding it to the workflow

Verify the correct folder ID