Method: children.list
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Lists a folder's children.
HTTP request
GET https://www.googleapis.com/drive/v2/files/{folderId}/children
The URL uses gRPC Transcoding syntax.
Path parameters
| Parameters |
folderId |
string
The ID of the folder.
|
Query parameters
| Parameters |
maxResults |
integer
Maximum number of children to return.
|
orderBy |
string
A comma-separated list of sort keys. Valid keys are createdDate, folder, lastViewedByMeDate, modifiedByMeDate, modifiedDate, quotaBytesUsed, recency, sharedWithMeDate, starred, and title. Each key sorts ascending by default, but may be reversed with the desc modifier. Example usage: ?orderBy=folder,modifiedDate desc,title. Please note that there is a current limitation for users with approximately one million files in which the requested sort order is ignored.
|
pageToken |
string
Page token for children.
|
q |
string
Query string for searching children.
|
Request body
The request body must be empty.
Response body
A list of children of a file.
If successful, the response body contains data with the following structure:
| JSON representation |
{
"items": [
{
object (ChildReference)
}
],
"nextPageToken": string,
"kind": string,
"etag": string,
"selfLink": string,
"nextLink": string
} |
| Fields |
items[] |
object (ChildReference)
The list of children. If nextPageToken is populated, then this list may be incomplete and an additional page of results should be fetched.
|
nextPageToken |
string
The page token for the next page of children. This will be absent if the end of the children list has been reached. If the token is rejected for any reason, it should be discarded, and pagination should be restarted from the first page of results.
|
kind |
string
This is always drive#childList.
|
etag |
string
The ETag of the list.
|
selfLink |
string
A link back to this list.
|
nextLink |
string
A link to the next page of children.
|
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.file
https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.meet.readonly
https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.metadata
https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.metadata.readonly
https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.photos.readonly
https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.readonly
Some scopes are restricted and require a security assessment for your app to use them. For more information, see the Authorization guide.
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Last updated 2025-07-23 UTC.
[null,null,["Last updated 2025-07-23 UTC."],[],[],null,["# Method: children.list\n\n- [HTTP request](#body.HTTP_TEMPLATE)\n- [Path parameters](#body.PATH_PARAMETERS)\n- [Query parameters](#body.QUERY_PARAMETERS)\n- [Request body](#body.request_body)\n- [Response body](#body.response_body)\n - [JSON representation](#body.ChildList.SCHEMA_REPRESENTATION)\n- [Authorization scopes](#body.aspect)\n- [Try it!](#try-it)\n\nLists a folder's children.\n\n### HTTP request\n\n`GET https://www.googleapis.com/drive/v2/files/{folderId}/children`\n\nThe URL uses [gRPC Transcoding](https://google.aip.dev/127) syntax.\n\n### Path parameters\n\n| Parameters ||\n|------------|--------------------------------|\n| `folderId` | `string` The ID of the folder. |\n\n### Query parameters\n\n| Parameters ||\n|--------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|\n| `maxResults` | `integer` Maximum number of children to return. |\n| `orderBy` | `string` A comma-separated list of sort keys. Valid keys are `createdDate`, `folder`, `lastViewedByMeDate`, `modifiedByMeDate`, `modifiedDate`, `quotaBytesUsed`, `recency`, `sharedWithMeDate`, `starred`, and `title`. Each key sorts ascending by default, but may be reversed with the `desc` modifier. Example usage: ?orderBy=folder,modifiedDate desc,title. Please note that there is a current limitation for users with approximately one million files in which the requested sort order is ignored. |\n| `pageToken` | `string` Page token for children. |\n| `q` | `string` Query string for searching children. |\n\n### Request body\n\nThe request body must be empty.\n\n### Response body\n\nA list of children of a file.\n\nIf successful, the response body contains data with the following structure:\n\n| JSON representation |\n|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|\n| ``` { \"items\": [ { object (/workspace/drive/api/reference/rest/v2/children#ChildReference) } ], \"nextPageToken\": string, \"kind\": string, \"etag\": string, \"selfLink\": string, \"nextLink\": string } ``` |\n\n| Fields ||\n|-----------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|\n| `items[]` | `object (`[ChildReference](/workspace/drive/api/reference/rest/v2/children#ChildReference)`)` The list of children. If nextPageToken is populated, then this list may be incomplete and an additional page of results should be fetched. |\n| `nextPageToken` | `string` The page token for the next page of children. This will be absent if the end of the children list has been reached. If the token is rejected for any reason, it should be discarded, and pagination should be restarted from the first page of results. |\n| `kind` | `string` This is always `drive#childList`. |\n| `etag` | `string` The ETag of the list. |\n| `selfLink` | `string` A link back to this list. |\n| `nextLink` | `string` A link to the next page of children. |\n\n### Authorization scopes\n\nRequires one of the following OAuth scopes:\n\n- `https://www.googleapis.com/auth/docs`\n- `\n https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive`\n- `\n https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.appdata`\n- `\n https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.file`\n- `\n https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.meet.readonly`\n- `\n https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.metadata`\n- `\n https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.metadata.readonly`\n- `\n https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.photos.readonly`\n- `\n https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.readonly`\n\nSome scopes are restricted and require a security assessment for your app to use them. For more information, see the [Authorization guide](/workspace/guides/configure-oauth-consent)."]]
