Method: files.download
Stay organized with collections
Save and categorize content based on your preferences.
Downloads the content of a file. For more information, see Download and export files.
Operations are valid for 24 hours from the time of creation.
HTTP request
POST https://www.googleapis.com/drive/v3/files/{fileId}/download
The URL uses gRPC Transcoding syntax.
Path parameters
| Parameters |
fileId |
string
Required. The ID of the file to download.
|
Query parameters
| Parameters |
mimeType |
string
Optional. The MIME type the file should be downloaded as. This field can only be set when downloading Google Workspace documents. For a list of supported MIME types, see Export MIME types for Google Workspace documents. If not set, a Google Workspace document is downloaded with a default MIME type. The default MIME type might change in the future.
|
revisionId |
string
Optional. The revision ID of the file to download. This field can only be set when downloading blob files, Google Docs, and Google Sheets. Returns INVALID_ARGUMENT if downloading a specific revision on the file is unsupported.
|
Request body
The request body must be empty.
Response body
If successful, the response body contains an instance of Operation.
Authorization scopes
Requires one of the following OAuth scopes:
https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive
https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.file
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.
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 2025-08-26 UTC.
[null,null,["Last updated 2025-08-26 UTC."],[],[],null,["# Method: files.download\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- [Authorization scopes](#body.aspect)\n- [Try it!](#try-it)\n\nDownloads content of a file. Operations are valid for 24 hours from the time of creation.\n\n### HTTP request\n\n`POST https://www.googleapis.com/drive/v3/files/{fileId}/download`\n\nThe URL uses [gRPC Transcoding](https://google.aip.dev/127) syntax.\n\n### Path parameters\n\n| Parameters ||\n|----------|----------------------------------------------------|\n| `fileId` | `string` Required. The ID of the file to download. |\n\n### Query parameters\n\n| Parameters ||\n|--------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|\n| `mimeType` | `string` Optional. The MIME type the file should be downloaded as. This field can only be set when downloading Google Workspace documents. See [files.export MIME types for Google Workspace documents](/drive/api/guides/ref-export-formats) for the list of supported MIME types. If not set, a Google Workspace document is downloaded with a default MIME type. The default MIME type might change in the future. |\n| `revisionId` | `string` Optional. The revision ID of the file to download. This field can only be set when downloading blob files, Google Docs, and Google Sheets. Returns `INVALID_ARGUMENT` if downloading a specific revision on the file is unsupported. |\n\n### Request body\n\nThe request body must be empty.\n\n### Response body\n\nIf successful, the response body contains an instance of [Operation](/workspace/drive/api/reference/rest/v3/operations#Operation).\n\n### Authorization scopes\n\nRequires one of the following OAuth scopes:\n\n- `https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive`\n- `\n https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.file`\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)."]]
