Method: files.get
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Gets a file's metadata or content by ID. For more information, see Search for files and folders.
If you provide the URL parameter alt=media, then the response includes the file contents in the response body. Downloading content with alt=media only works if the file is stored in Drive. To download Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides use files.export instead. For more information, see Download and export files.
HTTP request
GET https://www.googleapis.com/drive/v3/files/{fileId}
The URL uses gRPC Transcoding syntax.
Path parameters
| Parameters |
fileId |
string
The ID of the file.
|
Query parameters
| Parameters |
acknowledgeAbuse |
boolean
Whether the user is acknowledging the risk of downloading known malware or other abusive files. This is only applicable when the alt parameter is set to media and the user is the owner of the file or an organizer of the shared drive in which the file resides.
|
supportsAllDrives |
boolean
Whether the requesting application supports both My Drives and shared drives.
|
supportsTeamDrives
(deprecated) |
boolean
Deprecated: Use supportsAllDrives instead.
|
includePermissionsForView |
string
Specifies which additional view's permissions to include in the response. Only published is supported.
|
includeLabels |
string
A comma-separated list of IDs of labels to include in the labelInfo part of the response.
|
Request body
The request body must be empty.
Response body
If successful, the response body contains an instance of File.
Authorization scopes
Requires one of the following OAuth scopes:
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 2025-08-26 UTC.
[null,null,["Last updated 2025-08-26 UTC."],[],[],null,["# Method: files.get\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\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n\nGets a file's metadata or content by ID.\n\nIf you provide the URL parameter `alt=media`, then the response includes the file contents in the response body. Downloading content with `alt=media` only works if the file is stored in Drive. To download Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides use [`files.export`](/workspace/drive/api/reference/rest/v3/files/export) instead. For more information, see [Download \\& export files](/workspace/drive/api/guides/manage-downloads).\n\n### HTTP request\n\n`GET https://www.googleapis.com/drive/v3/files/{fileId}`\n\nThe URL uses [gRPC Transcoding](https://google.aip.dev/127) syntax.\n\n### Path parameters\n\n| Parameters ||\n|----------|------------------------------|\n| `fileId` | `string` The ID of the file. |\n\n### Query parameters\n\n| Parameters ||\n|---------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|\n| `acknowledgeAbuse` | `boolean` Whether the user is acknowledging the risk of downloading known malware or other abusive files. This is only applicable when the `alt` parameter is set to `media` and the user is the owner of the file or an organizer of the shared drive in which the file resides. |\n| `supportsAllDrives` | `boolean` Whether the requesting application supports both My Drives and shared drives. |\n| `supportsTeamDrives` **(deprecated)** | `boolean` Deprecated: Use `supportsAllDrives` instead. |\n| `includePermissionsForView` | `string` Specifies which additional view's permissions to include in the response. Only 'published' is supported. |\n| `includeLabels` | `string` A comma-separated list of IDs of labels to include in the `labelInfo` part of the response. |\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 [File](/workspace/drive/api/reference/rest/v3/files#File).\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.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)."]]
