Counting Google Docs in Drive folders using description tags via Google Sheets

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1

Hey everyone,

I’m trying to figure out how to use Google Sheets to count files in my Google Drive based on tags in their descriptions. Here’s what I’m dealing with:

  • I’ve got a bunch of Google Docs in various folders and subfolders
  • Each doc has tags in its description (like #work #project1)
  • I want to count how many docs have each tag
  • I’ve listed all the tags in one column of my spreadsheet
  • Need to count matching docs in the cells next to each tag

I’ve been messing around with Google Sheets functions, but I’m stuck. Any ideas on how to pull this off? It seems like it should be possible, but I can’t quite crack it.

Here’s a basic example of what I’m aiming for:

| Tag     | Count |
|---------|-------|
| #work   | 15    |
| #home   | 7     |
| #urgent | 3     |

Any help would be awesome! Thanks in advance.

2

have u tried using the google drive api? it might be able to help u search through ur files and get the info u need. u could probably write a script that loops through ur docs, checks the descriptions for tags, and then updates ur spreadsheet. might take some coding tho

3

I’ve actually tackled a similar problem before. What worked for me was using Google Apps Script to automate the process. You can write a custom function that scans your Drive, reads file descriptions, and tallies up the tag counts.

Here’s a rough outline of how I approached it:

  1. Create a new script in your Google Sheet
  2. Use DriveApp.getFiles() to iterate through all files
  3. Check each file’s description for your tags
  4. Keep a running count for each tag
  5. Write the results back to your sheet

It takes a bit of JavaScript knowledge, but it’s not too complex. The trickiest part was handling rate limits when dealing with lots of files. I had to add some delays and use continuation tokens.

If you’re not comfortable with coding, you might want to look into add-ons for Google Sheets that can interact with Drive. There might be something out there that does what you need without having to write custom code.

4

I’ve dealt with similar challenges in my work. One approach that might help is using Google Apps Script with the DriveApp service. You can create a custom function in your spreadsheet that iterates through your Drive files, checks descriptions for tags, and updates the counts accordingly.

Here’s a high-level overview of the process:

  1. Write a script to access your Drive files
  2. Parse file descriptions for tags
  3. Update a dictionary or array with tag counts
  4. Output results to your spreadsheet

Keep in mind this method can be slow for large numbers of files due to API limits. You might need to implement pagination or run the script in batches.

Another option is to maintain a separate sheet that logs tags whenever you create or update a document. This could be more efficient if you have thousands of files to process.