I’m working on a Python script to automatically download files from Google Drive on a regular basis. But I’m stuck because most tutorials I’ve found require setting up a Google Cloud Platform project. Is there a simpler way to do this without GCP?
I checked out the official Google auth library for Python, but it’s a bit complicated for me as I’m new to working with APIs. I’m feeling lost and could use some direction.
Does anyone know of an easier method or have any tips for accessing Google Drive files programmatically? I’m looking for a straightforward approach that doesn’t involve the full GCP setup. Any advice or resources would be super helpful!
I encountered a similar challenge when I first tried to automate Google Drive downloads without setting up a full Google Cloud project. I decided to use the gdown library, which offered a much simpler and more direct method. After installing gdown, I extracted the file ID from the public share URL and then used a straightforward script to download the file. This method bypassed the complexity of the full Google API, yet it consistently delivered the expected results. Although it lacks some of the advanced features of a complete API setup, it has served me well for basic file retrieval.
Having worked extensively with Google Drive automation, I can suggest using the PyDrive library. It’s a simplified wrapper around the Google Drive API that doesn’t require a full GCP setup. You’ll still need to enable the Drive API and get credentials, but it’s much less involved than a full GCP project.
To use PyDrive, install it via pip, then authenticate using a client_secrets.json file from the Google Developer Console. Once authenticated, you can easily list, download, and manipulate files with just a few lines of code. It’s been my go-to solution for scripts that need regular access to Drive files without the overhead of GCP.
Just be aware that PyDrive has some limitations compared to the full API, but for basic file operations, it’s more than sufficient and significantly easier to implement.