How to fetch files from Google Drive using Python and a URL?

Other Questions Google drive
1

I’m stuck trying to grab files from Google Drive. All I’ve got is the Drive URL. No luck so far.

I looked into the Google API stuff. It mentions drive_service and MedioIO, but needs some JSON or OAuth credentials. I’m lost on how to use it.

Tried a few other things:

import urllib.request

url = 'https://drive.google.com/file/d/your_file_id/view'
urllib.request.urlretrieve(url, 'local_filename.ext')

That didn’t work for Drive files. wget was a bust too.

Even checked out PyDrive. Great for uploading, but can’t seem to download with it.

Anyone know a simple way to do this? Maybe I’m missing something obvious. Thanks for any tips!

2

I’ve been down this road before, and I feel your frustration. Google Drive can be tricky, especially when you’re just working with URLs. Here’s what worked for me:

Instead of using the regular Drive URL, you need to modify it slightly. Change the ‘/view’ at the end to ‘/export?format=pdf’ (or whatever format your file is in). Then, you can use the requests library to download it:

import requests

url = 'https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=YOUR_FILE_ID'
response = requests.get(url)
with open('local_filename.ext', 'wb') as file:
    file.write(response.content)

This method bypasses the need for API credentials. Just make sure the file is set to ‘Anyone with the link can view’ in Drive settings. It’s not foolproof, but it’s worked well for me in most cases. Hope this helps!

3

hey man, i had the same prob. try this:

import requests

url = ‘https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=YOUR_FILE_ID’
r = requests.get(url)
with open(‘file.whatever’, ‘wb’) as f:
f.write(r.content)

works for me most times. just swap YOUR_FILE_ID with the actual id from ur link. good luck!

4

I’ve encountered similar issues when trying to fetch files from Google Drive using Python. While the Google API route can be complex, there’s a simpler solution that might work for you.

Try using the gdown library. It’s specifically designed for downloading Google Drive files via command line or Python script. Here’s how you can use it:

First, install gdown with pip:
pip install gdown

Then in your Python script:

import gdown

url = ‘https://drive.google.com/uc?id=YOUR_FILE_ID’
output = ‘local_filename.ext’
gdown.download(url, output, quiet=False)

This approach is straightforward and doesn’t require API credentials. Just make sure your file’s sharing settings allow access. It’s been reliable in my experience, especially for smaller files. Let me know if you run into any issues!