Index new Google Drive folder files into Google Sheets automatically

Description:

Automatically catalog the contents of any Google Drive folder into a Google Sheets spreadsheet — capturing file names, types, extensions, Drive links, and timestamps in one click. Ideal for teams or individuals who need a living, auditable inventory of shared Drive folders without manually tracking files.

How it works

• On execution, the workflow reads a target Google Drive folder ID and destination spreadsheet from a single Config node — the only place you need to make changes.
• Two branches run in parallel: one lists all files and folders inside the target Drive folder; the other reads any rows already present in the index spreadsheet.
• A filter step compares the two lists by File ID, ensuring only new, previously unindexed files are processed — re-running the workflow will never create duplicates.
• Each new file is formatted into a structured row containing: File Name, MIME Type, File Extension, Google Drive URL, File ID, and an ISO timestamp of when it was indexed.
• New rows are appended to the specified sheet automatically.

Set up steps

1. Connect your Google Drive and Google Sheets OAuth2 accounts in n8n credentials.
2. Create a Google Sheet with the following column headers in row 1 (order does not matter): File Name, MIME Type, File Extension, Google Drive URL, File ID, Indexed At.
3. Open the Config node and fill in three values: your target Google Drive folder ID, your Google Sheets spreadsheet ID, and the sheet tab name (defaults to Sheet1).
4. Run the workflow manually to populate the index. Re-run anytime to append newly added files — existing entries are skipped automatically.

Requirements

• Google Drive OAuth2 credentials (n8n built-in)
• Google Sheets OAuth2 credentials (n8n built-in)
• A Google Drive folder you want to index
• A Google Sheet with the column headers listed above already in place

How to customize

• Change what's captured: Edit the List files and folders node to request additional Drive file fields (e.g. createdTime, modifiedTime, owners), then add the corresponding columns to the Prepare Index Row code node.
• Limit file volume: For folders with 50+ files, add an n8n Limit node between List files and folders and Merge to process in batches and avoid timeouts.
• Schedule it: Swap the manual trigger for a Schedule trigger to keep your index automatically up to date on a recurring basis.
• Filter by file type: Add an If or Filter node after List files and folders to only index specific MIME types (e.g. Google Docs only, PDFs only).