Windows desktop app · Private testing · MIT licensed
Your Google Drive, in the window you already know.
Drive Explorer puts your Drive behind the layout File Explorer taught you: a navigation pane, breadcrumbs, a details view, multi-select, cut and paste, drag and drop, and the same keyboard shortcuts. It runs on your own PC and talks straight to the Google Drive API.
In private testing. Drive Explorer is not publicly released yet, so there is no download here. Write to the address below if you want to try a build.
Click a row to select it, Ctrl+click to add to the selection, arrow keys to move. This is a sample, not your Drive.
What it does
Every action below runs against your real Drive through the official API.
| Action | How it works | Shortcut |
|---|---|---|
| Browse | Navigation pane for My Drive, Shared with me, shared drives, Starred, Recent and Trash | Alt + ↑ |
| Move and copy | Cut, copy and paste between folders, or drag files across the window | Ctrl + X / C / V |
| Upload | Drop files from your PC into any folder; a transfer queue shows progress and retries | Drag and drop |
| Download | Save files back to a folder you choose, with names Windows can actually write | Ctrl + D |
| Rename and delete | Rename in place; delete moves to Drive's trash, where you can restore it | F2 / Del |
| Search | Search your Drive by name, type, owner and date | Ctrl + F |
What it asks Google for
Drive Explorer requests three scopes on the Google sign-in screen. Here is what each one is for.
- https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive
- Reads and writes your Drive files so the app can list folders, open files, upload, download, move, rename, and trash. A file manager cannot work on a subset of your Drive, so it needs full file access.
- https://www.googleapis.com/auth/userinfo.email
- Shows which account is signed in, and keeps accounts apart when you add more than one.
- https://www.googleapis.com/auth/userinfo.profile
- Shows your name and picture in the account switcher.
Where your data lives
- Your files stay in Google Drive. Drive Explorer keeps a local cache of file names, sizes and dates so folders open quickly, stored on your PC.
- Sign-in happens in your normal browser. The app never sees your Google password.
- Your sign-in token is encrypted with Windows DPAPI through Electron's safeStorage, tied to your Windows account.
- There is no Drive Explorer server, no analytics and no third-party service. Your data goes to Google and nowhere else.
Drive Explorer's use and transfer of information received from Google APIs to any other app will adhere to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.
The privacy policy sets this out in full, including how to revoke access and delete everything the app has stored.
Questions
Write to mdabrarsami@gmail.com. Questions about privacy, access to a test build and bug reports all go to the same address.