gdown: Google Drive Public File/Folder Downloader

5.2.1 · active · verified Thu Apr 09

gdown is a Python package (current version 5.2.1) designed to download public files and folders from Google Drive, providing functionality that standard tools like curl or wget often lack for Google Drive links. It handles large files by skipping security notices and supports recursive downloads for folders (up to 50 files per folder). The library has an active development cycle with regular updates addressing features, enhancements, and bug fixes.

Warnings

breaking gdown dropped support for Python 2 in version 5.0.0. The library now requires Python 3.8 or higher.
Fix: Upgrade your Python environment to 3.8+ and gdown to version 5.0.0 or later.
gotcha Older versions of gdown (before 4.7.3) might fail to download files due to changes in Google Drive's User-Agent handling.
Fix: Upgrade gdown to version 4.7.3 or later to ensure compatibility with Google Drive's User-Agent requirements.
deprecated The `--id` command-line option was deprecated in version 4.3.1 and removed in 5.0.0. File IDs or URLs can now be passed directly without the `--id` flag.
Fix: Remove the `--id` flag when using the CLI; simply pass the file ID or URL as an argument.
gotcha Prior to v5.2.1, if hash verification failed for a downloaded file, a corrupted file might have been left in the final destination. Hash verification now occurs before moving the file.
Fix: Upgrade to gdown >= 5.2.1 to ensure that files are only moved to their final location after successful hash verification, preventing corrupted files from being retained.
gotcha Files and folders downloaded via gdown must have their sharing permissions set to 'Anyone with the link can view' on Google Drive.
Fix: Ensure the Google Drive file or folder you are trying to download has appropriate public sharing permissions.
gotcha When downloading folders, gdown has a limitation of processing a maximum of 50 files per folder. Attempting to download larger folders may result in incomplete downloads.
Fix: For folders with more than 50 files, consider manually splitting them into smaller folders on Google Drive or compressing the folder into a single archive (e.g., a .zip file) before downloading.
breaking In `gdown.cached_download`, the `md5` argument was replaced with a more general `hash` argument in v5.1.0 to support various hash algorithms.
Fix: If using `gdown.cached_download`, update your code to use the `hash` parameter instead of `md5` and specify the desired hash algorithm (e.g., `hash='sha256:...'`).

Install

pip install gdown

Imports

gdown
```
import gdown
```

Quickstart

This quickstart demonstrates how to download a publicly accessible file from Google Drive using its URL. The `gdown.download()` function handles the process, including bypassing Google Drive's security notices for large files. The example also includes cleanup for repeatability.

import gdown
import os

# A public Google Drive file URL (replace with your desired file if needed)
# This specific file is a public example from the gdown GitHub repo
url = "https://drive.google.com/uc?id=1l_5RK28JRL19wpT22B-DY9We3TVXnnQQ"
output_filename = "fcn8s_from_caffe.npz"

try:
    gdown.download(url, output_filename, quiet=False)
    print(f"Successfully downloaded {output_filename}")
except Exception as e:
    print(f"Error downloading file: {e}")
finally:
    # Clean up the downloaded file for a repeatable quickstart
    if os.path.exists(output_filename):
        os.remove(output_filename)
        print(f"Cleaned up {output_filename}")

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