How to connect Google Drive to Claude: connector and fixes

Short answer

Yes, Claude connects to Google Drive. Open Customize › Connectors, click Google Drive, then Connect, and sign in with Google. It takes a minute. Claude can then search Drive and read Docs, Sheets, Slides, PDFs and Office files. Since August 2026, on paid plans, it can also save, copy, share and trash files, asking you first before it shares or trashes one.

Editing an existing Doc or Sheet is a separate, beta connector: see Google Docs with Claude and Google Sheets with Claude. Add Drive through Upsy instead if Claude should suggest changes rather than make them, never share or trash a file, use more than one Google account, or keep the same limits in Claude Code.

The built-in way

Claude's Google Drive connector

Claude's directory lists the connector as made by Google, added in March 2026. Anthropic's help page puts the Google Workspace connectors (Gmail, Calendar and Drive) on every plan. Its August 18, 2026 announcement added file management "on all paid plans", so Free likely gets reading only.

1. In Claude, open Customize › Connectors and click Google Drive.
2. Click Connect, pick your Google account and allow access.
3. In a chat, click +, hover over Connectors and check that Google Drive is on.

Two more ways to use a file:

• In a chat: + › Add from Google Drive, then search or paste a link. Claude reads it again with each message.
• In a project: under Files, click + › Drive. This works only in private projects, and Claude refreshes the file now and then, when you open the project.

On Team and Enterprise, an Owner turns the connector on first, then each member signs in with their own Google account. If Google says your admin needs to review "Claude for Google Drive", a Google Workspace admin has to trust it (see Troubleshooting).

Cowork uses the same connectors, and Claude Code shows your claude.ai connectors under /mcp when you sign in with your Claude account. There's no separate Drive plugin for Claude Code.

What it can do

Per Anthropic's help page and the directory listing, Claude can:

• Search your Drive, list recent changes, and see a file's details and who it's shared with.
• Read Google Docs, Sheets and Slides, PDFs, Microsoft Office and OpenDocument files, and PNG and JPEG images.
• Save files: upload any type of file, convert it to a Google format, copy a file, create folders, and save files Claude makes (with code execution on).
• Share, move and trash files. Claude asks before each of these by default. On Team and Enterprise, Owners decide whether members can skip that.

Where it stops

• No folder limit. Claude can reach every file your Google account can open. You can't limit it to one folder, only turn single tools off.
• Per-tool limits, inside Claude only. Under Customize › Connectors › Google Drive, each tool can be Always allow, Needs approval or Blocked. A June 2026 report found that Claude Code ignores those settings and uses its own rules.
• Text only. Images inside a document are dropped, and Google exports Docs, Sheets and Slides only up to about 10 MB, so a bigger file arrives without its content.
• No comments. Anthropic's Drive docs say the connector can't read a file's comments or suggested edits.
• One Google account. Work and personal Drive can't be connected side by side.
• No record outside the chat. What Claude did in Drive is in each conversation, with no list across chats.

Where Upsy fits

• Nothing shared or trashed. Upsy has no tool that shares, moves, trashes or deletes files. Read-only holds on Upsy's side, in claude.ai, Claude Desktop and Claude Code alike.
• Suggestions, not overwrites. Claude suggests changes in a Google Doc for you to accept, comments on it, and updates cells in a Google Sheet.
• More accounts: up to five Google accounts, each with its own access.
• History and alerts: every search, read and save is listed under Claude, with the file's name.
• One setup: the same Drive connection works in ChatGPT, Grok and Muse, each at its own level.

What you need

• A Google account that can open the files. On Google Workspace, an admin may restrict third-party apps.
• Claude on any plan. Upsy is a custom connector, and Free allows one. On Team or Enterprise, an Owner adds Upsy first under Organization settings › Connectors (Add › Custom › Web).
• A free Upsy account.

Connect Google Drive to Claude

In Upsy, one Google Drive sign-in covers Drive, Docs and Sheets.

1. Go to upsy.ai and click Set up Upsy.

2. Open Apps and click Connect an app. Find Google Drive and click Connect. Upsy explains that Google Drive connects through Composio for now. Click Continue, pick your Google account and allow access.

3. Open Assistants, click Add assistant and pick Claude. Copy your Upsy address:

   https://upsy.ai/connect
   

4. In Claude, open Customize › Connectors, click Add, hover over Custom and choose Web (some accounts still show an Add custom connector button). Name it Upsy, paste the address and click Continue twice, keeping the detected sign-in settings. Then click Add.

5. Click Connect next to Upsy. On the Upsy page that opens, sign in. Google Drive is ticked, set to All. Change it to Read-only if Claude should only read. Click Allow.

6. In a chat, open + › Connectors and check that Upsy is on.

For another Google account, click Add account next to Google Drive on the Apps page. In Claude Code, run claude mcp add --transport http upsy https://upsy.ai/connect, then /mcp to sign in. The custom connector guide covers the Claude side in more detail.

Check that it works

Using Upsy, find the Google Doc I edited most recently and summarize it in three bullets.

Claude should name the Doc, link to it and summarize it. It may ask you to allow the tool first. Upsy's History shows the read under Claude, with the file's name.

What Claude can do with Drive, Docs and Sheets

Google Drive

• Search files by name or content, and list the most recently changed ones.
• Read a file: Docs and Slides as text, Sheets as CSV, and the text of PDFs and Word files.
• Save a new file: text or a file up to 3 MB that Claude made, or a copy of an email attachment (with Gmail connected to Upsy) or one of your Upsy files up to 24 MB. It can go in a folder, and text can become a Google Doc, or CSV a Google Sheet.
• Drive tools never change, move, share or delete your existing files.

Google Docs

• Read a Doc with its headings, lists, tables and tabs.
• Suggest changes and comment on a passage. Suggestions wait in the Doc until you accept or reject them.
• Edit directly, off unless you pick it. Version history keeps the old text.

Google Sheets

• Read a Sheet's tabs and any range.
• Update cells, formulas included, add rows after a table, and add a tab.

Upsy can't edit Slides, change sharing, or rename, move or trash files.

Prompts to try

• "Find my 'Q3 budget' sheet and tell me which rows are over budget."
• "Search my Drive for contracts with Acme and list each one with its renewal date."
• "Read the three most recent files in my Board folder and write a one-page summary."
• "Turn this meeting summary into a Google Doc in my Meetings folder."
• "Save the PDF from Lisa's email yesterday to my Drive."
• "Read my CV and suggest tighter wording for the summary, as suggestions I can accept."

Troubleshooting

"You may need to reconnect with your Google Drive account"

Anthropic's fix: disconnect Google Drive under Customize › Connectors and connect it again. If that doesn't help, remove Claude's access at myaccount.google.com/connections, then connect again.

"Access blocked" or "your institution's admin needs to review Claude for Google Drive"

Your Google Workspace admin has to trust Claude. In the Admin console, they go to Security › Access and data control › API controls › Manage third-party app access, click Add app › OAuth App Name, search for Claude and set it to Trusted. It can take about 15 minutes to apply. The same admin settings can block Upsy's Google sign-in.

Claude can't find a file, or a file comes back empty

Claude searches the one Google account you connected, so check the file is there, and try its exact title or paste its link. A Doc, Sheet or Slides file over about 10 MB comes back without its content. Split it, or ask about one part.

Creating a file in a folder fails

In May 2026, users reported "User cannot add children to the specified folder" when Claude saved into a chosen folder. Users reported it fixed about a week later. If you see it, save the file without a folder and move it yourself.

Claude uses its own Drive connector, not Upsy

If both are on, Claude can pick either. Say "using Upsy" in the prompt, or turn the built-in Google Drive connector off for that chat under + › Connectors.

Google's sign-in screen names Composio

Expected for now. Until Google finishes reviewing Upsy's own app, Google Drive signs in through Composio's verified Google app, which asks for full Drive access. Upsy uses it only for the tools above.

Security and privacy

• Training. Anthropic says "We do not train our models on your Gmail, Drive, or Calendar connector data" (help page). What Claude reads is kept with the chat, and deleting the chat deletes it.
• What it can reach. Claude's connector sees every file your Google account can open. To keep Claude away from some files, block its tools, or use a Google account that holds only what Claude should see.
• Through Upsy, Claude never gets your Google tokens. It calls Upsy, and Upsy calls Google. Upsy never deletes, trashes or shares Drive files, and suggestions wait for you in the Doc.
• History lists each search, read, save and edit under Claude, with the file's name.
• Alerts email you when one assistant reads from your apps 100 or more times within 10 minutes.
• Turning it off: set Google Drive to No access for Claude, click Remove Claude on its page in Upsy, or disconnect Google Drive in Apps. Disconnecting also removes the connection at Composio.

FAQ

Can Claude access Google Drive?

Yes. Claude's Google Drive connector searches and reads your files, and on paid plans saves, shares and trashes them. Upsy adds suggestions in Docs, Sheets updates, more than one account, and limits Upsy enforces itself.

Can Claude access a single Google Drive folder?

Not as a setting. Claude's connector and Upsy both reach everything your Google account can open. To keep Claude to a few files, add just those to a chat or project with Add from Google Drive, or connect a separate Google account that has only those files shared with it.

Can Claude write to Google Drive?

Yes. Since August 2026, Claude's connector saves, copies, shares and trashes files on paid plans. Through Upsy, Claude saves new files and suggests changes in Docs, but never shares, moves or trashes anything.

Can Claude read PDFs from Google Drive?

Yes, their text. Both Claude's connector and Upsy read PDFs, Office files and Google files. Images inside a document are left out.

Is it safe to connect Claude to Google Drive?

Anthropic doesn't train on connector data, and Claude asks before sharing or trashing a file by default. The risks are its reach (every file you can open) and documents that hide instructions aimed at AI. Keep write tools on Needs approval, or use Upsy's Read-only.

Does Claude Cowork work with Google Drive?

Yes. Cowork uses the same Google Drive connector as Claude, loaded when a session starts.