Does Google Drive Have a File Request Feature?

No. As of 2026, Google Drive has no dedicated "file request" feature — no button that generates a link where strangers can upload files into a folder you own without an account of their own. Dropbox and Box both ship this natively; Google doesn't.

Why people assume it exists

It's a reasonable assumption. Dropbox has had File Requests since 2016. Box has a nearly identical feature built into every plan. Both let you generate a link, send it to anyone, and have files land in a specific folder without the sender needing an account. Given how core "collecting files from people" is to running any kind of business, it's easy to assume Google's largest cloud storage product does the same thing. It doesn't — and it hasn't for the better part of a decade despite the feature being requested repeatedly in Google's own product forums.

What Google Drive gives you instead

There are three workarounds people actually use, in roughly the order most people discover them:

1. A shared folder set to "Anyone with the link – Editor." The simplest option, and the most commonly used, despite the problems below.
2. A Google Form wired to a Drive folder through Apps Script. More control over the intake, but it requires someone who's comfortable writing and maintaining a script.
3. A third-party add-on from the Google Workspace Marketplace. Closer to a real file-request tool, but most require a paid plan and a separate account outside your Google login.

The risks of the shared-folder workaround specifically

This is the option most people land on first because it takes thirty seconds to set up, so it's worth being specific about what it actually exposes:

• Every sender with the link can see the names — and often the contents — of every other file already in that folder, including ones from other senders.
• Editor access means any sender can rename, move, or delete anything in that folder, not just add their own files.
• There's no way to cap file size, file count, or set an expiry date without a script layered on top.
• The link doesn't distinguish between senders — you get a pile of files with no name, email, or context attached unless you ask for it separately.
• Storage still counts against your own Drive quota exactly the same as if you'd uploaded the files yourself — there's no separate "incoming" allowance.

None of this matters much for a one-off exchange with someone you trust. It matters a great deal the moment you're collecting deliverables from multiple clients, running a public call for submissions, or handling anything with privacy expectations attached.

The Google Form + Apps Script route

This is the option that gets closest to a real file-request experience without a third-party tool, and it's worth understanding even if you don't build it yourself. A Google Form with a file-upload question can write submissions into a Drive folder automatically. The catch is that it requires OAuth consent for the Drive scope on the form owner's account, Apps Script quotas that can silently throttle a form getting more submissions than expected, and — because it's a script you're maintaining — occasional breakage when Google changes an API surface underneath it. It's a legitimate option if you already have someone who maintains scripts like this. It's a poor fit if you just need a link that works.

Has Google said anything about adding one?

Not publicly, and not on any published roadmap. The feature has been requested on Google's own community forums for years without an official response beyond acknowledgment. If that changes, this page will be updated — but there's no indication it's imminent.

What a dedicated file-request tool actually changes

The gap between the shared-folder workaround and a purpose-built tool comes down to a short list of things:

• Each sender only ever sees an upload box — never anyone else's files.
• You can set a maximum file size, a maximum file count, and an expiry date per link.
• You can require a password or restrict who can upload by email address or domain, without writing a script.
• Files still land inside your own Google Drive, in a folder you already own — not a separate storage silo you have to manage.

That's the specific gap Drive File Request fills: it authenticates with the narrow drive.file Google OAuth scope (which only grants access to files and folders the app itself creates, nothing else in your Drive), creates a dedicated folder per link, and gives every sender a single, private upload page.

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