Why Doesn’t the n8n Google Drive Trigger Fire for Files Added via Desktop?

Based on your description, it doesn’t look like n8n is reporting an error—the issue is that Google Drive Trigger isn’t detecting file additions via Google Drive Desktop sync. This behavior usually happens because files added locally through the Desktop app aren’t creating the same events as files uploaded via the web interface. In other words, when the file is synced from your computer, the underlying Google Drive API may not register it as a “new” file event that the trigger is set up to catch.

Some points to consider:

• The trigger is designed to activate on events (usually file creation via the API). When you add a file through the desktop client, the sync process might update or mirror files in a way that bypasses the “new file” event.
• In your test, manually triggering the workflow or using the web interface works because those actions explicitly create a new file event in Google Drive.

A couple of approaches you might try:

1. Polling/Search Workflow: Instead of relying solely on trigger events, consider using a workflow that performs a file search (using the Google Drive node’s search operation) and sorts by modification time. This way you can periodically detect recent changes rather than waiting for a direct trigger.

2. Verify File Metadata: In cases where you rely on the trigger, review the metadata (such as the creation date or modified time) of a file uploaded via the desktop sync. It might help to understand whether the API sees it as a new file or simply as an update to an existing file.

Adjusting the workflow to handle these differences in file event detection between the desktop sync and direct uploads can help ensure that your processing (uploading to your S3 bucket and deleting the file on success) happens reliably.

Let me know if you need further details on setting up a polling workflow or additional troubleshooting steps!