How can I trash only the files inside a Google Drive folder while keeping the folder intact?

To move just the contents (child files) of a folder without trashing the folder itself, you must:

1. List the Files in the Folder:
   Use the Drive API's list functionality with a query (q) that finds files whose parent is the folder’s ID. For example, using Drive API v2, you can query:

   q="'<FOLDER_ID>' in parents"
   

   This returns all files directly inside that folder.

2. Trash Each File Individually:
   For each file returned from the query, call the trash endpoint or update its trashed status. For instance, with:

   POST https://www.googleapis.com/drive/v2/files/{fileId}/trash
   

   Replace {fileId} with the ID of each file.
   Note: If you used the folder’s ID with this endpoint, it would move the folder itself, not just its contents.

---

Node.js Example

Below is a sample Node.js snippet that uses the googleapis package to list files in a folder and then move each one to trash:

JAVASCRIPTCopied
const { google } = require('googleapis');
const drive = google.drive('v2');

async function trashFolderContents(auth, folderId) {
  // First, list all files in the specified folder
  const listResponse = await drive.files.list({
    auth,
    q: `'${folderId}' in parents`,
  });

  const files = listResponse.data.items;
  if (!files || files.length === 0) {
    console.log('No files found in the folder.');
    return;
  }

  // Loop through each file and move it to trash
  for (const file of files) {
    try {
      await drive.files.trash({
        auth,
        fileId: file.id,
      });
      console.log(`Trashed file: ${file.title} (${file.id})`);
    } catch (error) {
      console.error(`Failed to trash file ${file.title} (${file.id}):`, error);
    }
  }
}

// Example usage:
// Ensure you have a valid OAuth2 client as `auth` and replace 'YOUR_FOLDER_ID_HERE' with the target folder ID.
trashFolderContents(auth, 'YOUR_FOLDER_ID_HERE');

---

Key Points

• Querying Files:
  Use the query parameter (q) to list files by specifying '<FOLDER_ID>' in parents. This ensures you only retrieve the contents of that folder.

• Trashing Files:
  Process each file individually by calling the trash endpoint. There isn't a single API call that trashes all files in a folder in one go.

• Handling Pagination:
  If the folder contains many files, be sure to handle pagination by checking for and using the nextPageToken in the list response.

This approach keeps your folder intact while moving its contents to the trash.