Get or Create a Drive Folder by Name

Exports, backups, and client drop folders all need a stable place in Drive. This returns the first child folder with that name under a parent, or creates it.

What you'll need

  • A parent Folder (DriveApp.getRootFolder(), or a known folder ID)
  • Drive create/read permission for that parent

How to use this snippet

function getOrCreateFolder(parent, name) { var folders = parent.getFoldersByName(name); if (folders.hasNext()) { return folders.next(); } return parent.createFolder(name); } function ensureExportFolder() { var root = DriveApp.getFolderById('YOUR_PARENT_FOLDER_ID'); var year = Utilities.formatDate(new Date(), Session.getScriptTimeZone(), 'yyyy'); return getOrCreateFolder(root, 'Exports-' + year); }

Tips:

  • If multiple folders share the name, this returns the first — keep names unique under a parent.
  • Prefer folder IDs in production scripts so renames don't break paths.

Happy Coding!

Tags

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