Usage limits  |  Google Drive  |  Google for Developers (2024)

As the Google Drive API is a shared service, we apply quotas and limitations tomake sure it's used fairly by all users and to protect the overall performanceof the Google Workspace system.

Notifications delivered to the address specified whenopening a notification channel don't count against your quota limits. However,calls to the changes.watch,channels.stop, andfiles.watch methods do count againstyour quota.

If you exceed a quota, you'll receive a 403: User rate limitexceededHTTP status code response. Additional rate limit checks on theDrive backend might also generate a 429: Too manyrequestsresponse. If this happens, you should use an exponential backoffalgorithm and try again later. Provided you stay within theper-minute quotas below, there's no limit to the number of requests you can makeper day.

The following table details the query limits:

Resolve time-based quota errors

For all time-based errors (maximum of N requests per X minutes), we recommend your code catches the exception and uses a truncated exponential backoff to make sure your devices don't generate excessive load.

Exponential backoff is a standard error handling strategy for network applications. An exponential backoff algorithm retries requests using exponentially increasing wait times between requests, up to a maximum backoff time. If requests are still unsuccessful, it's important that the delays between requests increase over time until the request is successful.

Example algorithm

An exponential backoff algorithm retries requests exponentially, increasing the wait time between retries up to a maximum backoff time. For example:

1. Make a request to Google Drive API.
2. If the request fails, wait 1 + random_number_milliseconds and retry the request.
3. If the request fails, wait 2 + random_number_milliseconds and retry the request.
4. If the request fails, wait 4 + random_number_milliseconds and retry the request.
5. And so on, up to a maximum_backoff time.
6. Continue waiting and retrying up to some maximum number of retries, but don't increase the wait period between retries.

where:

• The wait time is min(((2^n)+random_number_milliseconds), maximum_backoff), with n incremented by 1 for each iteration (request).
• random_number_milliseconds is a random number of milliseconds less than or equal to 1,000. This helps to avoid cases in which many clients are synchronized by some situation and all retry at once, sending requests in synchronized waves. The value of random_number_milliseconds is recalculated after each retry request.
• maximum_backoff is typically 32 or 64 seconds. The appropriate value depends on the use case.

The client can continue retrying after it has reached the maximum_backoff time. Retries after this point don't need to continue increasing backoff time. For example, if a client uses a maximum_backoff time of 64 seconds, then after reaching this value, the client can retry every 64 seconds. At some point, clients should be prevented from retrying indefinitely.

The wait time between retries and the number of retries depend on your use case and network conditions.

Pricing

All use of the Google Drive API is available at no additional cost. Exceeding the quota request limits doesn't incur extra charges and your account is not billed.

Request a quota increase

Depending on your project's resource usage, you might want to request a quota increase. API calls by a service account are considered to be using a single account. Applying for an increased quota doesn't guarantee approval. Large quota increases can take longer to be approved.

Not all projects have the same quotas. As you increasingly use Google Cloud overtime, your quotas might need to increase. If you expect a notable upcomingincrease in usage, you can proactivelyrequest quota adjustmentsfrom the Quotas pagein the Google Cloud console.

To learn more, see the following resources:

• About quota increase requests
• View your current quota usage and limits
• Request a higher quota limit