Move Files to Another Folder with Google Scripts

The File or Folder class in Google Scripts offers no direct method to move files from one folder in Google Drive to another. You do have an option to add files to multiple folders and we can use the same technique to move files across folders.

function moveFiles(source_folder, dest_folder) {
  var files = source_folder.getFiles();

  while (files.hasNext()) {
    var file = files.next();
    dest_folder.addFile(file);
    source_folder.removeFile(file);
  }
}

Alternatively, you can copy a to another folder, set its name to the original file and then trash the original using the setTrashed(true) method of File. This method will however fail if the files have been uploaded by another user while the script is running under a different user.

function copyFilesAndTrash(source_folder, dest_folder) {
  var files = source_folder.getFiles();

  while (files.hasNext()) {
    var file = files.next();
    file.makeCopy(target).setName(file.getName());
    file.setTrashed(true);
  }
}
Amit Agarwal

Amit Agarwal

Google Developer Expert, Google Cloud Champion

Amit Agarwal is a Google Developer Expert in Google Workspace and Google Apps Script. He holds an engineering degree in Computer Science (I.I.T.) and is the first professional blogger in India.

Amit has developed several popular Google add-ons including Mail Merge for Gmail and Document Studio. Read more on Lifehacker and YourStory

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