Make a Copy of Folders in Google Drive with Google Scripts

In Google Drive, there’s no easy way to clone a folder. You can make a copy of individual files but there’s no command for creating duplicate folders that are a mirror of another folder. Fortunately, there’s Google Script to the rescue. The only downside is that the script execution may time out if you are trying to copy a large folder with several sub-folders and files.

function start() {
  var sourceFolder = 'source';
  var targetFolder = 'target';

  var source = DriveApp.getFoldersByName(sourceFolder);
  var target = DriveApp.createFolder(targetFolder);

  if (source.hasNext()) {
    copyFolder(source.next(), target);
  }
}

function copyFolder(source, target) {
  var folders = source.getFolders();
  var files = source.getFiles();

  while (files.hasNext()) {
    var file = files.next();
    file.makeCopy(file.getName(), target);
  }

  while (folders.hasNext()) {
    var subFolder = folders.next();
    var folderName = subFolder.getName();
    var targetFolder = target.createFolder(folderName);
    copyFolder(subFolder, targetFolder);
  }
}
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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Awards & Titles

Digital Inspiration has won several awards since it's launch in 2004.

Google Developer Expert

Google Developer Expert

Google awarded us the Google Developer Expert award recogizing our work in Google Workspace.

ProductHunt Golden Kitty

ProductHunt Golden Kitty

Our Gmail tool won the Lifehack of the Year award at ProductHunt Golden Kitty Awards in 2017.

Microsoft MVP Alumni

Microsoft MVP Alumni

Microsoft awarded us the Most Valuable Professional (MVP) title for 5 years in a row.

Google Cloud Champion

Google Cloud Champion

Google awarded us the Champion Innovator title recognizing our technical skill and expertise.

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