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I was able to download a file (over 70GB when already uploaded as a zip file) with no problems 6 months ago but now it splits everything into multiple zip files? Why is this?

3 Answers 3

15

You can also use Google's Takeout system for downloading one large folder from Google Drive. It allows up to 50GB .zip files.

Here are the main steps:

  1. In Google Drive temporarily move the folder you want to download to the top level of your drive (the "My Drive" folder).
  2. Go to https://takeout.google.com/settings/takeout
  3. On Step 1: Select data to include deselect all except for Drive. Then click the "All Drive Selected" button enter image description here

  4. Uncheck "Include all files and folders in Drive", select the one folder you want. Then proceed to the next step enter image description here

  5. Under "File type & size" be sure to change the folder size to 50GB. enter image description here

  6. Confirm and wait for the download link via email enter image description here

Notes:

  • This assumes you are the owner of the files.
  • Don't forget to move your folder back to it's original location afterwards
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  • I know it's not the question asked, but a tip: If you have tools to extract tar.gz files (if on linux you probably do), they in many cases have a slightly better compression ratio compared to zip. May 26, 2021 at 16:27
3

Chunk zipping is a new Google Drive standard for downloading a large bundle of files (or single file) from the internet. You can try this tutorial on how to download a file from Google Drive using the command line API:

1. Get the file ID:

  • go to your Google Drive
  • right-click the file you want to download
  • click on Get shareable link
  • link looks like this: https://drive.google.com/open?id=xxx where xxx is the ID you will need after few more steps

2. Get an OAuth token:

  • go to OAuth 2.0 Playground
  • under Select the Scope box, scroll down to Drive API v3
  • expand it and select https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.readonly
  • click on the blue Authorize APIs button
  • login if you are prompted
  • and then click on Exchange authorization code for tokens to get a token
  • copy the Access token for further use

3. Download the file:

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  • Does this work for folders?
    – RoG
    Aug 23, 2022 at 10:07
3

As an alternative to using the APIs, install Backup & Sync and download your file that way - it's simpler.

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  • 1
    This tool does not download a large file. Start over again and again. Aug 5, 2020 at 15:52

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