Build a Snapshot Tool That Backs Up Your Google Drive Folders

Your muse can build a small tool that copies your chosen Google Drive folders into a dated snapshot folder on a weekly, monthly, or yearly schedule, so you can roll a folder back to how it was before a tidy-up went wrong.

What it does

Google Drive cannot put a whole folder back to how it looked last week. A snapshot can. The tool is one Google Apps Script file, a small program that runs inside your Google account. On its schedule it copies the folders you picked into a Snapshots folder with the date in the name. Shortcuts stay as shortcuts instead of turning into full copies. Drive scripts stop after about six minutes, so the tool picks up where it left off and carries on, which let its first big run work through about 6,000 items. Back up first, then let any agent tidy.

How to use it

1. Pick one small folder to test with, and decide the schedule and how many dated copies to keep.
2. Ask the muse to write the script: copy the chosen folders into a dated Snapshots folder, keep shortcuts as shortcuts, and resume after the time limit instead of starting over.
3. Follow the install steps the muse gives you in Google Apps Script, and read what the script will reach before you approve its access to your Drive.
4. Run it once on the test folder and open the snapshot to check the copies are real and readable.
5. When the test looks right, point it at the folders that matter and set the schedule.
6. Clear out old snapshots you no longer need.

What you need

• A Muse account
• A Google account with the Drive folders you want protected
• Room in your Drive storage, since every snapshot copy counts against it
• About an hour to set up and test

What to watch for

• Snapshots use real storage. A large folder copied every week adds up fast, so keep fewer copies of big folders and more copies of small, important ones.
• A snapshot is a copy at one moment, not a live mirror. Run one by hand before any big reorganization, not after.
• Test on a small folder first. A script that copies the wrong folder, or copies copies of itself, wastes storage and is a mess to clean up.
• The script runs with your Google account's permission. If you stop trusting it, open Apps Script and remove its access and its schedule.
• The muse prepares, you decide. Approving the folder list before the first full run keeps this a safety net instead of a new problem.