Google Drive in EmpiricCommander

EmpiricCommander connects to your Google Drive so you can work with cloud files alongside local ones in the same dual-pane view. Drive feels like any other connection, with one deliberate difference: you pick the folders you want EmpiricCommander to see, rather than handing it your entire Drive.

How it works

EmpiricCommander uses Google's drive.fileOAuth scope. This scope is the per-file permission model Google designed for third-party file tools: an app sees only the files and folders the user explicitly picks through Google's Picker, plus anything the app itself creates. Apps with this scope cannot enumerate your full Drive tree.

The trade-off is intentional. It is the same model the iOS Files app uses for third-party cloud providers: pick once, work freely inside the picked scope, no surprise blanket access.

What you can do

Pick folders or files from anywhere in your Drive via the Google Picker. EmpiricCommander remembers them as accessible roots.
Browse, open, create, rename, delete inside any picked folder, just like a local folder.
Cross-provider copy and move between Drive and your other connections - SFTP, S3, Azure, WebDAV, iCloud, local. Drag a file from your S3 bucket into a picked Drive folder and it transfers directly between the two providers through the app on your device, never through our servers.
Use Quick Look and rich preview on Drive files (PDF, code, CSV, YAML, Markdown, images, video) the same way you would for local files.
Pin Drive folders as workspaces (macOS, iPad) so they reopen with the same layout.

What you cannot do

Browse your entire Drive as a single tree without picking roots. To work with a file or folder, you pick it first. This is a Google privacy boundary, not an EmpiricCommander limitation.
See files other users shared with youuntil you pick them through the Picker. Items in "Shared with me" that you have not explicitly picked are not visible to the app.
See existing contents of a folder you only picked the folder for. Under drive.file, picking a folder grants access to the folder itself and to files you create inside it through EmpiricCommander, but not to files that already lived there before you picked it. To work with existing files, pick the individual files via the Picker - or upload new files into the picked folder from EmpiricCommander, which the app will see.

Connect your Drive (macOS)

Open Manage Connections from the Remotes menu or the sidebar.
Click + to add a new connection and choose Google Drive from the Type dropdown.
Click Sign in with Google. Your system browser opens with Google's OAuth consent screen.
The consent screen shows the exact scope EmpiricCommander asks for: "See, edit, create, and delete only the specific Google Drive files you use with this app." Click Continue.
The browser redirects back to EmpiricCommander automatically. The new connection now shows a green checkmark in Manage Connections.
To expose files or folders from Drive, click the small folder-with-plus icon next to the Google Drive row.
The system browser opens the Google Drive Picker at empiricapps.com/empiric-commander/oauth/google/picker. Choose the items you want (we recommend picking individual files - see the caveat above), then click Select.
The browser redirects back to EmpiricCommander. The picked items appear at the root of the Google Drive connection.
Click the bolt (Connect) on the connection row to open it in the active pane.

You can return to step 6 any time to add more files. Each pick is appended to the connection's root.

Where your Drive data lives

File contents move directly between your device and Google. Empiric Apps servers never see, store, or relay them. The single exception is cross-provider transfers (for example, copying a Drive file into S3): the bytes still stream through the app on your device, just between two endpoints instead of one.

We do not:

Use Drive content to train AI or machine-learning models.
Transfer Drive data to advertising tools or analytics platforms.
Sell or rent Drive data to third parties.
Allow humans to read Drive content, except with your explicit consent or for legally required investigations.

These guarantees are required by Google's API Services User Data Policy and we apply them in EmpiricCommander's code and operations. See our Privacy Policy for the formal disclosure.

Revoke access

You can disconnect Drive in two equivalent ways. Either action terminates EmpiricCommander's access immediately.

Inside EmpiricCommander. Settings -> Connections -> Google Drive -> Disconnect. This deletes the locally cached OAuth tokens and metadata, and tells Google to revoke the token.
From your Google account. Visit myaccount.google.com/permissions, locate EmpiricCommander, and remove access. The next time the app tries to refresh its Drive token it gets a 401 and treats the connection as disconnected.

Common questions

Why does EmpiricCommander not show my whole Drive?: Google's privacy model for non-Drive-replacement apps is per-file: an app can only see what you pick. We chose this scope intentionally, because full-Drive access requires Google's most expensive verification path (annual third-party security audit). For 99% of file-manager use cases, per-folder picking is the same workflow with stronger privacy guarantees.
Can I add Drive folders without re-authorizing?: Yes. Once Drive is connected, opening the Picker any time adds the new picks to the existing connection. You only authorize once per Google account.
What happens if I delete a picked folder in Drive?: EmpiricCommander surfaces it as a missing folder on the next refresh. You can remove it from the connection or pick a replacement.
Does EmpiricCommander work with Shared Drives?: Yes. The Picker lets you select folders from Shared Drives the same way as from My Drive, subject to the access your Google account has on each Shared Drive.
Where are my Google credentials stored?: Google's access and refresh tokens are stored in the system Keychain on each device. They never leave your device.