Capture Google Drive for desktop logs for support

If you contact Google Workspace support about a Google Drive for desktop issue, you might be asked to send log files to help resolve the problem.

Collect Drive for desktop log files

  1. On your computer, in the menu bar, click Drive for desktop .

    If you can’t open Drive for desktop, use your computer’s tools to collect logs. On this page go to Capture logs when Drive for desktop isn't available.

  2. Press and hold the Shift key and click Settings and thenGenerate Diagnostic Info.
    You’ll get a notification when a ZIP file of the logs is saved to your desktop.
  3. Send the ZIP file to your support agent.

Analyze log files yourself (Optional)

After you capture the log files, you can use the Log Analyzer 2 tool to diagnose your Drive for desktop problems.

  1. Open Log Analyzer 2.
  2. Click Autodetectand thenDrive for desktopand thenChoose file.
  3. Unzip and upload the file.
  4. Click Analyze.
  5. (Optional) To look for other issues, you can also try analyzing existing log files, such as drive_fs.txt or drive_fs_1.txt.

Capture logs when Drive for desktop isn't available

Important: Only use these instructions if you can't open Drive for desktop, or you need to collect logs that include sign-in or sign-out events. We recommend that you try collecting Drive for desktop logs in the app first. These logs are easier to collect and usually sufficient for support.

Collect Windows logs for Drive for desktop
  1. Open File Explorer.
  2. In the URL box, enter %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Google\DriveFS and press Enter.
  3. Right-click the Logs folderand thenclick Shareand thenZip.
  4. Send the Logs.zip file to your support agent.
Collect macOS logs for Drive for desktop
  1. Open Finder.
  2. Press Command+Shift+g.
  3. Enter ~/Library/Application Support/Google/DriveFS and press Enter.
  4. Right-click the Logs folder and select Compress “Logs”.
  5. Send the Logs.zip file to your support agent.

Advanced: Capture fine Drive for desktop logs for support

Don't gather fine logs unless Google Workspace support has explicitly requested them. Fine logging produces a large amount of data that can overwrite useful debugging information if left active for long.
Gather fine logs in the app
  1. On your computer, in the menu bar click Drive for desktop .
  2. Press and hold the Shift key and click Settings .
  3. Click Enable verbose logging.
  4. Click Drive for desktop again.
  5. Reproduce the issue as quickly as possible and note the time the issue occurred.
  6. Press and hold the Shift key and click Settings .
  7. Click Generate Diagnostic Info.
    You’ll get a notification when the ZIP file is added to your desktop.
  8. Press and hold the Shift key and click Settings .
  9. Click Disable verbose logging.
  10. Send the ZIP file to your support agent.
Gather fine logs on Windows (only if you can't open the app)
  1. Make sure that Drive for desktop is not running. Check the right side of the task bar and confirm that the Google Drive icon is not there.
  2. Note the version of Drive for desktop that’s installed. If you don’t know, open Explorer and go to C:\Program Files\Google\Drive File Stream\ . The folder that starts with the highest number is the version you installed.
  3. Open a command prompt:
    • Press Windows+r.
    • Click Runand thenenter cmdand thenpress Enter.
  4. At the command prompt, enter the following command and replace X.X.X.X with your Drive for desktop version from step 2:
    "C:\Program Files\Google\Drive File Stream\X.X.X.X\GoogleDriveFS.exe" --module_log_level="*:LOG_FINE”
  5. Reproduce the issue as quickly as possible and note the time when the issue occurred.
  6. Follow the steps on this page to collect logs for Windows.
Gather fine logs on macOS with Finder (only if you can't open the app)
  1. Go to /Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app and open the Terminal app.
  2. Make sure that Drive for desktop is not running. Check the right side of the menu bar and confirm that the Google Drive icon is not there.
  3. At the prompt in the Terminal app, enter the following command:

    /Applications/Google\ Drive.app/Contents/MacOS/Google\ Drive --module_log_level="*:LOG_FINE"

  4. Reproduce the issue as quickly as possible and note the time the issue occurred.
  5. Follow the steps on this page to collect logs for macOS.

Related topics


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