Google Drive: Move a file — MCP tool

Google Drive MCP tool: Relocates a file or folder into another folder or shared drive.

Technical name: move_file

What task it solves

I want to move a file to a different folder.

Re-parents a file: by default it leaves all current parents (a real move); optionally it only adds the new parent.

When to use it

Use it to organize existing files — the file keeps its id, sharing and comments, only its location changes. For a duplicate in the new place use copy_file instead.

What to provide

• file_id — required. The file or folder to move.
• new_parent_id — required. Destination folder or shared-drive id (root = My Drive top level).
• keep_existing_parents — optional. Add the new parent without removing the old ones (My Drive only).

What it returns

id, name and the new parents (plus driveId when it landed in a shared drive).

What changes in Google Drive

The file disappears from its old folder and appears in the new one for everyone it is shared with. The old location is overwritten — that is why the tool is flagged as overwriting existing state.

Example request

Move last month's invoices into the "Archive/2026-07" folder in Google Drive.

Errors and limitations

Shared-drive items always have exactly one parent, so keep_existing_parents fails there. Moving between My Drive and a shared drive changes ownership rules and can be rejected by the drive's settings. The move costs one extra read (current parents are fetched first).

Related MCP tools

• Copy a file — duplicate instead of relocating.
• Create a folder — make the destination first.

Technical details

• Impact: destructive operation
• Group: Files
• Description source: move_file registration in src/tools/files.ts
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