Import files from Google Drive

Last updated: October 11, 2026

Browse your studio's Google Drive inside Layer and import images, video and audio into the library in one step, and let the agent read the briefs and guidelines in a project's Drive folder.

Before you start

Google Drive is connected to the workspace. An admin does this once in Workspace Settings, Connectors; see Connect a service to your workspace.
Layer imports images, video and audio. Folders, documents and other file types stay in Drive. For the formats and sizes Layer accepts, see Supported file types and what you can do with them.

Steps

Select Google Drive in the sidebar. It appears once Drive is connected, and shows My Drive and the shared drives the connected account can see.
Open a drive and the folders you need, or type in Search Drive… to find a file by name.
Select the files you want, the same way you select assets in the library. A selection bar shows how many you have picked.
Click Import in the selection bar (it reads Import 3 to library for three files), or right-click the selection and choose Import to library.

Result

Layer confirms that the files are importing. They appear in the workspace library and finish processing shortly after; click View in library on the confirmation to go straight to them. The files in Drive are not changed or moved.

Limit what the workspace sees

An admin can scope Drive to one folder so the browser shows only that folder and its subfolders. Open the … menu on the Google Drive row in Connectors and choose Scope to a folder. The scope narrows what Layer shows; it does not change who can open the files in Drive, so manage sharing in Drive itself.

Scoping, changing or removing the workspace folder removes the Drive folder links projects already have, and Layer asks you to confirm first.

Give a project its own folder

Link a project to a Drive folder from the project's settings: click the Project settings gear, then Link workspace connectors in the Connectors card, choose Google Drive and click Link this folder. The folder becomes the project's default location, and the agent, working in that project, can list the folder and read the text of its documents, sheets and slides. Ask it to "follow the brief in the Drive folder" and it reads the brief itself.

Production tips

Keep a references folder per feature. Link it to the feature's project so the agent reads its brief and guidelines, and import the image references from it once instead of uploading them by hand.
Import in one go, but check the selection. When any file in a selection cannot be imported, Layer imports none of them. Remove folders and unsupported files from the selection and try again.
Put text in Docs, Sheets or Slides. The agent reads those as text. It cannot read an image or a PDF's pages from the folder; import images to the library if the agent needs to see them.
Connect with a shared account. Connect Drive with an account that has access to the studio's shared drives, so a teammate leaving does not cut the workspace off.

If something goes wrong

Google Drive is not in the sidebar. Drive is not connected to the workspace. Ask an admin to connect it in Connectors.
Folders can't be imported. Open the folder and select the files inside it.
This file type can't be imported, or the file is too large. Layer imports images, video and audio within its upload limits. Export the file to a supported format, or upload it from your computer.
A shared drive or folder is missing. The connected Google account cannot see it, or the workspace is scoped to another folder. Share it with that account in Drive, or ask an admin to change the folder scope.