Bulk create Google Drive folders

The following Google Apps Script code was developed to bulk create Google Drive folders with data from a given spreadsheet (eg to name the folders and add permissions). It uses the Module Name and Marker to form the folder name as it iterates through each row in turn. At the same time it takes the Marker Email Address and uses the 'DriveApp' to provide edit access to the folder. Finally it creates another sub-folder in each folder as an extra.

The Folder ID is stored directly in the spreadsheet rather than extracting from the Folder Link via regex (example here) just for simplicity purposes. A confirmatory Yes is placed in the Permissions Added? column to help verify success as the script loops through each row.

There are lots of comments in the code to explain what each line is doing and most of the features have been covered elsewhere in the blog. Remember to add your main Google Drive folder ID into the config sheet where all the sub-folders will be created under.

Note there is now an updated/improved version of this tool detailed here.

	function bulkCreateFolders() {
	// get current spreadsheet
	var ss = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet();
	// get root Folder Id from 'config' sheet
	var configSheet = ss.getSheetByName('config');
	var rootFolderId = configSheet.getRange(1, 2).getValue();
	Logger.log('Root folder id is: ' + rootFolderId);
	// get array of data from 'data' sheet and the last row
	var dataSheet = ss.getSheetByName('data');
	var data = dataSheet.getDataRange().getValues();
	var lastRow = dataSheet.getLastRow();
	// check a specific value from the collected data
	Logger.log('First marker is: ' + data[1][1]);
	// start of loop to go through each row in turn ********************************
	for (var i=1; i<lastRow; i++) {
	// extract values from row of data so easier to work with
	var moduleName = data[i][0];
	var marker = data[i][1];
	var markerEmail = data[i][2];
	// create a name for the new Folder
	var folderName = moduleName + ' - ' + marker;
	Logger.log('Folder name is: ' + folderName);
	// create new Drive Folder
	var newFolder = DriveApp.getFolderById(rootFolderId).createFolder(folderName);
	// get new Drive Folder Id for later use
	var newFolderId = newFolder.getId();
	// set Folder ID cell
	dataSheet.getRange(i+1, 4).setValue(newFolderId);
	// set Folder Link cell using Drive Folder Id
	dataSheet.getRange(i+1, 5).setFormula('=HYPERLINK("https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/'
	+ newFolderId + '")');
	// add Marker permission using email address
	newFolder.addEditor(markerEmail);
	// write confirmation into 'Permission Added?' cell
	dataSheet.getRange(i+1, 6).setValue('Yes');
	// create sub-folder **********************************
	var subFolderName = moduleName + ' - ' + 'Marksheets';
	var newSubFolder = newFolder.createFolder(subFolderName);
	// end of create sub-folder ***************************
	}// end of loop to go through each row in turn **********************************
	}

view raw Bulk create Google Drive folders.gs hosted with ❤ by GitHub

Bulk create Google Drive folders.xlsx (please use 'File' > 'Make a copy' for your own version).