"This file is too large to be exported" error on Zap when moving file from root of Google Drive to a folder

Hi ​@Sc40 

You can try this approach:

• Add a "Delay by Zapier" Action: Place this step after your Google Drive trigger ("New File in Folder") and before the "Move File" action .

• Set the Delay Duration: Set it for 1 to 2 minutes. This small pause gives the external API enough time to finish saving the file, ensuring it is fully ready for Zapier to move 

Documentation:

•  Common Problems with Google Drive - Zapier Help Center 

•  Delay queues after new files are added to a folder in Google Drive

Hope this helps!

Hi ​@Sc40 

Help links for using GDrive in Zaps: https://zapier.com/apps/google-drive/integrations#help

Help links for using files in Zaps: https://help.zapier.com/hc/en-us/articles/8496288813453-Send-files-in-Zap-workflows#h_01JK6FEBYY8ZZVZYS10BS5R936

• Files larger than 100 MB may result in a timeout error.
• Zapier also has a 150 MB limit for downloading (hydrating) files from connected apps.

Hi ​@Sc40 👋

You’re right, even at 15MB the files shouldn't be giving you that “This file is too large to be exported” error. If you replay the errored Zap runs are they successful, or do they still error?

Also, did you have any luck with the Delay action Fahad suggested?

One thing worth separating out: the 100 and 150 MB figures are Zapier limits for hydrating a binary file, but a native Google Doc has no bytes of its own, so Drive has to export it before anything can read it, and that export endpoint tops out around 10 MB. That matches the pattern you are seeing, where the 4 MB docs go through and the ones up near 15 MB do not, and it also explains why the delay did not change anything, since it is a size ceiling rather than a timing problem. A move in Drive is only a change of parent folder, so the way out is a step that never touches the content. A Webhooks by Zapier PATCH to the Drive files endpoint with addParents and removeParents performs the move without triggering an export. Better still, if the system generating the doc can be told which folder to create it in, the move step disappears entirely. Worth confirming first: the runs that fail should be the largest files every single time. If a 5 MB one ever fails, then it is something else and the export ceiling is a red herring.

Thanks all for your replies to this problem - and apologies for the delay in updating.

​@Fahad S  - thank you for your suggestion of the delay. Still a noobie in many areas of Zapier and discovering the delay has opened my eyes to what is possible. Sadly we are stil getting the issue, so onto the next step.

​@SamB - Thank you for your suggestion of replaying the Zap. Will test that on the next occurrence. Sadly no luck with Farhad’s suggestion.

​@aiappsapi - Thanks for your suggestion - this sounds promising as a next step. If I’m understanding correctly - if we use the addParents and removeParents this performs the equivalent of a move in Google Drive without doing the export (and hitting file limits). If we did this as part of the API - we can eliminate the move in Zapier (and the problem) - this i will pass on to the developer.  In the mean time, i’ll start experimenting within Zapier to try out your suggestion.

More to come following the tests - thanks all!
 

Thanks for the update ​@Sc40! Look forward to hearing how the tests go. 🙂