Drive

Your Drive as paths. Files are encrypted before they leave your machine and decrypted after they arrive, block by block, with your keys.

Every command and flag is in the proton drive reference. This page is the things people actually do.

Look around

proton drive items list                       # the root
proton drive items list /Documents
proton drive items list /Build --pattern "*.tmp" --recursive
proton drive items get /Documents/report.pdf  # type, size, checksum, sharing state

Upload and download

proton drive items upload ./report.pdf /Documents
proton drive items upload --recursive ./project /Backup
pg_dump mydb | proton drive items upload - /Backups/db.sql

proton drive items download /Documents/report.pdf --output-dir ./downloads/
proton drive items download /Documents/report.pdf --output - | less

Uploads show progress on stderr. A name already taken is refused, so nothing is overwritten by accident; --if-exists answers the question instead:

proton drive items upload --if-exists replace ./report.pdf /Documents  # a new revision of it
proton drive items upload --if-exists rename ./report.pdf /Documents   # keeps both, as "report (1).pdf"
proton drive items upload --if-exists skip ./report.pdf /Documents     # leaves what is there alone

With --recursive the answer is about the folder the tree lands in. replace merges it file by file, rename puts the whole tree beside the old one as project (1), and skip writes none of it.

A file standing where a folder must go, or a folder where a file must go, is refused before anything is written.

Move, rename, copy, organize

proton drive items update /Documents/old.txt --name new.txt
proton drive items move /Documents/report.pdf --into /Archive
proton drive items copy /Documents/report.pdf --into /Archive
proton drive items create /Documents/2026/Q1/receipts   # makes 2026 and Q1 on the way

A path names every folder along it, so the ones above the last are made too: Created 3 folders down to /Documents/2026/Q1/receipts. The folder you asked for is the exception - a name Drive already holds is refused, as is a path running through a file.

Trash and delete

proton drive items trash /Documents/old.pdf     # reversible
proton drive items delete /Documents/old.pdf    # permanent
proton drive trash list
proton drive trash restore 7Kd91mQx
proton drive trash empty                        # permanent, across all volumes

trash, delete, move and copy all take filters instead of paths - --pattern, --larger-than, --smaller-than, --older-than, --newer-than, --scope, --recursive, --all. Try them with list or --dry-run first:

proton drive items list /Build --pattern "*.tmp" --recursive          # see what matches
proton drive items trash --scope /Build --pattern "*.tmp" --recursive
proton drive items delete --larger-than 100MB --scope /Downloads --recursive --dry-run

A trashed item has no place in the tree, so it has no path and is addressed by the ID its listing showed.

Earlier versions

Uploading over a file with --if-exists replace keeps what was there as a revision.

proton drive items revisions list /Documents/report.pdf
proton drive items revisions download /Documents/report.pdf 8f3a1c22 --output ./earlier.pdf
proton drive items revisions restore /Documents/report.pdf 8f3a1c22

download reads an old version out and leaves the file alone; restore puts one back in place.

Proton restores in the background, so the file changes a moment after the command returns. The version it replaces stays in the history, so a restore can itself be undone.

Neither command touches the version the file is at now. Restoring it would do nothing, and deleting it would be deleting the file.

proton drive items share link /Documents/report.pdf --expires 7d --password hunter2
proton drive items share get /Documents/report.pdf     # who has access, plus the link
proton drive items share unlink /Documents/report.pdf

proton drive items share add /Documents/project bob@proton.me --edit --message "Draft for review"
proton drive items share update /Reports jane@proton.me --edit=false
proton drive items share remove /Documents/report.pdf bob@proton.me

share update applies whether they have accepted yet or not. Nothing is re-encrypted - the key they hold still opens the share, and only what they may do with it changes. share resend sends an unanswered invitation again rather than cancelling and inviting afresh.

proton drive shared list       # what other people have shared with you
proton drive sharing list      # what you have left open
proton drive invitations list
proton drive invitations accept INVITATION_ID

An item somebody shared with you does not live in your tree, so it has no path. Address it by the ID the listing shows. One whose name cannot be read is still listed - knowing it is there is what lets you act on it.

Photos

proton drive photos list --tag favorites
proton drive photos upload ./IMG_0001.jpg
proton drive photos download 3Ns8pT2v --output-dir ./photos/
proton drive photos favorite 3Ns8pT2v

Tags are favorites, screenshots, videos, live-photos, motion-photos, selfies, portraits, bursts, panoramas and raw. Photos have no path either, so they are addressed by ID.

proton drive photos albums create --name Holiday
proton drive photos albums add ALBUM_ID PHOTO_ID...
proton drive photos list --album ALBUM_ID
proton drive photos albums delete Holiday --delete-photos

Settings

proton drive settings set version-history 30d

version-history is off, 7d, 30d, 180d, 1y or 10y - how long previous versions are kept. Keeping more than the default is a paid feature.