Drive

Upload, download, share and organize Proton Drive as ordinary paths. Files are encrypted before they leave your machine and decrypted after they arrive, block by block, with your keys.

This page is what people actually do. For every command and flag, see the reference: items, links, trash, photos, computers, shared, sharing, invitations, settings, volumes.

Look around

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

A filtered listing shows each item’s full path.

A filter such as --pattern opens every folder in its scope, which takes a while over a large tree. proton index create drive keeps a copy of the tree on this machine and answers from it instead, and --keyword then matches what your text files say as well as what they are called: Local index.

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

A folder needs --recursive, and lands as a directory of its own name inside --dest-dir. --dest names one file, so it is refused for a folder.

Transfers show progress on stderr.

A name already taken is refused. --if-exists answers 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:

`--if-exists`	With `--recursive`
`replace`	Merges the tree file by file
`rename`	Puts the whole tree beside the old one, as `project (1)`
`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

Every missing folder along the path is made: 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 list --sort trashed --desc --page 1
proton drive trash restore 7Kd91mQx
proton drive trash empty                        # permanent, and everything below

The trash is one list however many volumes it is spread over. Photos are kept on a volume of their own, and both trash list and trash empty cover them.

trash list pages and sorts like any other listing, and says how many items there are in total. trash empty deletes exactly that many.

trash, delete, move and copy all take filters instead of paths: --keyword, --pattern, --larger-than, --smaller-than, --older-than, --newer-than, --scope, --recursive and --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 filter that matches a folder and the files inside it selects the folder alone. See Filters and bulk changes.

A trashed item has no path. Address it 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 --dest ./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.

The file changes a moment after the command returns. The version it replaces stays in the history, and 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.

A public link

proton drive links create /Documents/report.pdf --expires 7d \
  --link-password-file /run/secrets/report-link
proton drive links get /Documents/report.pdf     # the URL, and what it allows
proton drive links list                          # every link you have open
proton drive links revoke /Documents/report.pdf

An item carries one link, so create on an item that already has one changes that link and the URL you sent keeps working.

The password comes from a file, never from a flag value, and is at most 50 characters. --link-password-file - reads it from standard input.

--expires never makes an expiring link permanent.
--clear-link-password removes the password.
--access editor lets anyone holding the link upload into it.

links list leaves the URLs out. To read one back, run links get.

With named people

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

share update applies whether they have accepted yet or not. Only what they may do with it changes.

share resend sends an unanswered invitation again rather than cancelling and inviting afresh.

With somebody who is not on Proton

Invite any address. Proton emails one without an account an invitation to create one.

proton drive items share add /Documents/project sam@example.com
proton drive items share get /Documents/project
proton drive items share confirm /Documents/project sam@example.com

Nothing reaches them until they have an account and you run share confirm. share get says which it is:

$ proton drive items share get /Documents/project
Path:     /Documents/project
Type:     folder
Invited:  sam@example.com (viewer, waiting for a Proton account)
Invited:  kim@example.com (editor, ready to confirm)

confirm is refused while they read waiting for a Proton account. Nothing tells you when that changes, so check with share get.

update, resend and remove work on these the way they work on any invitation.

A photo album, or one photo

An album is shared with named people and has no public link.

proton drive photos albums share add Holidays jane@proton.me --access editor
proton drive photos albums share get Holidays
proton drive photos albums share update Holidays jane@proton.me --access viewer
proton drive photos albums share remove Holidays jane@proton.me

Whoever you invite gets the photos the album holds, and anything you add to it afterwards.

share resend and share confirm work as they do for a file, and so does inviting an address that is not on Proton.

One photo takes either mechanism:

proton drive photos share add 5bH2mQxK jane@proton.me
proton drive photos links create 5bH2mQxK --expires 7d
proton drive photos links get 5bH2mQxK
proton drive photos links revoke 5bH2mQxK

Albums and photos have no path. Name an album by its name or ID, a photo by the ID photos list shows.

What is shared, and by whom

proton drive shared list       # what other people have shared with you
proton drive sharing list      # who you have let in
proton drive links list        # what a URL opens
proton drive invitations list
proton drive invitations accept INVITATION_ID

invitations list names what each offer is for:

$ proton drive invitations list
ID        FROM           TYPE    NAME       ROLE    CREATED
4Np72kRt  bob@proton.me  album   Holidays   viewer  2026-03-14 09:12
7Kd91mQx  kim@proton.me  folder  Q3 report  editor  2026-03-12 16:40

An item somebody shared with you has no path of its own. Open it with --shared, naming it by the ID or the name the listing showed:

proton drive items list / --shared Project              # a shared folder
proton drive items download /report.pdf --shared Project --dest-dir ./downloads/
proton drive items download / --shared quarterly.pdf    # a shared file is / itself

An album somebody shared with you is listed there as well, and opens like any other item, with its photos inside it:

proton drive items list / --shared Holidays
proton drive items download /IMG_2291.jpg --shared Holidays --dest-dir ./trip/

ROLE in shared list is what you may do there: a viewer lists and downloads, an editor uploads and changes things as well.

shared leave gives up an item somebody shared with you. It asks first; only a new invitation from them brings it back.

An item whose name cannot be decrypted is still listed and can be acted on by ID.

A link somebody sent you

A public link is a tree of its own. Name it with --link, and everything in it by path from its root:

proton drive items list / --link 'https://drive.proton.me/urls/7X2K9M3N1P#kQ81mDx4T9wL'
proton drive items download /Q3-report.pdf --link 'https://drive.proton.me/urls/7X2K9M3N1P#kQ81mDx4T9wL' --dest-dir ./downloads/
proton drive items download / --link 'https://drive.proton.me/urls/7X2K9M3N1P#kQ81mDx4T9wL' --dest-dir .

A link to a single file is / itself. Quote the link: the password is what follows the #, which a shell would otherwise drop.

A link with a password of its own takes it from a file, as links create does:

proton drive items download / --link 'https://drive.proton.me/urls/7X2K9M3N1P#kQ81mDx4T9wL' --link-password-file /run/secrets/q3-link --dest-dir .

A link that allows editing takes new files and folders. items get / shows Link Access: editor on one:

proton drive items upload ./photo.jpg / --link 'https://drive.proton.me/urls/7X2K9M3N1P#kQ81mDx4T9wL'
proton drive items create /2026 --link 'https://drive.proton.me/urls/7X2K9M3N1P#kQ81mDx4T9wL'
proton drive items upload --recursive ./album /2026 --link 'https://drive.proton.me/urls/7X2K9M3N1P#kQ81mDx4T9wL'

--if-exists rename and skip work in a link; replace is refused.

What you uploaded is yours to rename or delete for an hour:

proton drive items update /photo.jpg --name holiday.jpg --link 'https://drive.proton.me/urls/7X2K9M3N1P#kQ81mDx4T9wL'
proton drive items delete /photo.jpg --link 'https://drive.proton.me/urls/7X2K9M3N1P#kQ81mDx4T9wL'

Deleting is permanent: a link has no trash, and a folder goes with everything in it. delete names what is not yours before it asks. Nothing else in a link can be changed from here.

None of this needs an account. Signed in, what you upload names your address as Created By. Without an account it names nobody and cannot be changed afterwards. Behind a link, items get names nobody for anything you did not upload yourself, and reports Signature as anonymous.

Save a link to open it later without the URL or the password. Saving needs an account:

proton drive shared add 'https://drive.proton.me/urls/7X2K9M3N1P#kQ81mDx4T9wL'
proton drive shared list
proton drive items download / --shared Q3-report.pdf --dest-dir .
proton drive shared remove Q3-report.pdf

A saved link shows public link under SHARED BY. shared remove forgets it; the link itself keeps working, and shared add brings it back.

Report something shared with you

Report a file, folder or photo somebody shared with you, or one behind a link, to Proton:

proton drive items abuse /invoice.exe --shared Project --category malware --good-faith
proton drive items abuse / --link 'https://drive.proton.me/urls/7X2K9M3N1P#kQ81mDx4T9wL' --category spam --good-faith
proton drive items revisions abuse /report.pdf 5bH2mQxK --shared Project --category malware --good-faith
proton drive invitations abuse 5bH2mQxK --category spam --good-faith

--category is spam, copyright, child-abuse, non-consensual-intimate, stolen-data, malware or other. A copyright or stolen-data report also needs --message and --email.

--good-faith is your confirmation, in good faith, that what the report says is correct and complete. A report is refused without it.

Proton receives the key to the whole of what was shared, not only the item you name. Nothing withdraws a report, and the item stays where it is: proton drive shared leave and proton drive invitations decline give it up.

Your own files cannot be reported.

Computers

A computer running the Proton Drive desktop app syncs its files to your account, and they are a tree of their own rather than part of your files.

proton drive computers list
proton drive items list / --computer "Work laptop"
proton drive items download /Documents/report.pdf --computer 7Kd91mQx --dest-dir .
proton drive computers update "Work laptop" --name "Office PC"
proton drive computers delete 7Kd91mQx

Every items command takes --computer, and paths then start at that computer’s root. Only the desktop app can add a computer.

computers delete stops the syncing and takes the computer off the list. Set it up again by signing the desktop app in on it once more.

Photos

proton drive photos list --tag favorites
proton drive photos upload ./IMG_0001.jpg
proton drive photos download 3Ns8pT2v --dest-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; address them by ID.

photos upload leaves a photo the library already holds alone, with the same name and the same content, and says which photo it is. A different photo with the same name is uploaded beside it.

proton drive photos albums create --name Holiday
proton drive photos albums update Holiday --name "Holiday 2026"
proton drive photos albums add ALBUM_ID PHOTO_ID...
proton drive photos list --album ALBUM_ID
proton drive photos albums delete Holiday --delete-photos

To hand an album to somebody, or a link to one photo, see A photo album, or one photo.

After a password reset

A password reset locks the volume your files are on, and Drive starts again empty. The old files are still there, on a volume marked locked:

$ proton drive volumes list
ID        TYPE   STATE      USED  RESTORE  CREATED
────────  ─────  ──────  ───────  ───────  ────────────────
7Kd91mQx  files  active   1.2 GB           2026-05-04 09:14
3Ns8pT2v  files  locked  38.6 GB           2023-02-11 18:02
2 volumes.

Bring the keys back first, as under Account, then put the files back:

proton account keys reactivate
proton drive volumes restore 3Ns8pT2v

They come back as a folder named Restored files and the date. Proton moves them in its own time, so they appear as it finishes. Computers and the photo library stay where they are.

To give the old files up instead:

proton drive volumes delete 3Ns8pT2v

Proton removes them within 72 hours, and nothing brings them back afterwards.

Settings

proton drive settings set version-history 30d

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