Google Drive Addin
Browse and anonymize files from Google Drive (personal and Workspace) directly from cloak.business.
Prerequisites#
- A Google account (personal Gmail or Google Workspace)
- The Google Drive addin must be configured by an administrator (Google Cloud Console OAuth2 app)
Setup#
- Go to App → Addins → Google Drive
- Click Activate if not already active
- Click Sign in with Google
- A Google login popup opens — sign in with your Google account
- Grant the requested permissions (Google Drive access)
- The popup closes and you are connected
Browsing Files#
Google Drive starts at My Drive root. Navigate folders using breadcrumbs and the file list.
Supported file types in Google Drive:
| Type | Source | Processing |
|---|---|---|
| Google Docs | Native Google format | Exported as .docx then text extracted |
| Google Sheets | Native Google format | Exported as .xlsx then all cells read |
| Google Slides | Native Google format | Exported as .pptx then slide text read |
| Word Document | .docx | Text extraction via mammoth |
| Excel | .xlsx | All sheets and rows extracted |
| Text extracted via pdfjs | ||
| PowerPoint | .pptx | Text from all slides |
| Plain text | .txt .csv .json .xml .md | Direct text read |
| Images | .png .jpg .jpeg .bmp .tiff | PII detection via OCR |
Note: Google Docs native formats (Docs, Sheets, Slides) are automatically exported to the equivalent Office format before text extraction. No manual conversion needed.
Permissions#
| Permission | Reason |
|---|---|
| drive.readonly | Browse and download files |
| drive.file | Upload anonymized results (only files created by this app) |
| profile, email | Display your account name and email |
Saving Results#
Anonymized files are uploaded to the same folder as the original file with _anonymized appended to the filename. For example:
- Original:
report.pdfin/Documents/Q4/ - Result:
report_anonymized.txtin/Documents/Q4/
Processing Workflow#
- Select files — Browse to the folder and select one or more supported files. Multi-select via checkboxes.
- Analyze — The analyzer runs automatically on each file. Detected PII entities are listed with entity type, confidence score, and position. Google-native formats are exported to Office format first.
- Review operators — Assign anonymization operators per entity type: Replace, Redact, Mask, Hash, or Encrypt. Adjust confidence thresholds if needed.
- Anonymize — All confirmed entities are anonymized and the output is shown. Token cost is displayed before you confirm.
- Save to Drive — The anonymized output is uploaded to the same Drive folder with
_anonymizedappended. The original file is not modified. If you prefer, use Download to save the result locally without uploading.
Handling Shared Drives#
If your Google Workspace account has access to Shared Drives (Team Drives), they appear alongside My Drive in the file browser. Browsing and downloading from Shared Drives requires that your account has at least Viewer access to the shared drive. Uploading results back requires Editor or Content manager access. If the save fails due to insufficient permissions, use the Download option instead.
Re-authentication#
Google access tokens expire every hour but are automatically refreshed using the stored refresh token. As long as you do not revoke access in your Google Account settings, the connection stays active.
Disconnecting#
Click Sign out in the Connect step. This removes your tokens. You can reconnect at any time.
To revoke all access, visit myaccount.google.com/permissions and remove the cloak.business app.