Using Google Drive on Arch Linux - KDE Plasma permalink

by Sarah Rogue on 25 September, 2025

NOTE: i’ve been told that problems exist with KDE, in general - not just KDE Plasma. so, if you’re having trouble getting Google Drive to work with Dolphin, these steps may just work anyway

also

i got this info from Reddit but can’t find the links - sorry about that

initial steps

first, install kio-gdrive

the following command is to install kio-gdrive on Arch Linux. i use CachyOS in particular but any pacman OS works

obviously, you can install kio-gdrive on other GNU/Linux operating systems

sudo pacman -S kio-gdrive

the problem is that simply installing kio-gdrive doesn’t work at all with KDE

however

it works just fine with GNOME

so, before you go to System Settings, Networking, Oneline Accounts, and add Google

do this first:

kate /usr/share/accounts/providers/kde/google.provider

delete all the contents (every line) and copy and paste this XML doc instead:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<provider id="google">
  <name>Google</name>

  <description>GNOME-ID, Google Drive and YouTube</description>
  <icon>im-google</icon>
  <translations>kaccounts-providers</translations>
  <domains>.*google\.com</domains>

  <template>
    <group name="auth">
      <setting name="method">oauth2</setting>
      <setting name="mechanism">web_server</setting>
      <group name="oauth2">
        <group name="web_server">
          <setting name="Host">accounts.google.com</setting>
          <setting name="AuthPath">o/oauth2/auth?access_type=offline&amp;approval_prompt=force</setting>
          <setting name="TokenPath">o/oauth2/token</setting>
          <setting name="RedirectUri">http://localhost/oauth2callback</setting>

          <setting name="ResponseType">code</setting>
          <setting type="as" name="Scope">[
              'https://www.googleapis.com/auth/userinfo.email',
              'https://www.googleapis.com/auth/userinfo.profile',
              'https://www.googleapis.com/auth/calendar',
              'https://www.googleapis.com/auth/tasks',
              'https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive'
          ]</setting>
          <setting type="as" name="AllowedSchemes">['https']</setting>
          <setting name="ClientId">44438659992-7kgjeitenc16ssihbtdjbgguch7ju55s.apps.googleusercontent.com</setting>
          <setting name="ClientSecret">-gMLuQyDiI0XrQS_vx_mhuYF</setting>
          <setting type="b" name="ForceClientAuthViaRequestBody">true</setting>
        </group>
      </group>
    </group>
  </template>
</provider>

of course, be sure and save the file - it will prompt you for your sudo password and save the file just fine

next steps

now, go into System Settings

under the Networking section on the left

select Online Accounts

on the upper, right, click + Add Account and choose Google

it should look like

notice it says GNOME and not KDE

enter your Gmail account address and password on the next screens. i use Passkeys, so it’s a bit different for me, but still works

once you’re logged in and given GNOME all the settings, Dolphin will just work, as-is

in Network, Google Drive, of course

and, obviously, you can pin it as well

conclusion

yes, it’s a bit of work - but very doable

the file, above, is also available for you to just download and use as is - it’s exactly the same as above

File: google.provider

md5sum: a65ed15fb05cb710409434d5f6b87171