Google Drive makes it incredibly easy to connect third-party applications to your account. Whether you authorized a PDF editor to sign a document, a mind-mapping tool to save a diagram, or a backup service to duplicate your files, these apps often request broad permissions to read, write, and delete data within your Drive. Over years of use, you can easily accumulate dozens of connected apps that you no longer use, but which still retain full access to your sensitive files. For the sake of data security and privacy, you should regularly audit and revoke permissions for apps you no longer trust or use.
How to View All Connected Apps
You can manage all your third-party integrations directly from the Google Drive web interface. You do not need to hunt through your main Google Account settings.
- Open your web browser and navigate to drive.google.com. Ensure you are logged into your primary account.
- Look in the top-right corner of the screen and click the Settings icon (it looks like a gear).
- From the dropdown menu, select Settings.
- A new window will overlay your Drive. In the left-hand sidebar of this window, click on Manage apps.
You will now see a comprehensive, alphabetized list of every single application currently authorized to interact with your Google Drive data.
How to Revoke Permissions (Disconnect an App)
If you see an app on the list that you do not recognize, or a service you stopped using three years ago, you should disconnect it immediately.
- Scroll through the “Manage apps” list until you find the application you want to remove.
- Look to the far right of that specific app’s name, and click the Options button.
- From the small dropdown menu that appears, click Disconnect from Drive.
- A confirmation box will appear, warning you that the app will no longer be able to access your files. Click the blue Disconnect button to finalize the revocation.
Hidden App Data (and How to Delete It)
Disconnecting an app stops it from reading your files in the future. However, some apps create hidden, application-specific folders inside your Google Drive to store their own configuration data or save files. Disconnecting the app does not necessarily delete this hidden data, which can quietly consume your storage quota.
If an app has stored hidden data, the “Manage apps” list will tell you. Below the app’s description, you might see a line of text saying, “Hidden app data: 15 MB.”
If you see this, and you are absolutely certain you will never use the app again:
- Click the Options button next to the app.
- Select Delete hidden app data from the menu.
- Click the blue Delete button to confirm.
This action permanently erases the configuration files, freeing up your storage space and completely severing the app’s footprint on your account.