---
title: "Archive submissions as Google Drive text files"
description: "Write every work order submission to a dated text file in a shared Google Drive folder, so the record lives outside the form tool and stays searchable."
url: "https://www.formformform.com/automations/google-drive-dated-text-archive"
type: static
generatedAt: "2026-08-23T18:56:58.727Z"
---
![Google Drive logo](/logos/integrations/google-drive.svg)

# Archive every submission as a dated text file

Each submission becomes a dated text file in one shared Drive folder, readable by anyone with access to it.

When this happens

New form submission in formformform

Do this

Create a new text file in a Google Drive folder containing the response details

One-directional. A submission triggers the action — nothing is written back into your form.

A dispatch desk taking work orders all day needs the record to outlive the form tool. This flow writes each submission into a shared Drive folder as its own text file, named with the date and the customer, so the job can be found by anyone who has the folder.

Operations teams reach for it when the response list is the only copy of a job. Drive indexes what is inside a text file, so a phrase from a problem description surfaces the call-out months later, and the folder can be opened by a subcontractor who has no login of their own.

## Setting it up

1.  1
    
    Publish the Work Order Form template and keep Problem Description required — a file with an empty body is not worth archiving.
    
2.  2
    
    In Drive, make the folder the archive will fill. Put it on a shared drive rather than in My Drive if the team needs it after whoever built the Zap has left.
    
3.  3
    
    In Zapier, choose formformform as the trigger app with New Submission, select the work order form, and pull a real submission through so every field token is available.
    
4.  4
    
    Add the Google Drive Create File from Text action and point its Folder field at the archive folder you just made.
    
5.  5
    
    Build the File Name from the submission date, then Customer Name, then Service Type, so the folder sorts chronologically and still reads as a list of jobs.
    
6.  6
    
    Assemble the body in the File Content box: Urgency on the first line, then Service Location Address, Preferred Service Date and Problem Description, each on its own line.
    
7.  7
    
    Leave Convert to Document off for plain .txt files, or turn it on if the team would rather comment on the record inside Google Docs.
    
8.  8
    
    Send a test, open the file in Drive to confirm the line breaks survived, then switch the Zap on.
    

## What maps where

Using the [Work Order Form](https://www.formformform.com/templates/work-order-form) as the starting point. These are its real fields — swap in your own and the mapping works the same way.

Form field

Google Drive

Customer Name

File name, after the submission date

Service Type

File name, after the customer name

Urgency

First line of the file body

Service Location Address

Address line in the file body

Preferred Service Date

Scheduling line in the file body

Problem Description

Main body of the text file

## Variations worth knowing

Split the archive into monthly folders

A folder holding two years of call-outs is slow to open. Put a Zapier Formatter step before the action to render the submission date as a month name, add a Google Drive Find or Create Folder step using that value, then point Create File from Text at the folder it returns. Each month closes itself.

Copy the urgent jobs into a second folder

Add a parallel action with a Zapier filter on Urgency so only the top level continues, writing a second file into an Escalations folder a supervisor watches. The main branch keeps writing every job, so the escalation folder is a shortlist and never the only copy of the record.

## If something isn't arriving

The folder fills with files that all carry the same name.

Drive allows identical names in one folder, so nothing is overwritten but nothing is distinguishable either. Rebuild the File Name from tokens that always differ — the submission date and Customer Name together are usually enough, and adding Service Type separates two visits on one day.

The whole body arrives as one long line.

Create File from Text keeps exactly the spacing you typed into File Content. Press Enter between the mapped tokens in that box rather than leaving them side by side, and use a blank line before Problem Description so the description reads as a paragraph of its own.

## Frequently asked questions

Should the archive folder sit in My Drive or on a shared drive?

Use a shared drive. Files in My Drive belong to one person and leave with their account, while a shared drive keeps ownership with the team. The Zap works with either, so the choice is about who still has the archive in two years.

Can the customer attach a photo of the fault?

Yes. Add a File Upload field and the photo arrives attached to the submission, where you open it from the response record. What it will not do is travel into Drive: the Zap receives a reference to the upload rather than the image itself, so the archived text file describes the fault and the photo stays in formformform. Uploads are capped at 2 MB per file, so for a full-resolution shot or a whole set of them keep a URL field as well and map that link into the file body beside the problem description.

Is the file link written back onto the submission?

No. Data travels one way only: the submission triggers the Drive action and nothing returns to the form or the response record. If someone needs the file link, send it from Drive or from your email tool after the Zap has run.

## Related automations

-   [Collect speaker details into a per-session folder](https://www.formformform.com/automations/google-drive-speaker-folders-per-session)
    
    Every speaker submission opens a folder for that session in Drive, with the bio, topic and AV needs already filed.
    
-   [Create a project folder for every new client](https://www.formformform.com/automations/google-drive-folder-per-new-client)
    
    A folder named after the client appears in Drive the moment intake is submitted, with the brief already inside it.
    
-   [Log customer suggestions as files the team can browse](https://www.formformform.com/automations/google-drive-feedback-archive-for-team)
    
    Every suggestion becomes a file in a shared Drive folder, grouped by type so the whole team can browse the archive.
    
-   [Save every candidate registration to a hiring folder](https://www.formformform.com/automations/google-drive-candidate-files-one-folder)
    
    Every registration becomes a candidate file in one shared hiring folder, named so a recruiter can scan the roster.
    
-   [Turn a quote request into a draft agreement](https://www.formformform.com/automations/google-drive-quote-to-draft-agreement)
    
    Each quote request copies your master agreement in Drive and fills in the client, the service and the scope.
    
-   [Append every support request to a running log](https://www.formformform.com/automations/dropbox-support-request-log)
    
    Every help desk submission appends a line to one shared Dropbox text file, so the team reads the day's requests in order.
    

-   [All Google Drive integration details →](https://www.formformform.com/integrations/google-drive)
-   [Start from the Work Order Form →](https://www.formformform.com/templates/work-order-form)
-   [Browse every automation →](https://www.formformform.com/automations)

## Build the form first

The automation needs somewhere to fire from. Publish a form, connect it once, and every submission from then on runs this flow.

[Start free](https://app.formformform.com/register?utm_source=landing&utm_medium=bottom&utm_campaign=automations&utm_content=google-drive-dated-text-archive)