I do not want to grant N8N permission to every google sheet I have. So I selected only the second of the three sheets permissions (“See, edit, create and delete only the specific file”). However, I cannot seem to get N8N to detect the sheet. This is the URL of the sheet I want to add: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1dg6sp_n713IQ0GZiMKHVVzYvev9XN3FXvRU5OM0_4AY/edit?gid=0#gid=0
Screenshot below shows the error message and what I am typing in to the fields
To get around this while still keeping your other sheets private, Use a Service Account.
This is the most secure way to strictly control access. Instead of logging in with your personal Google account via OAuth, you set up a Google Service Account credential in n8n. This gives you a dedicated bot email address. You then go to your specific Google Sheet, click “Share,” and invite that bot email as an editor. n8n will only ever be able to see the specific files you share with that address.
If you want to stick with your current setup , you unfortunately have to check that third box . There isn’t a middle ground for existing files using standard OAuth.
Hi @WilliamWallace, welcome to the n8n community!
When you choose "only specific files,” google will only allow access to files that were either created by n8n or explicitly opened/authorized after the connection. If the sheet wasn’t registered under that scope, google returns “not found” even though the ID is correct. The fix is to either share that specific sheet with the Google account you authenticated with, or reconnect the credential and then open/select that sheet so Google marks it as allowed, that way you can keep restricted access without granting full Drive permissions.
