Google Workspace Technical Notes

← Back to Other Projects

I started noticing how often Google Drive links use special structures to trigger useful functionality. A small change in a URL can force a copy, export a file, open a preview, jump to a specific location, or make a shared resource behave in a more intentional way. I call these "hyperlink injections" or "hyperlink exploitations."

I’ve started collecting those patterns here with examples and use cases. I keep this page active as a reference for more complicated, interconnected projects where links, documents, spreadsheets, forms, and folders need to work together cleanly. This is an evolving reference sheet where I collect these modification for use in future projects.

Quick Links to Create Drive Files

I save the first two of these to my bookmark bar.

doc.new and docs.new creates a new Google Doc

sheet.new and sheets.new creates a new Google Sheet

drawing.new and drawings.new creates a new Drawing

slide.new and slides.new create a new Google Slide Presentation

form.new and forms.new creates a new Google Form

site.new creates a new Google Site

script.new creates a new Google Apps Script

The Basics: Copying and Sharing

The part of the address underlined in lime green is the unique name of a Google Drive file. It's called the spreadsheet ID or the GID.

The part at the end of the address, underlined in hot pink, is where we'll do most of our work.

Here's a quick example, you may want to share a link but prompt the other person to make a copy of the file.

Replace the /edit with /copy.

Now when you share the link, the other person will see this prompt:

When a user make a copy, that file is now theirs. They are the owner.

You may have noticed when you receive an email to share a file, that file has a unique address. It's set up like this:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/18wVcoLygnMXHY7HU1H-H9J3wNT2zG10su4DcUM1xNag/edit?userstoinvite=me%40ryanetheridge.com

This creates a real opportunity! Combine the COPY feature with the SHARE feature so that when you prompt someone in your organization to copy a file, you also prompt them to share it back with you!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/18wVcoLygnMXHY7HU1H-H9J3wNT2zG10su4DcUM1xNag/copy?userstoinvite=me%40ryanetheridge.com

Because hyperlinks don't accept certain characters, the @ is listed as %40.

Basically, replace Edit with Copy.

Replace my email address with the email address of the person you want to share the doc with (usually yourself).

This works for Docs, Sheets, and more!

This is a good demonstration of why I like these Hyperlink Injections (my term for these!). A simple change to a link increases functionality for your organization.

The Basics: Changing the User's Default View

Changing /edit to /preview?rm=minimal in Google Slides presents the slideshow without the navigation bar at the bottom. This is handy when you do not want your audience to skip slides.

Share an easy-to-copy preview of your document.

Replace /edit with /template/preview

The audience for a Template link does not see editing in real-time. However, a recent version of the document is shown each time the page is loaded. There’s no need to republish or re-share the document to update the Template version. Note: the document's preview might take several minutes to update.

For a LookerStudio dashboard, replace /page/abc123 with /template/preview

Share a direct download of a PDF version of your document

Google Docs & Sheets: Replace /edit with /export?format=pdf
Google Slides & Drawings: Replace /edit with /export/pdf

Advanced Copying of Files

When working with URLs and replacing the /edit, string together multiple different prompts with an "&".

copy?

id=1uutDvLafmWvgSqYU2h_PvIvT_u2Wyplg7Y5DzmMg2Ms ← copied/repeated straight from url

&copyCollaborators=false ← this set to true may share copied doc with ALL other collaborators

&copyComments=false ← force others to make a copy that includes/excludes comments from the original before viewing your document, I can't think of a good use for this one.

&includeResolvedCommentsOnCopy=false ← Self explanatory, even if I don't know why it's useful

&title=Etheridge%27s%20Resourcing%2C%202nd%20Grade ← sets the title %27 is an apostrophe (‘), %20 is a space ( ), %2C is a comma (,)

&copyDestination=1j2eqyGRkt%$#@%^0Ow8lakPWN*^&%$#nHch ← You can prompt which folder to which you save the file. This is super helpful when you share a folder with others!! Get this from the GID address of the folder.

&cmm_csn=false ← not sure what this one does!

&token=AC@w5Vhs@$#yIYdwlIL8*&$#LLX&$pjDg%3A1585679188121 ← not sure what this one does!

&usp=slides_web ← not sure what this one does!

Basics of Sharing Videos stored in Drive

When linking to videos in your google drive, add ?t=142 after /view to skip to a specific starting point - just like a youtube link. The time is measured in seconds. t=60 starts at the 1:00 min mark. t=142 starts at 2 min and 22 seconds.

Example: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NM*&^-0b9RE7y#$%dlP0MWKJ9!*@#A/view?t=142

Alternatively, add in min/sec text /view?t=40m30s

Super Advanced: Querying with Google Sheets and Google Apps Script

This is pretty advanced and you need to understand a bit of SQL. Learn more here: https://developers.google.com/chart/interactive/docs/querylanguage

Add /gviz/tq?tq=YOUR_QUERY_STRING to the spreadsheet URL to get your final query string:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1IfMBAYeLJKOO9YU7Uq1__Gc9mgdgpCZ5__P249k8RLU/gviz/tq?tq=select%A%2C%20sum(B)%20group%20by%20A

You can also define a range. Specify the range using the "range=<range_expr>" syntax.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1XWJLkAwch5GXAt_7zOFDcg8Wm8Xv29_8PWuuW15qmAE/gviz/tq?range=A1:C4

You need to carry an authorization token to make this work. Details here: https://developers.google.com/chart/interactive/docs/spreadsheets#Authorization

Carrying and id may use this: &ouid=1168700|@#$||4891166

Link to a Particular Revision in the History

This one is interesting: revision history linking. Find the link in the revision history. It looks like this:

revisions/show?sid=789|{#%^474c94aa3d&token=AC4w5Vho*%$|!~HXdAJcd9hxpKZm_-@!AH1w%3A1601307538467&ouid=11687OO235I|I4891166&includes_info_params=true&rev=117&fromRev=117&gid=1197631725#gid=119%@&1725&range=A1248

Advanced: Create Dynamically PreFilled Google Forms

Google Form PreFilled Links:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe7ohifp0B6vHBfskFpeKcZnLaEU9KAMTaatkPzg4_6E6O-BA/viewform?usp=pp_url&entry.1906713932=TESTNAME&entry.1472090798=2021-01-26&entry.1073168079=Yes

Looks like it’s usp=pp_url&entry.1906713932=TESTNAME

Use the Developer Tools in Chrome to figure out what the FIELD on the form is named.

The number following “&entry.” appears to link to the javascript name for the field.

I would bet you could use entry.1472090798=yyyy-mm-dd OR entry.1472090798_year=2021 to prepopulate year. ← nope, you’ve got to have month/day/year for it to work. Won’t load a part of a date.

PP_URL=prepopulated URL?

The original link NOT Prefilled: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe7ohifp0B6vHBfskFpeKcZnLaEU9KAMTaatkPzg4_6E6O-BA/viewform?usp=sf_link

SF_LINK = standard form link?

So to do this, Go to form (end user side) -> Inspect -> Search for “entry.”

Copy element to a work page.

Skim and build custom link!

Get the form link:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdqBeKo2d5Y-lFCT_QqELZxNTPEFu2wmMhfjUC1GWbIuYe1gg/viewform

Append the pre-filled options:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdqBeKo2d5Y-lFCT_QqELZxNTPEFu2wmMhfjUC1GWbIuYe1gg/viewform?usp=pp_url&entry.629479850=1&entry.1745675496=2&entry.2096468614=3&entry.1276903923=4

Well, yes, that works!

?usp=pp_url&entry.[The field number]=[what you want to be prepopulated]

Add more fields with an &

Radio Buttons and other similar elements may need to be found in the var=FB_PUBLIC_LOAD_DATA section OR use the prefill option for the form to get it from the link generated by Google.

Select Copy Link at the bottom of the page:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe7ohifp0B6vHBfskFpeKcZnLaEU9KAMTaatkPzg4_6E6O-BA/viewform?usp=pp_url&entry.1906713932=Test&entry.1472090798=2021-01-26

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe7ohifp0B6vHBfskFpeKcZnLaEU9KAMTaatkPzg4_6E6O-BA/viewform?entry.1906713932=Test&entry.1472090798=2021-01-26

entry.2107675352=yyyy-mm-dd

Dealing with weird characters in pre-filled form links

Accepted characters

a - z

A - Z

0 - 9

- ; ' , . / ~ ! @ * ( ) _ : ? / * - . %

Common characters you need to correct for

new line %0A (SHIFT ENTER - same as new line)

“ %22 (left “ and right “ treated the same when typed into a form response)

“ left %E2%80%9C (Not the same when copied and pasted into a form response)

right ” %E2%80%9D

` %60

+ %2B

> %3E

< %3C

| %7C

} %7D

{ %7B

+ %2B

& %26

$ %25

^ %5E

# %23

= %3D

[ %5B

] %5D

\ %5C

Quick Google Sheets Equation to fix all of these!

A little crazy looking but it just uses substitute to replace the not-allowed characters with their equivalent symbol.

=SUBSTITUTE(substitute(substitute(substitute(substitute(substitute(substitute(substitute(substitute(substitute(substitute(substitute(substitute(substitute(substitute(substitute(substitute(substitute(substitute(A2,"”","%E2%80%9D"),"“","%E2%80%9C"),">","%3E"),"<","%3C"),char(34),"%22"),"|","%7C"),"}","%7D"),"{","%7B"),"+","%2B"),"&","%26"),"^","%5E"),char(10),"%0A"),"$","%25"),"#","%23"),"\","%5C"),"]","%5D"),"[","%5B"),"=","%3D"),"`","%60")

Just use the function encodeURL instead of this!

Auto-submit a Form

These URL additions autofill the form AND auto-submit when you click the link. If you are sending out an automated email and you just want confirmation of completion, this is powerful!

=if(C2 ="","",hyperlink("https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeXU4ytAmwj03uUjCYsLFlm1R$%^&*98765/formResponse?&submit=Submit&usp=pp_url&entry.534602161=Yes&entry.742476073="&encodeURL(B2)&"&entry.1726110926="&encodeURL(C2)&"&entry.966013599="&encodeURL(D2)&"&entry.1514884111="&encodeURL(E2),"Confirm Completion"))

Notice the encodeURL function. It's so much easier than

Editing Google Form Responses

You're editing your response. Sharing this URL allows others to also edit your response.

FILL OUT A NEW RESPONSE

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdo4_ZHphnUffq_-_!#|@|TRrIXwhHyfcD3LOgGp09h2igkwLWg/viewform?edit2=2_ABaOnucpuUsesibW-b8T7b1cLAyIkwDI9_In|OI(!_No2qsVj0aNBuJvMCBHLrKCFSg

Add an already responded:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdo4_ZHphnU|IOI)!@#$RrIXwhHyfcD3LOgGp09h2ig&*#LWg/alreadyresponded

Calendar

Calendar Sharing

https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/r?cid=ge2gm1d8sc75b|IOIjtvb702ad8@group.calendar.google.com

Calendar being shared ID: ge2gm1d8sc75b|IOIjtvb702ad8@group.calendar.google.com

Public URL of Calendar:

https://calendar.google.com/calendar/embed?src=me%40ryanetheridge.com&ctz=America%2FNew_York

Sending PDF Links

Copy, paste, and send the PDF link

In Drive, select your file.

Click Share .
Click Copy link and click Done.
After you paste the link, change the end of the URL before sending it. For example:
- Before:
  - http://docs.google.com/document/d/<doc_id>/edit?usp=sharing
  - http://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/<doc_id>/edit?usp=sharing
  - http://docs.google.com/presentation/d/<doc_id>/edit?usp=sharing
- After:
  - http://docs.google.com/document/d/<doc_id>/export?format=pdf
  - http://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/<doc_id>/export?format=pdf
  - http://docs.google.com/presentation/d/<doc_id>/export/pdf
Send the modified PDF link.
When you click the link, you (or anyone else) can download a PDF copy of your file.

Note: If your shared file is large, it may take a little time to download.

https://support.google.com/a/users/answer/9308985?hl=en

Prompting a Share in Google Data Studio

This prompts a share:

https://datastudio.google.com/u/0/reporting/bf817d46-0|OI-4256-bbcd-!$%|IO28fab642?access=viewer&requester=me@ryanetheridge.com

Other Random Tips

Comment replies have a unique identifier

Here’s a weird one I noticed but I don’t think I know what to do with it yet. When you receive and email of a comment that has been resolved on a Google Doc, this is the return address:

Reply <s+AORGpRdr5BKQhLjZZ&!*|IOI!@UVRTZGWgDFjYpQ_sj91qpnO9A&#*$!L0ihqiuwU_YTvVLcnBFUYU-YiYHkY2RrBMbuNszTlr0CZnAPxMwnahtr_bdcMxBScutQqaiKTLXA0TwPG2S-TLy6l5oxrrJOa8GLBU3jtfnMSBirycLDVsHWhUHS-Ssko@docs.google.com>

So traditionally, the + identifier does not change the address. s@docs.google.com is the same as s+test1@docs.google.com. What this may mean is that the s@docs.google.com is the operative recipient/function server thing and the +sduhfasdvkjaldsf part is the unique identifier of the comment. Not sure though!

When I go to copy the comment, I get: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1U4vpsr|IOI|!W6-3Tgf3ClV&%#$eTCrzn1Ywitfln8Z3U/edit?disco=AAAAHpgGpgU so these ids aren’t similar.

Sheet change notification construction

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VvN7co820XeS74ACWx3HKeNinx||OI!@$|OIUcZfB4|$#0/
notify/
show?
ouid=116870023571144891166
&urlBuilderDomain=ryanetheridge.com
&rev=62
&fromRev=61
&s=AM5m-fhmmDD4F4Lqce4UnqJ-akn_3Txrwg
&usp=gmail

Highlighting a row

notify/Show? May highlight a row

This returns the same result: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VvN7co820XeS74ACWx3HKeNinx||OI!@$|OIUcZfB4|$#0/notify/show?rev=62&fromRev=61&s=AM5m-fi2OFOI)!|@qSP3dM3WE9b&%38-g

(ouid, urlBuilderDomain and usp=gmail removed)

And again, the notification on a sheet

notify/show?ouid=116870023571144891166&rev=662&fromRev=662&s=AM5m-fi2OFOI)!|@qSP3dM3WE9b&%38-g&usp=gmail

Propose a Project

← Back to Other Projects

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse