# Save a Recording to Google Drive Without Broad Access

RecBaba sends a finished file to Drive with drive.file scope only — browser to Google, never a copy on RecBaba servers, never the rest of your Drive.

Category: Workflow. Published 2026-09-18.

![RecBaba share dialog offering Google Drive as a destination separate from a hosted link.](https://www.recbaba.com/blog/cover-google-drive.jpg)

> **Key takeaway:** Signing in to RecBaba is not a Drive connection. Save to Google Drive is a second permission, drive.file only. The file goes from this browser to Google. RecBaba never receives a copy.

Teams already live in Drive. RecBaba will not make Drive the recorder. When you want a copy in your own account, connect Drive and save that one file. Scope is files this app creates — not a license to list folders you already keep there.

![Share dialog offering Google Drive or a RecBaba link, with Export MP4 remaining a local action.](https://www.recbaba.com/screenshots/share.png)

*Drive is a destination. Export MP4 stays on your computer even when this dialog is open.*

## Two permissions

- RecBaba account: Google or email and password, so hosted shares have an owner.
- Drive connect: a separate grant from Settings or at save time.
- Disconnect: Settings revokes the grant with Google and deletes the stored refresh token. Files already in Drive stay yours.

Do not treat Drive as a backup RecBaba never asked for. A recording you never send is not copied to Drive. Signing in with Google for RecBaba identity does not open Drive. If a teammate needs a link they can revoke, use Cloud Storage instead of a Drive file they might reshare as an editor.

## What RecBaba stores

An encrypted refresh token on RecBaba servers, so this browser can mint a short-lived access token when you save. Access tokens stay in the tab. The token is never used to browse existing Drive files. If Google revokes the grant, RecBaba drops the stored token too.

If you only needed a file on this computer, skip Drive. Export MP4. If you needed a RecBaba link with password and revoke, that is Cloud Storage on Pro and Max — a different destination in the same dialog. Drive does not create a RecBaba share.

![Local RecBaba recordings stay on this device until you choose a destination such as Google Drive.](https://www.recbaba.com/screenshots/recordings.png)

*The library on this device does not depend on Drive being connected.*

> **Quota:** Drive saves use your Google quota. They do not count toward RecBaba-hosted storage on Pro and Max.