Connect Google Drive to EDI instantly
Join thousands of businesses moving EDI orders, invoices and fulfilment updates between Google Drive and their trading partners on XEDI, no manual re-keying.
No credit card needed ✦ Free EDI mailbox included
Getting started with Google Drive EDI
XEDI can exchange trading files through Google Drive, including shared drives, which suits businesses running on Google Workspace whose systems read and write files rather than connecting directly.
One managed platform, no custom code
XEDI maps Google Drive to your trading partners and validates every document, so data flows straight into the systems your teams already use.
Shared drives and My Drive differ in the way that matters
A file in someone's My Drive belongs to that person. When they leave and the account is deprovisioned, ownership becomes an administrative problem at precisely the moment nobody wants one. A shared drive belongs to the organisation and does not have that failure mode.
For a trading exchange the choice is therefore straightforward, and it is worth making explicitly rather than by default. Exchanges built on an individual's drive tend to work perfectly until the individual changes role.
Format conversion is the quiet risk here
Google Drive is helpful in a way that is unhelpful for machine exchange. A CSV opened in Sheets and saved becomes a Google Sheet; an uploaded file can be converted depending on settings; an export may not reproduce the original byte for byte.
For files people read, that is a convenience. For a file a system collects and parses, it is a change of format nobody chose. Sharing and conversion settings are therefore agreed for the exchange folders, and anything arriving in an unexpected shape raises an exception rather than being interpreted.
What your team sees day to day
You get an EDI mailbox and a portal that behaves like an inbox, showing what has been collected and what is still outstanding without anyone browsing a drive.
Orders arrive and become the despatch advice raised from what is actually going, adjusted where quantities moved, with SSCC pallet labels where the retailer requires them, and the invoice follows delivery with its arrival confirmed in the dashboard.
Drive is simply the route. Connecting a system directly later changes how files reach us and nothing your partners see. Your Workspace setup is untouched; the EDI capability is bolted onto the drive you already use.
Documents you can exchange
- Order files written to a drive for your system to collect
- Despatch and quantity files collected from a drive
- Invoice data exported for finance
- Stock and price files exchanged with partners
- Exception files for correction
Built for Google Drive teams
Whoever owns Google Drive in your business, XEDI keeps EDI accurate and hands-off.
- Businesses on Google Workspace
- Operations teams sharing files internally
- Finance staff importing data
- Suppliers whose systems export to a folder
- Organisations avoiding additional file services
Google Drive EDI document types
A drive carries files; these are the exchanges they usually serve.
| Document | What it carries | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Order files | Retailer demand written to a drive for a system that collects rather than integrates. | XEDI to drive |
| Despatch files | What is actually being sent, collected and validated before becoming a despatch advice. | Drive to XEDI |
| Invoice data | Invoice detail exported for a finance system that imports from a folder. | XEDI to drive |
| Stock and price files | Catalogue or stock figures published to partners on whatever cycle they expect them. | Either direction |
| Archived files | Processed files moved aside so nothing is collected a second time. | Within the drive |
| Exception files | Anything failing validation, written back with the reason for correction. | XEDI to drive |
How to connect Google Drive with EDI using XEDI
The decisions that matter are about ownership and conversion rather than connectivity. The sequence below is what onboarding looks like from your side.
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01
We establish whether files sit in a shared drive or somebody's My Drive, because ownership differs.
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02
We agree folder structure, naming and who else has access.
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03
We connect with a service identity scoped to those locations.
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04
We prove the flows, including what happens when a file is converted or moved.
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05
You get an exchange route inside the Workspace your business already runs.
Ready to connect Google Drive?
Talk through documents, mapping, testing and go-live with XEDI.
Everything about Google Drive EDI
Common requirements
- Workspace domain and drive locations
- Shared drive or personal ownership
- Folder structure and naming
- Sharing settings that apply
- The trading partners the files relate to
What we need from you to build it
Only what we cannot decide for you. Partner requirements are ours; where files live is your organisation's call.
- Shared drive or My Drive
- Where exchange files live, since a personal drive creates an ownership problem when someone leaves.
- Workspace and locations
- Domain and the specific folders in scope, so access is scoped rather than broad.
- Folder structure and naming
- How files are named and organised, because collection depends on recognising them reliably.
- Sharing and conversion settings
- Whether uploads convert to Google formats, which changes what a system collecting the file actually receives.
- The partners the files relate to
- Which relationships this serves. What each of them requires is already ours.
Why suppliers choose XEDI for Google Drive
- Retailers are usually connected already, so the work is agreeing drive conventions rather than establishing connections.
- The exchange is built on a shared drive, so it does not depend on one person's account.
- Format conversion is settled up front rather than discovered when a parser fails.
- A file collected twice is recognised instead of becoming a duplicate order.
- Collection state is visible in the platform rather than inferred from folder contents.
- If a partner raises a problem, it comes to us whichever route the file took.
Should we use a shared drive?
Yes, in almost every case. Files in an individual's My Drive create an ownership problem when that person changes role, and a trading exchange should not depend on one account.
Does Google convert our files?
It can, depending on sharing and upload settings, and a converted file is not what a parser expects. Those settings are agreed for the exchange folders, and anything unexpected raises an exception.
Can we switch to a direct connection later?
Yes. Drive is only how files reach us, so changing it alters nothing about the documents your partners receive.
Plan your Google Drive EDI setup
Everything you need to scope, map and go live with Google Drive, in one place.