Listing objects

This page shows you how to list the objects stored in your Cloud Storage buckets, which are ordered in the list lexicographically by name. For an overview of buckets and objects, read the Key Terms.

To list the objects in a bucket:

Console

1. In the Google Cloud Console, go to the Cloud Storage Browser page.
   

   Go to Browser

2. In the bucket list, click on the name of the bucket whose contents you want to view.

3. Optionally, use filtering to narrow the results in your list.

gsutil

Use the gsutil ls command with the -r flag:

gsutil ls -r gs://BUCKET_NAME/**

Where:

• BUCKET_NAME is the name of the bucket whose objects you want to list. For example, my-bucket.

The response looks like the following example:

gs://my-bucket/cats.jpeg
gs://my-bucket/dogs.jpeg
gs://my-bucket/thesis.txt
...

Note: You can use a prefix in your listing request to limit the results to objects that have the specified prefix:

gsutil ls -r gs://BUCKET_NAME/PREFIX**

For example, gsutil ls -r gs://my-bucket/p** returns:

  gs://my-bucket/puppy.png
  gs://my-bucket/pug.jpg
  gs://my-bucket/pets/dog.png
  ...

Code samples

C++

For more information, see the Cloud Storage C++ API reference documentation.

The following sample lists all objects in a bucket:

View on GitHub Feedback

namespace gcs = google::cloud::storage;
[](gcs::Client client, std::string const& bucket_name) {
  for (auto&& object_metadata : client.ListObjects(bucket_name)) {
    if (!object_metadata) {
      throw std::runtime_error(object_metadata.status().message());
    }

    std::cout << "bucket_name=" << object_metadata->bucket()
              << ", object_name=" << object_metadata->name() << "\n";
  }
}

The following sample lists objects with a given prefix:

View on GitHub Feedback

namespace gcs = google::cloud::storage;
[](gcs::Client client, std::string const& bucket_name,
   std::string const& bucket_prefix) {
  for (auto&& object_metadata :
       client.ListObjects(bucket_name, gcs::Prefix(bucket_prefix))) {
    if (!object_metadata) {
      throw std::runtime_error(object_metadata.status().message());
    }

    std::cout << "bucket_name=" << object_metadata->bucket()
              << ", object_name=" << object_metadata->name() << "\n";
  }
}

C#

For more information, see the Cloud Storage C# API reference documentation.

The following sample lists all objects in a bucket:

View on GitHub Feedback

using Google.Cloud.Storage.V1;
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;

public class ListFilesSample
{
    public IEnumerable<Google.Apis.Storage.v1.Data.Object> ListFiles(
        string bucketName = "your-unique-bucket-name")
    {
        var storage = StorageClient.Create();
        var storageObjects = storage.ListObjects(bucketName);
        Console.WriteLine($"Files in bucket {bucketName}:");
        foreach (var storageObject in storageObjects)
        {
            Console.WriteLine(storageObject.Name);
        }

        return storageObjects;
    }
}

The following sample lists objects with a given prefix:

View on GitHub Feedback

using Google.Cloud.Storage.V1;
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;

public class ListFilesWithPrefixSample
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Prefixes and delimiters can be used to emulate directory listings.
    /// Prefixes can be used to filter objects starting with prefix.
    /// The delimiter argument can be used to restrict the results to only the
    /// objects in the given "directory". Without the delimiter, the entire  tree
    /// under the prefix is returned.
    /// For example, given these objects:
    ///   a/1.txt
    ///   a/b/2.txt
    ///
    /// If you just specify prefix="a/", you'll get back:
    ///   a/1.txt
    ///   a/b/2.txt
    ///
    /// However, if you specify prefix="a/" and delimiter="/", you'll get back:
    ///   a/1.txt
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="bucketName">The bucket to list the objects from.</param>
    /// <param name="prefix">The prefix to match. Only objects with names that start with this string will
    /// be returned. This parameter may be null or empty, in which case no filtering
    /// is performed.</param>
    /// <param name="delimiter">Used to list in "directory mode". Only objects whose names (aside from the prefix)
    /// do not contain the delimiter will be returned.</param>
    public IEnumerable<Google.Apis.Storage.v1.Data.Object> ListFilesWithPrefix(
        string bucketName = "your-unique-bucket-name",
        string prefix = "your-prefix",
        string delimiter = "your-delimiter")
    {
        var storage = StorageClient.Create();
        var options = new ListObjectsOptions { Delimiter = delimiter };
        var storageObjects = storage.ListObjects(bucketName, prefix, options);
        Console.WriteLine($"Objects in bucket {bucketName} with prefix {prefix}:");
        foreach (var storageObject in storageObjects)
        {
            Console.WriteLine(storageObject.Name);
        }
        return storageObjects;
    }
}

Go

For more information, see the Cloud Storage Go API reference documentation.

The following sample lists all objects in a bucket:

View on GitHub Feedback

import (
	"context"
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"time"

	"cloud.google.com/go/storage"
	"google.golang.org/api/iterator"
)

// listFiles lists objects within specified bucket.
func listFiles(w io.Writer, bucket string) error {
	// bucket := "bucket-name"
	ctx := context.Background()
	client, err := storage.NewClient(ctx)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("storage.NewClient: %v", err)
	}
	defer client.Close()

	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, time.Second*10)
	defer cancel()

	it := client.Bucket(bucket).Objects(ctx, nil)
	for {
		attrs, err := it.Next()
		if err == iterator.Done {
			break
		}
		if err != nil {
			return fmt.Errorf("Bucket(%q).Objects: %v", bucket, err)
		}
		fmt.Fprintln(w, attrs.Name)
	}
	return nil
}

The following sample lists objects with a given prefix:

View on GitHub Feedback

import (
	"context"
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"time"

	"cloud.google.com/go/storage"
	"google.golang.org/api/iterator"
)

// listFilesWithPrefix lists objects using prefix and delimeter.
func listFilesWithPrefix(w io.Writer, bucket, prefix, delim string) error {
	// bucket := "bucket-name"
	// prefix := "/foo"
	// delim := "_"
	ctx := context.Background()
	client, err := storage.NewClient(ctx)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("storage.NewClient: %v", err)
	}
	defer client.Close()

	// Prefixes and delimiters can be used to emulate directory listings.
	// Prefixes can be used to filter objects starting with prefix.
	// The delimiter argument can be used to restrict the results to only the
	// objects in the given "directory". Without the delimiter, the entire tree
	// under the prefix is returned.
	//
	// For example, given these blobs:
	//   /a/1.txt
	//   /a/b/2.txt
	//
	// If you just specify prefix="a/", you'll get back:
	//   /a/1.txt
	//   /a/b/2.txt
	//
	// However, if you specify prefix="a/" and delim="/", you'll get back:
	//   /a/1.txt
	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, time.Second*10)
	defer cancel()

	it := client.Bucket(bucket).Objects(ctx, &storage.Query{
		Prefix:    prefix,
		Delimiter: delim,
	})
	for {
		attrs, err := it.Next()
		if err == iterator.Done {
			break
		}
		if err != nil {
			return fmt.Errorf("Bucket(%q).Objects(): %v", bucket, err)
		}
		fmt.Fprintln(w, attrs.Name)
	}
	return nil
}

Java

For more information, see the Cloud Storage Java API reference documentation.

The following sample lists all objects in a bucket:

View on GitHub Feedback

import com.google.api.gax.paging.Page;
import com.google.cloud.storage.Blob;
import com.google.cloud.storage.Storage;
import com.google.cloud.storage.StorageOptions;

public class ListObjects {
  public static void listObjects(String projectId, String bucketName) {
    // The ID of your GCP project
    // String projectId = "your-project-id";

    // The ID of your GCS bucket
    // String bucketName = "your-unique-bucket-name";

    Storage storage = StorageOptions.newBuilder().setProjectId(projectId).build().getService();
    Page<Blob> blobs = storage.list(bucketName);

    for (Blob blob : blobs.iterateAll()) {
      System.out.println(blob.getName());
    }
  }
}

The following sample lists objects with a given prefix:

View on GitHub Feedback

import com.google.api.gax.paging.Page;
import com.google.cloud.storage.Blob;
import com.google.cloud.storage.Storage;
import com.google.cloud.storage.StorageOptions;

public class ListObjectsWithPrefix {
  public static void listObjectsWithPrefix(
      String projectId, String bucketName, String directoryPrefix) {
    // The ID of your GCP project
    // String projectId = "your-project-id";

    // The ID of your GCS bucket
    // String bucketName = "your-unique-bucket-name";

    // The directory prefix to search for
    // String directoryPrefix = "myDirectory/"

    Storage storage = StorageOptions.newBuilder().setProjectId(projectId).build().getService();
    /**
     * Using the Storage.BlobListOption.currentDirectory() option here causes the results to display
     * in a "directory-like" mode, showing what objects are in the directory you've specified, as
     * well as what other directories exist in that directory. For example, given these blobs:
     *
     * <p>a/1.txt a/b/2.txt a/b/3.txt
     *
     * <p>If you specify prefix = "a/" and don't use Storage.BlobListOption.currentDirectory(),
     * you'll get back:
     *
     * <p>a/1.txt a/b/2.txt a/b/3.txt
     *
     * <p>However, if you specify prefix = "a/" and do use
     * Storage.BlobListOption.currentDirectory(), you'll get back:
     *
     * <p>a/1.txt a/b/
     *
     * <p>Because a/1.txt is the only file in the a/ directory and a/b/ is a directory inside the
     * /a/ directory.
     */
    Page<Blob> blobs =
        storage.list(
            bucketName,
            Storage.BlobListOption.prefix(directoryPrefix),
            Storage.BlobListOption.currentDirectory());

    for (Blob blob : blobs.iterateAll()) {
      System.out.println(blob.getName());
    }
  }
}

Node.js

For more information, see the Cloud Storage Node.js API reference documentation.

The following sample lists all objects in a bucket:

View on GitHub Feedback

/**
 * TODO(developer): Uncomment the following lines before running the sample.
 */
// The ID of your GCS bucket
// const bucketName = 'your-unique-bucket-name';

// Imports the Google Cloud client library
const {Storage} = require('@google-cloud/storage');

// Creates a client
const storage = new Storage();

async function listFiles() {
  // Lists files in the bucket
  const [files] = await storage.bucket(bucketName).getFiles();

  console.log('Files:');
  files.forEach(file => {
    console.log(file.name);
  });
}

listFiles().catch(console.error);

The following sample lists objects with a given prefix:

View on GitHub Feedback

/**
 * TODO(developer): Uncomment the following lines before running the sample.
 */
// The ID of your GCS bucket
// const bucketName = 'your-unique-bucket-name';

// The directory prefix to search for
// const prefix = 'myDirectory/';

// The delimiter to use
// const delimiter = '/';

// Imports the Google Cloud client library
const {Storage} = require('@google-cloud/storage');

// Creates a client
const storage = new Storage();

async function listFilesByPrefix() {
  /**
   * This can be used to list all blobs in a "folder", e.g. "public/".
   *
   * The delimiter argument can be used to restrict the results to only the
   * "files" in the given "folder". Without the delimiter, the entire tree under
   * the prefix is returned. For example, given these blobs:
   *
   *   /a/1.txt
   *   /a/b/2.txt
   *
   * If you just specify prefix = 'a/', you'll get back:
   *
   *   /a/1.txt
   *   /a/b/2.txt
   *
   * However, if you specify prefix='a/' and delimiter='/', you'll get back:
   *
   *   /a/1.txt
   */
  const options = {
    prefix: prefix,
  };

  if (delimiter) {
    options.delimiter = delimiter;
  }

  // Lists files in the bucket, filtered by a prefix
  const [files] = await storage.bucket(bucketName).getFiles(options);

  console.log('Files:');
  files.forEach(file => {
    console.log(file.name);
  });
}

listFilesByPrefix().catch(console.error);

PHP

For more information, see the Cloud Storage PHP API reference documentation.

The following sample lists all objects in a bucket:

View on GitHub Feedback

use Google\Cloud\Storage\StorageClient;

/**
 * List Cloud Storage bucket objects.
 *
 * @param string $bucketName the name of your Cloud Storage bucket.
 *
 * @return void
 */
function list_objects($bucketName)
{
    $storage = new StorageClient();
    $bucket = $storage->bucket($bucketName);
    foreach ($bucket->objects() as $object) {
        printf('Object: %s' . PHP_EOL, $object->name());
    }
}

The following sample lists objects with a given prefix:

View on GitHub Feedback

use Google\Cloud\Storage\StorageClient;

/**
 * List Cloud Storage bucket objects with specified prefix.
 *
 * @param string $bucketName the name of your Cloud Storage bucket.
 *
 * @return void
 */
function list_objects_with_prefix($bucketName, $prefix)
{
    $storage = new StorageClient();
    $bucket = $storage->bucket($bucketName);
    $options = ['prefix' => $prefix];
    foreach ($bucket->objects($options) as $object) {
        printf('Object: %s' . PHP_EOL, $object->name());
    }
}

Python

For more information, see the Cloud Storage Python API reference documentation.

The following sample lists all objects in a bucket:

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from google.cloud import storage


def list_blobs(bucket_name):
    """Lists all the blobs in the bucket."""
    # bucket_name = "your-bucket-name"

    storage_client = storage.Client()

    # Note: Client.list_blobs requires at least package version 1.17.0.
    blobs = storage_client.list_blobs(bucket_name)

    for blob in blobs:
        print(blob.name)

The following sample lists objects with a given prefix:

View on GitHub Feedback

from google.cloud import storage


def list_blobs_with_prefix(bucket_name, prefix, delimiter=None):
    """Lists all the blobs in the bucket that begin with the prefix.

    This can be used to list all blobs in a "folder", e.g. "public/".

    The delimiter argument can be used to restrict the results to only the
    "files" in the given "folder". Without the delimiter, the entire tree under
    the prefix is returned. For example, given these blobs:

        a/1.txt
        a/b/2.txt

    If you specify prefix ='a/', without a delimiter, you'll get back:

        a/1.txt
        a/b/2.txt

    However, if you specify prefix='a/' and delimiter='/', you'll get back:

        a/1.txt

    Additionally, the same request will return blobs.prefixes populated with:

        a/b/
    """

    storage_client = storage.Client()

    # Note: Client.list_blobs requires at least package version 1.17.0.
    blobs = storage_client.list_blobs(
        bucket_name, prefix=prefix, delimiter=delimiter
    )

    print("Blobs:")
    for blob in blobs:
        print(blob.name)

    if delimiter:
        print("Prefixes:")
        for prefix in blobs.prefixes:
            print(prefix)

Ruby

For more information, see the Cloud Storage Ruby API reference documentation.

The following sample lists all objects in a bucket:

View on GitHub Feedback

def list_files bucket_name:
  # The ID of your GCS bucket
  # bucket_name = "your-unique-bucket-name"

  require "google/cloud/storage"

  storage = Google::Cloud::Storage.new
  bucket  = storage.bucket bucket_name

  bucket.files.each do |file|
    puts file.name
  end
end

The following sample lists objects with a given prefix:

View on GitHub Feedback

def list_files_with_prefix bucket_name:, prefix:, delimiter: nil
  # Lists all the files in the bucket that begin with the prefix.
  #
  # This can be used to list all files in a "folder", e.g. "public/".
  #
  # The delimiter argument can be used to restrict the results to only the
  # "files" in the given "folder". Without the delimiter, the entire tree under
  # the prefix is returned. For example, given these files:
  #
  #     a/1.txt
  #     a/b/2.txt
  #
  # If you just specify `prefix: "a"`, you will get back:
  #
  #     a/1.txt
  #     a/b/2.txt
  #
  # However, if you specify `prefix: "a"` and `delimiter: "/"`, you will get back:
  #
  #     a/1.txt

  # The ID of your GCS bucket
  # bucket_name = "your-unique-bucket-name"

  # The directory prefix to search for
  # prefix = "a"

  # The delimiter to be used to restrict the results
  # delimiter = "/"

  require "google/cloud/storage"

  storage = Google::Cloud::Storage.new
  bucket  = storage.bucket bucket_name
  files   = bucket.files prefix: prefix, delimiter: delimiter

  files.each do |file|
    puts file.name
  end
end

REST APIs

JSON API

1. Get an authorization access token from the OAuth 2.0 Playground. Configure the playground to use your own OAuth credentials.

2. Use cURL to call the JSON API with a GET Bucket request:

   curl -X GET -H "Authorization: Bearer OAUTH2_TOKEN" \
     "https://storage.googleapis.com/storage/v1/b/BUCKET_NAME/o"

   Where:

   • OAUTH2_TOKEN is the access token you generated in Step 1.
   • BUCKET_NAME is the name of the bucket whose objects you want to list. For example, my-bucket.

   You can use a prefix=PREFIX query string parameter to limit results to objects that have the specified prefix.

XML API

1. Get an authorization access token from the OAuth 2.0 Playground. Configure the playground to use your own OAuth credentials.

2. Use cURL to call the XML API with a GET Bucket request:

   curl -X GET -H "Authorization: Bearer OAUTH2_TOKEN" \
     "https://storage.googleapis.com/BUCKET_NAME"

   Where:

   • OAUTH2_TOKEN is the access token you generated in Step 1.
   • BUCKET_NAME is the name of the bucket whose objects you want to list. For example, my-bucket.

   You can use a prefix=PREFIX query string parameter to limit results to buckets that have the specified prefix.

What's next

• Download an object from your bucket.
• View and edit object metadata.
• Delete objects from your bucket.