export Figma to Google Drive without downloading locally

why the default Figma export workflow creates unnecessary friction?

The standard export flow in Figma works like this: select your frames or assets, export them, wait for files to land in your downloads folder, open Drive, navigate to the right folder, drag everything in. That's five to seven actions for a task that should take one.

For a designer who exports assets dozens of times a week, that loop compounds. Downloads folders fill with versioned files. Local storage fills with duplicates. Time spent on the transfer is time not spent on the work.

The problem isn't exporting — it's the mandatory local hop between Figma and Drive. There's no native way in Figma to route exports directly to cloud storage. Until a plugin closes that gap, the download step is unavoidable.

what "exporting to Google Drive without downloading" actually means?

Skipping the local download means the exported file never writes to your filesystem. Instead, the plugin authenticates with Google Drive on your behalf, receives the exported asset directly from Figma, and uploads it to your chosen Drive folder — all in a single action from inside Figma.

The result: the file appears in Drive without ever appearing in your downloads folder. No cleanup required. No context switch to a browser or Finder window. The export completes inside the tool you were already using.

how to export Figma assets directly to Google Drive?

ExportHub is a Figma plugin that handles the connection between Figma and Google Drive. Here's the full flow from install to export:

The entire flow takes under a minute once your account is connected. On repeat exports, you're down to selecting a folder and clicking one button.

what you can export and how files are handled?

ExportHub works with any asset you'd normally export from Figma — frames, components, groups, and individual layers. Export settings (format, scale, suffix) are respected from whatever you've configured in Figma's export panel.

Files are uploaded to Drive in their exported format: PNG, JPG, SVG, PDF. The plugin doesn't recompress or modify the file. What Figma produces is what lands in Drive.

If you export the same filename to the same folder more than once, Drive creates a new version rather than silently overwriting — standard Drive behaviour, preserved here.

managing multiple Google accounts inside ExportHub

Designers working across multiple clients often maintain separate Google accounts — one personal, several for agencies or clients. ExportHub supports this natively. You can connect multiple accounts and switch between them inside the plugin before exporting.

This means you can export a client's brand assets directly to their Drive without logging out of your personal account or opening a browser incognito window. The account switch takes two clicks.

who this workflow is built for?

ExportHub is most useful in three specific situations:

ExportHub vs the manual export workflow

The honest comparison looks like this:

StepManual workflowExportHubExport from Figma✓✓File saves locally✓ (unavoidable)✗ (skipped)Open Drive in browser✓✗Navigate to correct folder✓✓ (inside Figma)Upload files✓ (manual drag)✗ (handled by plugin)Clean up downloads folder✓ (later, probably)✗ (nothing to clean)

The manual workflow requires leaving Figma. ExportHub doesn't. That's the core difference.

getting started with ExportHub?

ExportHub is free and available now in the Figma Community. Install it once, connect your Google account, and the next export you run goes straight to Drive. No configuration beyond that.

You can install ExportHub directly at nullab.io/exporthub.