# Suppress conversion of native formats to xlsx, docx, etc on Linux **URL:** \ **Category:** Help and Support\ **Created:** [July 3, 2026, 12:30pm UTC](https://forum.rclone.org/t/suppress-conversion-of-native-formats-to-xlsx-docx-etc-on-linux/53996 "2026-07-03T12:30:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ddrake](https://forum.rclone.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/54ee81/32.png) [@ddrake](https://forum.rclone.org/u/ddrake)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2026, 12:30pm UTC](https://forum.rclone.org/t/suppress-conversion-of-native-formats-to-xlsx-docx-etc-on-linux/53996/1 "2026-07-03T12:30:05Z")
#### What is the problem you are having with rclone? I am using rclone on Linux to mount my Google Drive, and spreadsheets there show up as `xlsx` files here -- I'd like to supress that, and have it work like the native Google Drive on macOS, which has `gsheet` files. I think I've lost some data because of this -- I opened the `xlsx` file in Libreoffice on Linux, and somehow it didn't get saved and converted back to the native Google Sheets format. I want my Google Drive spreadsheets (and documents, but I have fewer of those) and actual, real Excel spreadsheet files to always be distinguishable. #### Run the command 'rclone version' and share the full output of the command. ```auto % rclone version rclone v1.74.1 - os/version: ubuntu 26.04 (64 bit) - os/kernel: 7.0.0-27-generic (x86_64) - os/type: linux - os/arch: amd64 - go/version: go1.26.3 - go/linking: static - go/tags: none ``` #### Which cloud storage system are you using? (eg Google Drive) Google Drive #### The command you were trying to run (eg `rclone copy /tmp remote:tmp`) ```auto rclone mount my-google-drive: \ /path/to/mountpoint \ --vfs-cache-mode full \ --vfs-cache-max-size 50G \ --vfs-cache-max-age 720h \ --vfs-read-chunk-size 32M \ --vfs-read-chunk-size-limit 1G \ --vfs-read-ahead 128M \ --buffer-size 32M \ --dir-cache-time 1000h \ --poll-interval 15s \ --attr-timeout 1s \ --transfers 8 \ --drive-chunk-size 64M \ --drive-pacer-min-sleep 10ms \ --drive-pacer-burst 200 \ --log-level INFO --log-file ~/.cache/rclone/mount.log \ --daemon Paste command here ``` #### Please run 'rclone config redacted' and share the full output. If you get command not found, please make sure to update rclone. ```auto [google-drive-my.name] type = drive client_id = XXX client_secret = XXX scope = drive token = XXX team_drive = [google-drive-work1] type = drive client_id = XXX client_secret = XXX scope = drive token = XXX team_drive = [google-drive-work2] type = drive client_id = XXX client_secret = XXX scope = drive token = XXX team_drive = [iclouddrive] type = iclouddrive apple_id = XXX password = XXX _auth_session = cookies = XXX trust_token = XXX service = drive [icloudphotos] type = iclouddrive service = photos apple_id = XXX password = XXX _auth_session = cookies = XXX trust_token = XXX [proton] type = protondrive username = dandrake235 password = XXX 2fa = 6 digit number client_uid = client_access_token = client_refresh_token = client_salted_key_pass = ### Double check the config for sensitive info before posting publicly ``` #### A log from the command that you were trying to run with the `-vv` flag I don't have a log, but the relevant thing is the actual files I see on my filesystem. Here's what I see on Linux: ```auto me@linux-machine ~ % ls /path/Public/rclone-demo total 0 -rw-rw-r-- 1 me me 0 Jul 3 07:23 'Untitled document.docx' -rw-rw-r-- 1 me me 0 Jul 3 07:24 'Untitled presentation.pptx' -rw-rw-r-- 1 me me 0 Jul 3 07:23 'Untitled spreadsheet.xlsx' ``` And on a macbook: ```auto me@macos-machine /another/path/Public/rclone-demo % ls total 0 -rw-------@ 1 me staff 177 Jul 3 07:23 Untitled document.gdoc -rw-------@ 1 me staff 177 Jul 3 07:24 Untitled presentation.gslides -rw-------@ 1 me staff 177 Jul 3 07:24 Untitled spreadsheet.gsheet ``` On macOS, the 177 bytes are a snippet of JSON with the id and such. I'd like rclone to also show the `gdoc`, `gslides`, and `gsheet` files so that things match the native Google Drive client. Is this possible? ---
**Author:** ![ddrake](https://forum.rclone.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/54ee81/32.png) [@ddrake](https://forum.rclone.org/u/ddrake)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2026, 11:36am UTC](https://forum.rclone.org/t/suppress-conversion-of-native-formats-to-xlsx-docx-etc-on-linux/53996/2 "2026-07-04T11:36:28Z")
A partial solution: use `--drive-export-formats desktop` -- that makes rclone show those files (on Linux) as XDG `.desktop` files that contain a URL. Now, at least, the file names aren't deceptive: ```auto me@linux-machine /path/to/Public % ls rclone-demo total 19 -rw-rw-r-- 1 dan dan 200 Jul 4 05:55 'A google slides file.desktop' -rw-rw-r-- 1 dan dan 230 Jul 4 05:55 'A test Google document for my post to the rclone discourse.desktop' -rw-rw-r-- 1 dan dan 197 Jul 4 05:55 'Google spreadsheet.desktop' -rw-rw-r-- 1 dan dan 5115 Jul 4 05:58 genuine_docx_file.docx -rw-rw-r-- 1 dan dan 9011 Jul 4 05:58 genuine_odt_file.odt -rw-rw-r-- 1 dan dan 5624 Jul 4 06:02 genuine_xlsx_file.xlsx -rw-rw-r-- 1 dan dan 187 Jul 4 06:18 name_clash_test.desktop ``` However, as you see, this does not handle name clashes. If you have a document and a spreadsheet with the same base name, rclone only shows you one -- see the [actual Google Drive folder](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1dH4vn4aoaPU47IgwSm41N-OvAbACs4CS). This seems like a bug. This is in the [rclone documentation for Google Drive](https://rclone.org/drive/#import-export-of-google-documents), though what I'd really like is just the native client behavior, or something close -- just give me `gdoc`, `gsheet` and so on for the file extensions. ---
**Author:** ![asdffdsa](https://forum.rclone.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@asdffdsa](https://forum.rclone.org/u/asdffdsa)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2026, 5:19pm UTC](https://forum.rclone.org/t/suppress-conversion-of-native-formats-to-xlsx-docx-etc-on-linux/53996/3 "2026-07-04T17:19:59Z")
welcome to the forum, > [@ddrake](#): > > what I'd really like is just the native client behavior, or something close -- just give me `gdoc`, `gsheet` and so on for the file extensions. which third-party applications offer that exact functionality? how do they handle it? ---
**Author:** ![system](https://forum.rclone.org/uploads/default/original/2X/3/39ad3235f6ffec76ccd0c81616bd55697b4c300d.png) [@system](https://forum.rclone.org/u/system)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2026, 5:20pm UTC](https://forum.rclone.org/t/suppress-conversion-of-native-formats-to-xlsx-docx-etc-on-linux/53996/4 "2026-08-03T17:20:06Z")
Closed on August 3, 2026, 5:20pm UTC This topic was automatically closed 30 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.