diff --git a/backend/drive/drive.go b/backend/drive/drive.go
index 899c7daf9..a62d47ca9 100644
--- a/backend/drive/drive.go
+++ b/backend/drive/drive.go
@@ -3555,6 +3555,50 @@ func (f *Fs) copyID(ctx context.Context, id, dest string) (err error) {
 	return nil
 }
 
+func (f *Fs) query(ctx context.Context, query string) (entries []*drive.File, err error) {
+	list := f.svc.Files.List()
+	if query != "" {
+		list.Q(query)
+	}
+
+	if f.opt.ListChunk > 0 {
+		list.PageSize(f.opt.ListChunk)
+	}
+	list.SupportsAllDrives(true)
+	list.IncludeItemsFromAllDrives(true)
+	if f.isTeamDrive && !f.opt.SharedWithMe {
+		list.DriveId(f.opt.TeamDriveID)
+		list.Corpora("drive")
+	}
+	// If using appDataFolder then need to add Spaces
+	if f.rootFolderID == "appDataFolder" {
+		list.Spaces("appDataFolder")
+	}
+
+	fields := fmt.Sprintf("files(%s),nextPageToken,incompleteSearch", f.getFileFields(ctx))
+
+	var results []*drive.File
+	for {
+		var files *drive.FileList
+		err = f.pacer.Call(func() (bool, error) {
+			files, err = list.Fields(googleapi.Field(fields)).Context(ctx).Do()
+			return f.shouldRetry(ctx, err)
+		})
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to execute query: %w", err)
+		}
+		if files.IncompleteSearch {
+			fs.Errorf(f, "search result INCOMPLETE")
+		}
+		results = append(results, files.Files...)
+		if files.NextPageToken == "" {
+			break
+		}
+		list.PageToken(files.NextPageToken)
+	}
+	return results, nil
+}
+
 var commandHelp = []fs.CommandHelp{{
 	Name:  "get",
 	Short: "Get command for fetching the drive config parameters",
@@ -3705,6 +3749,47 @@ Use the --interactive/-i or --dry-run flag to see what would be copied before co
 }, {
 	Name:  "importformats",
 	Short: "Dump the import formats for debug purposes",
+}, {
+	Name:  "query",
+	Short: "List files using Google Drive query language",
+	Long: `This command lists files based on a query
+
+Usage:
+
+    rclone backend query drive: query
+    
+The query syntax is documented at [Google Drive Search query terms and 
+operators](https://developers.google.com/drive/api/guides/ref-search-terms).
+
+For example:
+
+	rclone backend query drive: "'0ABc9DEFGHIJKLMNop0QRatUVW3X' in parents and name contains 'foo'"
+
+If the query contains literal ' or \ characters, these need to be escaped with
+\ characters. "'" becomes "\'" and "\" becomes "\\\", for example to match a 
+file named "foo ' \.txt":
+
+	rclone backend query drive: "name = 'foo \' \\\.txt'"
+
+The result is a JSON array of matches, for example:
+
+[
+	{
+		"createdTime": "2017-06-29T19:58:28.537Z",
+		"id": "0AxBe_CDEF4zkGHI4d0FjYko2QkD",
+		"md5Checksum": "68518d16be0c6fbfab918be61d658032",
+		"mimeType": "text/plain",
+		"modifiedTime": "2024-02-02T10:40:02.874Z",
+		"name": "foo ' \\.txt",
+		"parents": [
+			"0BxAe_BCDE4zkFGZpcWJGek0xbzC"
+		],
+		"resourceKey": "0-ABCDEFGHIXJQpIGqBJq3MC",
+		"sha1Checksum": "8f284fa768bfb4e45d076a579ab3905ab6bfa893",
+		"size": "311",
+		"webViewLink": "https://drive.google.com/file/d/0AxBe_CDEF4zkGHI4d0FjYko2QkD/view?usp=drivesdk\u0026resourcekey=0-ABCDEFGHIXJQpIGqBJq3MC"
+	}
+]`,
 }}
 
 // Command the backend to run a named command
@@ -3822,6 +3907,17 @@ func (f *Fs) Command(ctx context.Context, name string, arg []string, opt map[str
 		return f.exportFormats(ctx), nil
 	case "importformats":
 		return f.importFormats(ctx), nil
+	case "query":
+		if len(arg) == 1 {
+			query := arg[0]
+			var results, err = f.query(ctx, query)
+			if err != nil {
+				return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to execute query: %q, error: %w", query, err)
+			}
+			return results, nil
+		} else {
+			return nil, errors.New("need a query argument")
+		}
 	default:
 		return nil, fs.ErrorCommandNotFound
 	}
diff --git a/backend/drive/drive_internal_test.go b/backend/drive/drive_internal_test.go
index c2e6da05b..838962759 100644
--- a/backend/drive/drive_internal_test.go
+++ b/backend/drive/drive_internal_test.go
@@ -524,6 +524,41 @@ func (f *Fs) InternalTestCopyID(t *testing.T) {
 	})
 }
 
+// TestIntegration/FsMkdir/FsPutFiles/Internal/Query
+func (f *Fs) InternalTestQuery(t *testing.T) {
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	var err error
+	t.Run("BadQuery", func(t *testing.T) {
+		_, err = f.query(ctx, "this is a bad query")
+		require.Error(t, err)
+		assert.Contains(t, err.Error(), "failed to execute query")
+	})
+
+	t.Run("NoMatch", func(t *testing.T) {
+		results, err := f.query(ctx, fmt.Sprintf("name='%s' and name!='%s'", existingSubDir, existingSubDir))
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		assert.Len(t, results, 0)
+	})
+
+	t.Run("GoodQuery", func(t *testing.T) {
+		pathSegments := strings.Split(existingFile, "/")
+		var parent string
+		for _, item := range pathSegments {
+			// the file name contains ' characters which must be escaped
+			escapedItem := f.opt.Enc.FromStandardName(item)
+			escapedItem = strings.ReplaceAll(escapedItem, `\`, `\\`)
+			escapedItem = strings.ReplaceAll(escapedItem, `'`, `\'`)
+
+			results, err := f.query(ctx, fmt.Sprintf("%strashed=false and name='%s'", parent, escapedItem))
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+			require.Len(t, results, 1)
+			assert.Len(t, results[0].Id, 33)
+			assert.Equal(t, results[0].Name, item)
+			parent = fmt.Sprintf("'%s' in parents and ", results[0].Id)
+		}
+	})
+}
+
 // TestIntegration/FsMkdir/FsPutFiles/Internal/AgeQuery
 func (f *Fs) InternalTestAgeQuery(t *testing.T) {
 	// Check set up for filtering
@@ -611,6 +646,7 @@ func (f *Fs) InternalTest(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Run("Shortcuts", f.InternalTestShortcuts)
 	t.Run("UnTrash", f.InternalTestUnTrash)
 	t.Run("CopyID", f.InternalTestCopyID)
+	t.Run("Query", f.InternalTestQuery)
 	t.Run("AgeQuery", f.InternalTestAgeQuery)
 	t.Run("ShouldRetry", f.InternalTestShouldRetry)
 }