diff --git a/common/data_source/config.py b/common/data_source/config.py
index c67d8b1a82..2b512d4ce2 100644
--- a/common/data_source/config.py
+++ b/common/data_source/config.py
@@ -198,6 +198,10 @@ CONFLUENCE_SYNC_TIME_BUFFER_SECONDS = int(
     os.environ.get("CONFLUENCE_SYNC_TIME_BUFFER_SECONDS", ONE_DAY)
 )
 
+GOOGLE_DRIVE_SYNC_TIME_BUFFER_SECONDS = int(
+    os.environ.get("GOOGLE_DRIVE_SYNC_TIME_BUFFER_SECONDS", ONE_DAY)
+)
+
 GOOGLE_DRIVE_CONNECTOR_SIZE_THRESHOLD = int(
     os.environ.get("GOOGLE_DRIVE_CONNECTOR_SIZE_THRESHOLD", 10 * 1024 * 1024)
 )
diff --git a/common/data_source/google_drive/connector.py b/common/data_source/google_drive/connector.py
index 39017dd4a1..b44c28d74d 100644
--- a/common/data_source/google_drive/connector.py
+++ b/common/data_source/google_drive/connector.py
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ from google.oauth2.service_account import Credentials as ServiceAccountCredentia
 from googleapiclient.errors import HttpError  # type: ignore  # type: ignore
 from typing_extensions import override
 
-from common.data_source.config import GOOGLE_DRIVE_CONNECTOR_SIZE_THRESHOLD, INDEX_BATCH_SIZE, SLIM_BATCH_SIZE, DocumentSource
+from common.data_source.config import GOOGLE_DRIVE_CONNECTOR_SIZE_THRESHOLD, GOOGLE_DRIVE_SYNC_TIME_BUFFER_SECONDS, INDEX_BATCH_SIZE, SLIM_BATCH_SIZE, DocumentSource
 from common.data_source.exceptions import ConnectorMissingCredentialError, ConnectorValidationError, CredentialExpiredError, InsufficientPermissionsError
 from common.data_source.google_drive.doc_conversion import PermissionSyncContext, build_slim_document, convert_drive_item_to_document, onyx_document_id_from_drive_file
 from common.data_source.google_drive.file_retrieval import (
@@ -120,6 +120,7 @@ class GoogleDriveConnector(SlimConnectorWithPermSync, CheckpointedConnectorWithP
         shared_folder_urls: str | None = None,
         specific_user_emails: str | None = None,
         batch_size: int = INDEX_BATCH_SIZE,
+        time_buffer_seconds: int = GOOGLE_DRIVE_SYNC_TIME_BUFFER_SECONDS,
     ) -> None:
         if not any(
             (
@@ -165,6 +166,7 @@ class GoogleDriveConnector(SlimConnectorWithPermSync, CheckpointedConnectorWithP
         self.allow_images = False
 
         self.size_threshold = GOOGLE_DRIVE_CONNECTOR_SIZE_THRESHOLD
+        self.time_buffer_seconds = max(0, time_buffer_seconds)
 
         self.logger = logging.getLogger(self.__class__.__name__)
 
@@ -737,6 +739,16 @@ class GoogleDriveConnector(SlimConnectorWithPermSync, CheckpointedConnectorWithP
         if remaining_folders:
             self.logger.warning(f"Some folders/drives were not retrieved. IDs: {remaining_folders}")
 
+    def _adjust_start_for_query(
+        self, start: SecondsSinceUnixEpoch | None
+    ) -> SecondsSinceUnixEpoch | None:
+        """Subtract the configured time buffer from start to create an overlap window for incremental syncs."""
+        if not start or start <= 0:
+            return start
+        if self.time_buffer_seconds <= 0:
+            return start
+        return max(0.0, start - self.time_buffer_seconds)
+
     def _load_from_checkpoint(
         self,
         start: SecondsSinceUnixEpoch,
@@ -750,11 +762,15 @@ class GoogleDriveConnector(SlimConnectorWithPermSync, CheckpointedConnectorWithP
         if self._creds is None or self._primary_admin_email is None:
             raise RuntimeError("Credentials missing, should not call this method before calling load_credentials")
 
+        adjusted_start = self._adjust_start_for_query(start)
+        if adjusted_start != start:
+            self.logger.info(f"Adjusted start time from {start} to {adjusted_start} (buffer: {self.time_buffer_seconds}s)")
+
         self.logger.info(f"Loading from checkpoint with completion stage: {checkpoint.completion_stage},num retrieved ids: {len(checkpoint.all_retrieved_file_ids)}")
         checkpoint = copy.deepcopy(checkpoint)
         self._retrieved_folder_and_drive_ids = checkpoint.retrieved_folder_and_drive_ids
         try:
-            yield from self._extract_docs_from_google_drive(checkpoint, start, end, include_permissions)
+            yield from self._extract_docs_from_google_drive(checkpoint, adjusted_start, end, include_permissions)
         except Exception as e:
             if MISSING_SCOPES_ERROR_STR in str(e):
                 raise PermissionError() from e
diff --git a/common/data_source/google_drive/file_retrieval.py b/common/data_source/google_drive/file_retrieval.py
index 00bade1570..f143cca814 100644
--- a/common/data_source/google_drive/file_retrieval.py
+++ b/common/data_source/google_drive/file_retrieval.py
@@ -33,10 +33,18 @@ def generate_time_range_filter(
     start: SecondsSinceUnixEpoch | None = None,
     end: SecondsSinceUnixEpoch | None = None,
 ) -> str:
+    """Build a Google Drive API query filter clause for the given time range.
+
+    Checks both modifiedTime and createdTime so that files uploaded with
+    older modification timestamps are still discovered on incremental syncs.
+    """
     time_range_filter = ""
     if start is not None:
         time_start = datetime.fromtimestamp(start, tz=timezone.utc).isoformat()
-        time_range_filter += f" and {GoogleFields.MODIFIED_TIME.value} > '{time_start}'"
+        time_range_filter += (
+            f" and ({GoogleFields.MODIFIED_TIME.value} > '{time_start}'"
+            f" or {GoogleFields.CREATED_TIME.value} >= '{time_start}')"
+        )
     if end is not None:
         time_stop = datetime.fromtimestamp(end, tz=timezone.utc).isoformat()
         time_range_filter += f" and {GoogleFields.MODIFIED_TIME.value} <= '{time_stop}'"