Box User Guide

General

Box is a cloud file sharing platform that allows users to share files with others and access files from multiple devices. It allows you to:

  1. Avoid sending files as email attachments
  2. Make sure collaborators are always working on the latest version of a file
  3. Save all earlier versions of a file in case you need to go back
  4. Access private and shared files from your computer, your mobile device, or any web browser
  5. Sync files to your computer for offline access
  6. Control access for sensitive documents

This guide covers the following areas:

  1. Accessing Files
  2. Sharing Files
  3. Other Features

Accessing files

There are four main ways to access your Box files:

  1. Web Interface
  2. Box Sync
  3. Box Edit
  4. Box Mobile Apps

Web Interface

The Box website is the easiest way to find and organize your Box files. Follow these steps to access Box via a web browser:

  1. Go to app.box.com/login
  2. Log in with your email address and password
  3. Forgot your password? Click Reset Password

From the web interface, you can:

  • Search for files - Box will search both file names and text within files; the Filters section on the right side of your search results lets you narrow down results by folder, owner, type, etc.
  • Jump to a folder - Click the triangle next to All Files (upper left), then browse your folder structure, or type a folder name to search
  • Upload files - Navigate to the destination folder, click Upload and choose either Files or Folders
  • Preview & download files – Click the file name to preview, then click the Download button
  • Edit files – See Box Edit below
  • Create new folders - Click the New button and select Folder, enter the folder name, and choose whether to keep the folder private or invite collaborators (see Sharing Files below)
  • Share folders or files - See Sharing Files below
  • View file updates - Click the globe icon (upper right) to view recent changes to your shared files, and click All (upper left) to filter updates by type (Downloads, Comments, etc.)

Box Sync

Box Sync synchronizes folders and files between Box and your computer. You should make sure any files you store on your computer are kept inside your Box Sync folder, even if you keep them private. This acts as an offsite backup for your data in case your computer crashes or is lost/stolen. Any files kept outside of the Box Sync folder are vulnerable to loss. 

To use Box Sync:

  1. On box.com, click your username in the upper right and click Get Box Sync
  2. Click the Box Sync button to download the Box Sync Installer
  3. Open the installer and follow the prompts to complete the installation
  4. Log into the Box Sync app with your email address and password
  5. Once installation is complete, a folder called “Box Sync” will appear inside your user folder, and any files you drag into this folder will be synced with your Box account
  6. On box.com, a blue symbol will be displayed next to all synced folders
  7. To sync a folder, go to box.com, click the three dots (…) next to the folder, click Properties, and click Sync to Computer
    1. Note: you can only sync folders where you have Editor access or above
    2. To un-sync a folder, click the three dots, click Properties, and click Disable Sync for this Folder

Box Edit

Box Edit lets you edit files directly from the web interface. Instead of syncing all of your Box folders to your computer, or downloading individual files to edit and then upload back, Box Edit lets you open files directly from box.com in the appropriate application and save them directly back.

Navigate to the file on box.com, click the three dots next to the file, click Open with…, and click Desktop App

  1. The first time you do this, you’ll be prompted to download the Box Edit installer; after opening the installer and following the prompts, click Continue on box.com
  2. Your file will open in the appropriate app on your computer (e.g. Excel files will open in Excel), and when you save the file, it will save back to box.com

Box Mobile Apps

Box offers mobile apps for iOS and Android that let you view your files (online or offline) and share files from your phone or tablet. You can also edit Box files on your mobile by installing Microsoft’s mobile Office apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and connecting them to Box (see instructions for iOS and Android). 

You can also use the camera on your iPhone or iPad as a mobile scanner to quickly upload documents to Box with Box Capture (iOS only).

Sharing Files 

This section covers four topics related to sharing files in Box:

  1. Inviting Collaborators
  2. Shared Links
  3. File Locking
  4. Version Control

Inviting Collaborators

To share files with other Box users who will need to edit them, you’ll invite those users as collaborators on specific folders. 

To invite collaborators:

  1. Navigate to the folder on box.com, click the three dots next to the folder, click Sharing, and click Invite Collaborators
  2. Enter the names or email addresses of the contacts you want to invite and set their permission level (more about permissions here) for each collaborator
  3. Include an optional message and click Send Invites

Please note the following:

  • To change collaborator settings, click the three dots next to the folder, click Sharing, click Manage Collaborators, then click the permission setting for each user to change their access level or remove them from the folder
  • There are seven access levels for collaborators, but the main three are Owners, who can do anything with a folder, Editors, who can make changes but can’t edit folder settings, and Viewers, who can view and download, but can’t delete or sync data. For a full description of all 7 access levels, see this article.
  • Your collaborators won’t be able to view anything outside the folders to which they’ve been invited
  • Collaborators have the same access level throughout a particular folder structure, so an Editor in a top-level folder will be an Editor in all the subfolders, too
  • If you invite contacts with no Box account, they’ll be required to create one to proceed

Shared Links

In many cases, you’ll want to give read-only access to contacts who won’t need the ability to edit your files or who don’t have Box accounts. In those situations, you’ll use Shared Links.

To generate a Shared Link:

  1. Navigate to the folder and click Share to the right of the folder
    1. By default, anyone who receives the link will be able to preview or download files within the folder or subfolders on box.com, but will not be able to edit (unless they already have permission to access the folder)
  2. Change link settings as desired:
    1. Click People with the link to limit access to People in your company (anyone at your company) or People in this folder (anyone who has already been invited as a collaborator) 
    2. Click the gear icon to require a password, set an expiration date for the link, or remove users’ ability to download files
  3. Copy the link to paste into an email or other communication tool, or enter names or email addresses to have Box email them a link directly

File Locking

Occasionally, two or more collaborators will try to edit a file at the same time. File locking prevents this from happening.

To prevent other users from making changes while your work on a file:

  1. On box.com, navigate to the file, click the three dots to the right of the file name and click Lock File, then set options to prevent others from downloading the file or to set an expiration time for the lock and click Continue
  2. You can also lock files you have synced to your computer; right-click the file, click Box Sync, and click Lock

Version Control

Whenever a change is made to a file, the file is saved as a new version; this is useful for files that have extensive back-and-forth collaboration, especially when two users edit a file simultaneously without using File Locking. 

Files that have multiple versions have a version number (e.g. V2) beneath the file name. Click the version number to view the older versions, download them, delete them, or make an older version the current version. When you delete an older version of this file, the deleted version is retained as determined by the trash policy for your account. You cannot restore a deleted version after the trash policy's expiration date.

Other Features

Box includes a number of other powerful tools for collaboration that you can explore on the Box Community site. Here are a few specific articles you may find useful: