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Miscellaneous Box Sync Error Notifications

Box Sync provides user notifications if there are any issues saving your changes to Box. The Box Sync application interface lists the file and provides a brief description of the issue.

 

To find a list of any problem file notifications:

  1. Click the Box icon in your menu bar or system tray to open the Box Sync Search Bar.
  2. Click the Gear icon (lower right corner for Mac, top left corner for Windows) for more options, then click Error updating an item...
  3. All problem file notifications will be listed here. They should disappear automatically once you have resolved the issue. If they do not, and you believe you have already resolved the issue, you can click Retry All to manually retry your actions.

 

Check the list below for the problem file notification type you've received. If an Error Code is included in the problem file notification, use that code to identify the error. Click the link for more information. You can also search this article (using the Find tool in your browser) for the Title or Error Code (when applicable) of the notification you received:

 

File Could Not Be Synced

 

Box Sync 4.0 provides detailed user notifications if there an issue syncing a file or folder.

In rare cases, a certain sequence of actions/events between the local computer and the Box website may prevent a file from being synced.

In this case, the best solution is to restart Box Sync. Here's how:

 

Mac

  1. Locate the Box Sync icon in the Menu Bar and click to open the menu.
  2. In the menu, select Quit.
  3. Restart Box Sync from your Applications folder.

Windows

  1. Locate the Box Sync icon in your System tray and right-click to open the menu.
  2. Select Quit.
  3. Start Box Sync from the Windows Start menu.

 

Restarting Box Sync will automatically kick-off a new Sync process. This will provide another opportunity for the file to be Synced. If the problem persists, please open up a case with Box Product Support who will help to troubleshoot this further.

 

Name Not Supported

 

Some operating systems do not support item names containing some special characters. If you attempt to sync files or folders names containing these characters, Box Sync prompts you to rename the item using the underscore character.

 

Box OS-independent restrictions:

  • Box does not support '/' and '\' anywhere in a file or folder name or whitespaces at the beginning or end of a file or folder name.

Windows OS restrictions:

  • Box does not impose any additional restrictions.
  • If Windows does not support certain characters in file names, Box marks them as problem files. See the list of Windows file name restrictions. Windows file name restrictions also shown below:
    • < (less than)
    • > (greater than)
    • : (colon)
    • " (double quote)
    • / (forward slash)
    • \ (backslash)
    • | (vertical bar or pipe)
    • ? (question mark)
    • * (asterisk)
    • Windows does not support folder names that begin and end with a . (period) character.

Mac OS restrictions:

 

If the item on Box has an unsupported name, rename the item on Box and Box Sync will re-process the download. If the local file has an unsupported name, rename the file locally.

 

Quota Exceeded

 

"Quota Exceeded" notifications typically appear to alert Sync users that the owner of the folder displaying the error has reached their maximum storage limit on their Box account.

Box Sync’s functions are also dependent on the file size limitations of the folder owner. The maximum file size limit for this account is based on the folder owner’s account type. See https://www.box.com/pricing/ for eligibility information.

 

If you are unable to sync a file in Box because of the inherited file quota limits, alert the folder owner and confirm that they have enough storage available on their account. They can find their current storage usage by:

  1. Navigating to Account Settings > Account.
  2. Scroll down to Account Details.
  3. Locate the Storage Used item.

If there is no storage available, the folder owner will need to take one of the following steps;

 

Once you have confirmed that the folder owner has enough open storage, press Retry All from the Problem Notification menu.

 

File Too Large

 

Box syncs files based on the file size eligibility of the file owner. The maximum file size limit for uploads to Box varies depending on the file owner’s account type. For file size limits, see Understand the Maximum File Size You Can Upload to Box. If you are unable to sync a file in Box because of the inherited file size limits, be sure to alert the file owner.

 

Check with the file owner, and ensure that the file being synced is under the owner's maximum file size limit.

 

Permission Issue On Box

 

Multiple reasons can be associated with this message.

Permissions on Box.com matter! In order to sync a file you must have Editor Access or above, see Understanding Collaborator Permission Levels to verify that the file owner has granted the required permission for you to sync the required file.

 

  • Some Enterprises may choose to restrict content creation at the root level to only admins and co-admins. This would also prevent uploading content directly from the Box Sync root folder.
  • Sometimes, another person may be editing your file in the Box server and you may not have the required permission to overwrite that file.
  • Sometimes, the local application (for example MS Word or Adobe Acrobat) may hold on to the synced file.

 

Ensure that you have the proper collaborator permissions to sync the file. If you are unable to sync a file on Box because of the permissions settings, alert the folder owner. Once you have the right permissions for this file, resync the file.

 

  • If you are unable to create content directly in the Box Sync folder, alert your Admin and confirm that they have not restricted content creation in Enterprise Settings.
  • If another user is editing your file at the same time, save the file to another folder and restart the Box Sync application.
  • If another application is still using the file, restart your local application (applicable to this file) and then manually re-sync your file.
  • If these fixes don’t work, then you may need to restart your computer. If you restart your computer and Box Sync is configured to start automatically, then this file will begin syncing automatically.

 

File Deleted on Box

 

You see this message in the following situations:

  • When the file is edited offline and you try to delete the item on Box. You see this error message when Box Sync restarts.
  • When the file is deleted on Box and you try to edit the item locally. You see this error message as soon as the conflict is detected.

In either scenario, a parent folder might have been unsynced. An unsync on Box is interpreted as a delete on local. If File X was specifically deleted on Box (as a result of a parent being unsynced or deleted) and edited locally at the same time, then uploading File X to that same location will no longer sync the file. If you upload File X to a different synced folder, that file will reappear locally.

 

To work around this issue, make a copy of the file and delete the original. Alternately, upload the file via the web app to some other currently synced location and delete the original.

 

Server Is Busy

 

You will receive this error notification if Box Sync is generating too much traffic to the Box Server. This can happen with large bulk uploads or during periods of increased activity in the folder tree (i.e. rapidly updating many files).

 

Typically, Sync will report that the file will be automatically retried after a few minutes. If it does not report this, then try the Retry All button in the Problem Notification.

 

File Type Not Supported

 

Box Sync does not support the following file types (see File Types Ignored or Blocked by Box Sync and Box Drive for detailed information):

  • Outlook PST files
  • QuickBook files
  • Google Docs/Spreadsheets (web only documents cannot sync to your local machine)

 

Upload these types of files using the Box website.

 

Network Problems During File Transfer

 

File transfer problems typically occur due to intermittent network issues. These problems can occur anywhere in the network and may be outside your control.

 

Depending on the type of network issue, you may need to contact your administrator, IT department, or wireless/internet provider to resolve the issue. Once the network issue is resolved, retry the upload/download. Other issues can sometimes present themselves as network problems, such as a blank "Modified Date" or other unsupported value.

 

Unknown Problem

 

There are times where our tests are unable to determine the root cause of the syncing problem.

 

The best solution is to restart Box Sync. If restarting Box Sync does not solve this problem, then you may need to restart your computer. If the problem continues, please submit your Box Sync logs and open a case with our Product Support team.

 

File Is Locked By Another Application

 

If a collaborator has locked a file using another application, you will not be able to update the file until the file is unlocked by that application.

 

Go to the application and unlock the file. If required, contact the file owner to coordinate your changes. Once this file is unlocked by the application, use the "Retry All" button found in problem file window.

 

Dependency Failed

 

This issue may occur when Box Sync is unable to execute a particular action because it depends on another action that has failed. For example, Box Sync is attempting to create a folder structure with folder "X" contained in parent folder "Y". If the creation of parent folder "Y" fails, then creating folder "X" will fail, and Box will display this "Dependency failed" message.

 

The issue may be a one-off problem related to various environmental factors. Wait a few minutes and click the "Retry All" button to see if it syncs without errors the second time.

 

If the issue is with syncing content down from the web app, try unmarking and remarking the folder for sync.

 

If the above steps does not resolve the error, open a Box User Services ticket and include a screenshot of the error message and your Box Sync logs.

 

Parent Folder Has Been Deleted

 

Sometimes, a parent folder may have been unsynced or deleted from Box. As a result, an item within the deleted folder may not be synced or moved because there is no existing record of the parent folder.

 

Move the file to another location and then resync the item.

 

Folder Cannot Be Moved

 

Box Sync does not allow folder moves if the folder owner has changed on Box. For example, if you try to move a collaborative folder into your root directory, you will be converting the folder ownership to be private.

 

First move the folder back in your local computer. Next, on the Box web site, try to move the folder to the required location.

 

Low Disk Space

 

Low disk space refers to the amount of storage on your local hard drive, not the storage on your Box account. When your hard drive is close to being full, Box Sync will stop downloading files.

 

Free up some disk space on your computer and then resync the file.

 

Name In Use

 

This rare issue may occur when Box Sync is resolving a file name conflict. If there is already a file in the sync destination location with the same name, you will see this error.

 

Check to see if there is already another file with the same name in the sync location. If so, rename the file and try to resync it.

 

Issue Deleting A Folder

 

When Sync tries to delete a folder and the folder is not empty, you may encounter this error. For example, you will see this error when you add a file to a folder on your computer while it is offline and you unsync the folder on Box before allowing Box Sync to make the changes.

 

Move the remaining files in the folder to another location and then resync the folder.

 

File Locked By Box

 

If a collaborator has locked a file on Box and prevented downloads, you will not be able to download and update the file until it is unlocked.

 

Locate the file on Box, right-click and select Unlock File. Before the file is unlocked, you can view the name of the person who locked the file. Contact this person to coordinate your changes. Once this file is unlocked, use the "Retry All" button found in the problem file window.

 

Cannot Create The Temp Folder

 

Box Sync requires a temp folder to store temporary information. The location for this folder must be on the same volume as your Box Sync folder. If the Box Sync folder is located on another volume, Box Sync attempts creating a temp folder as a sibling of the Box Sync folder. For example, if the Box Sync folder is: X:\Stuff\Box Sync, then Box Sync attempts creating a temp folder under X:\Stuff.

If your account does not have permission to access this location, then Box Sync cannot create a temp folder and issues this problem notification.

 

For Box Sync to create a temp folder, you must have permission to create folders at the parent level of the Box Sync folder (For example, at the X:\Stuff level in the example above). If you do not have the required permission to create folders, contact your system administrator. Once you have the required permission to create a folder, restart Box Sync.

 

Mac Packages Cannot Be Converted To Folders

 

In rare cases, you may encounter an unknown issue affecting Mac package conversions using Box Sync.

 

As Mac package support is a new feature, Box continues to provide improvements on a regular basis. If you encounter an unknown issue related to Mac package support, contact us (Box Sync UI > Help tab > Contact Us or Submit Logs).

 

Folder Cannot Be Converted To Mac Packages

 

You can only sync new uploads of Mac packages. The Mac package support provided by Box allows collaborators to download packages correctly. If you used Box Sync to sync any package prior to the release of the Mac package support feature, that package will no longer sync automatically.

 

Follow this sequence to workaround this problem:

  1. Quit Box Sync.
  2. Verify the latest version of the package (Box web application or your local Box Sync directory).
  3. Save a backup of your package to a local directory outside of your Box Sync folder.
  4. Delete the package from the Box web application and your local Box Sync folder locations.
  5. Start Box Sync and wait until your files are synced.
  6. Move the backup of your package (Step 3) back into your Box Sync folder

 

File Stored In .boxsync Folder

 

Box Sync downloads items to a temporary location (named .boxsync) and then moves them to the required folder.

For Box Sync to create the .boxsync location, you must have permission to create folders in the parent folder of the Box Sync folder. Be aware that this .boxsync folder is hidden to prevent accidental exposure to any user.

 

If you do not have the required permission to create folders, contact your system administrator. Once the correct permissions are in place, the folder will be created and the problem will be resolved.

 

Legacy Package Download Disabled

 

You can only sync new uploads of Mac packages. The Mac package support provided by Box allows collaborators to download packages correctly. Any package uploaded to Box (using the upload folder method provided by some browsers) prior to the release of this feature will no longer sync automatically.

 

Follow this sequence to workaround this problem:

  1. Quit Box Sync.
  2. Save a backup of your package to a local directory outside of your Box Sync folder
  3. Delete the package from your original Box location.
  4. Start Box Sync and wait until your files are synced.
  5. Move the backup of your package (Step 2) back into your Box Sync folder

 

Move And Copy Blocked

 

You may receive this error after you have attempted to move or copy a file into a new location in your Box Sync folder.

 

Your enterprise admin has disabled moving and copying files to these locations. Request access from your admin and try again.

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