Overview
When editing a file in a desktop application via Box Edit, there is a very small chance that your file does not save successfully back to Box and this can happen for a few different reasons. The good news is that your work is easily recoverable and Box Support will work with you to uncover the root cause of the failed save.
Problem
Box Edit appears to save changes locally but the updated file is not uploaded back to Box. You may see the updated version only on your device or receive an error about saving, syncing, or upload failures. This can occur for several reasons: the Box Edit client is out of date, the file is open in another application or by another user, the desktop application's temporary file location has permission issues, network interruptions, or antivirus/OS settings block the upload.
Process for Resolution
Windows
- Copy and paste: %localappdata%\box\box edit\documents in the Windows Start search bar.
- This should bring up a Windows explorer window with multiple folders all named with numbers. Please look through these folders and find the one that contains the file of interest.
- Within this folder, there should also be a subfolder named "TEMP", click in this, and see if a version of the edited file is stored here.
- Manually upload the updated file to Box using the web UI or Box Drive (either overwrite the existing file or upload as a new version).
MacOS
- Open a Finder window.
- Click Go from the tool bar > Go to Folder.
- Type ~/Library/Application Support/Box/Box Edit/Documents and enter.
- In the Documents folder, there will be a folder corresponding to each file you've edited with Box Edit. Search through these folders to find your file.
- Note: Sorting by Date Modified will allow you to find your file near the top.
- Manually upload the updated file to Box using the web UI or Box Drive (either overwrite the existing file or upload as a new version).
Outcome
- Confirm success by opening the file in Box Edit and verifying the edited content is present.
- Check version history in Box to ensure the new version is recorded.
- If you uploaded manually, verify the file in Box matches the local edited copy and that collaborators can access the updated version.
Alternatives:
If you continue to experience any of the symptoms listed above, collect and submit Box Tools Logs and open a support ticket at support.box.com for further assistance.
Notate the following details:
- Date and time of the failed save/upload
- Name and file ID of the file that failed to save/upload
Further Reading:
Related articles can be found at Troubleshooting Box Edit.