Box for Google Workspace Add-on enables people to apply Box’s extensive security features to content they send and receive via Gmail. With Box for Google Workspace Add-on, anyone in your organization can:
- Save attachments directly from an email message into the Box folder of their choice
- Save the body of an email message as a text document into the Box folder of their choice
- Insert shared links to files stored in Box anywhere within the body of an email
- Copy Google files (Docs, Sheets, and Slides) in Google Drive to the Box folder of your choice.
This makes it easier to share files with people beyond the four walls of your enterprise, but still maintain data privacy and security. Since people are sending shared links in their email messages – not actual files – you preserve any security restrictions around the content, so no one who receives an email with a shared link can in turn share the document, intentionally or accidentally, with someone who isn’t supposed to see it. This makes it safe, for example, to send wiring instructions to a bank, sensitive marketing content to a contractor, or medical records to a patient or specialist.
There is secure 1:1 authentication between Box and Gmail enterprise user accounts. And you can turn the Box for Google Workspace Add-on integration on or off at any time.
An additional advantage with Box for Google Workspace Add-on is that it is vendor-neutral . Regardless of whether your organization, or departments or divisions within it, use Office 365, Google Docs/Sheets/Slides, or iWork, everyone can use Box for Google Workspace Add-on to securely store and share their content.
Below are the steps Box admins must take to make Box for Google Workspace Add-on available to their organization.
Notes
- People who have free Box accounts can follow the procedure in Step 3 below to add the Box for Google Workspace Add-on integration.
- iPad does not support Gmail add-ons.
Implementing Box for Google Workspace Add-on
Putting Box for Google Workspace Add-on into the hands of everyone in your organization is a three-step process:
- Installing the Box for Google Workspace Add-on from Google
- Enabling the Box for Google Workspace Add-on integration from within Box
- Instructing your managed users to turn the app on from their individual accounts
Step 1: Installing the Box for Google Workspace Add-on from Google
Most of the work to install the Box for Google Workspace Add-on happens on the Google side.
To install Box for Google Workspace Add-on enterprise-wide
- Sign into a Google admin account that has access to modify enterprise settings.
- Open Gmail, GDrive, or Google Calendar.
- Click the + sign in the new Gmail sidebar to access the Google Workspace. Then scroll down until you find the Box for Google Workspace Add-on tile.
- Click the Box for Google Workspace Add-on tile.
- Ensure that third-party apps installs are allowable to users. For Google Workspace EDU domains, the default is to not allow users to install any third-party apps. For all other domains, the default is to allow users to install any app available in the Marketplace.
- If third-party app installs are allowed by default in your Google Workspace domain, your people should be able to install Box for Google Workspace Add-on themselves without further action in the Google Workspace Admin Console.
- From this point forward, installing and managing Box for Google Workspace Add-on works much like installing and managing other third-party add-ons for Gmail. You can find instructions and further details on the Google site. However, these links may give you a head start:
Step 2: Enabling or Disabling Box for Google Workspace Add-on in Box
As with other third-party integrations within Box, you can use the Box admin console to enable or disable Box for Google Workspace Add-on's access into your Box enterprise.
To enable or disable Box for Google Workspace Add-on in Box
- Sign into a Box admin account that has access to modify enterprise settings.
- From your admin console, go to Apps > Box Apps & Integrations.
Step 3: Turning on Box for Google Workspace Add-on at the Individual Level
(This is also the process that owners of free Box accounts use to add Box for Google Workspace Add-on to their accounts.)
To install Box for Google Workspace Add-on on your individual device
- In a Web browser, open Gmail. In the third-party application sidebar that displays on the right, at the bottom, click the + sign. The Google Marketplace displays.
- Scroll down to find the Box for Google Workspace Add-on tile, and then click Install.
- Follow the prompts, until the Box icon displays in the third-party app sidebar.
Frequently-asked Questions
Does this integration work on mobile devices?
Yes, it does.
Where are attached files actually stored?
Files are stored in Box.
Can I use my personal Gmail to integrate with my enterprise Box account?
In short – yes. The Gmail integration framework does not perform an enterprise-to-enterprise check. This is unlike the Box for Google Workspace Add-on integration, which does perform that check. But any security restrictions around Box files still apply, regardless of whether people use their company Gmail accounts or their personal Gmail accounts.
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