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Windows-Specific Limitations for Box Drive

Box Drive , End User , Troubleshooting , Article , Product Utilization , Desktop - Windows

The following are known limitations for Box Drive on Windows machines:

Unsupported Computers

  • Box Drive requires Windows 10 or later (64-bit version) in accordance with the Box Policy For Browser And OS Support.

  • If you see references to Box Drive running on older Windows versions or on the 32-bit version of Windows, these refer to older versions of Box Drive, not the current version.

  • Box Drive is not supported on ARM-based Windows PCs, such as the Microsoft Surface Pro X series, or on Windows virtual machines running on ARM-based host computers, such as Macs with M1 or later chips (Apple Silicon).

  • If you install Box Drive on a ARM-based Windows computer, it will not start up, and instead continually prompt you to restart the computer to finish installation (restarting will not actually help).

    • Error: "Box Drive requires a Windows restart to finish updating".
    • Box Drive_ARM Error.png

UWP Apps (“Windows Store Apps”) Are Unsupported

  • Certain Windows applications, such as the built-in Photos and Snipping Tool apps, don’t work with Box Drive. Avoid using these apps with the Box Drive folder.

  • If you choose “open file” within these apps and select a file in the Box Drive folder, the app may show an error message instead of opening the file. However, opening the file by double-clicking it in Windows File Explorer will work.

  • When saving from these apps to an existing or new file in the Box Drive folder, you may receive an error message, or the saved file may be empty.

  • Affected apps are known as Universal Windows Platform apps (UWP apps or UWAs) or as Windows Store apps.

Unsupported Windows Features

  • Box Drive does not support Windows folder redirection.

  • Previews of Box files may not be visible in the Windows File Explorer Preview Pane if the files are not in a folder made available offline and have not been locally opened in an application recently.

  • Windows search tools such as Cortana or File Explorer search do not return Box Drive results. Use Box Drive's search tool instead.

  • Folders inside your Box folder do not respect global folder view settings (for example, icon size, column width).

  • Accessing or saving Box Drive content from Windows "libraries" (smart collection) is not supported.

Known Windows Issues

  • When you install Box Drive for the first time, the installation process will restart Windows File Explorer.

    • Your folder windows will disappear for a moment. If you have more than one folder window open, only one will reappear afterward.

    • You might see only your desktop wallpaper or a plain single-color background for a moment, as your Windows taskbar and desktop icons will also disappear.

    • It is not possible to suppress the restart of Windows File Explorer, as the restart is necessary to start up Box Drive’s Explorer extension. However, the restart only occurs on first installation, not on update.

  • Box Drive cannot be launched with double-byte character Windows login. This includes Japanese and Chinese characters.
  • Using Box Drive with additional language packs installed may result in errors unzipping files. To unzip them, drag .zip files out of the Box folder.
  • The mounted Box folder may display a "Read Only" attribute. You are still be able to write into the folder as long as you are logged in to Box Drive.
  • Windows 10/Edge: Downloading from Edge and using Save As to the Drive folder creates a blank file. You should download the file into a local folder and then move it into the destination folder in Box Drive. You can also use the Chromium-based version of Edge instead.
  • A file path's maximum length is 260 characters.
  • Custom Box locations with extended unicode characters are not supported. In this case, Drive is unable to read the mount path and uses the default location. For more information, please see our article on configuring the default Box Drive folder location.
  • When navigating folders via Run (Win+R) or opening folders from a hyperlink to the Drive directory, overlay icons and context menus do not appear. Opening a folder using the Run command alters the drag & drop behavior for item(s) in Box Drive. In this case, items dragged by the user to a different location are moved instead of copied.

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