Box enables you to track user activity on virtually any file in two ways:
- Recent activity, via avatars that display when you preview a file
- Lifetime activity via Content Insights, which provide comprehensive file usage statistics you can view or download
These features enable you quickly and easily to see who has accessed a file and the action they took on it.
Note
Tracking file activity is available only on the files of Starter, Business, Business Plus, and Enterprise accounts, and only are visible if you're an owner, co-owner, or editor of the file. If the "Hide collaborators and their activity from non-owners" setting is turned on for a folder, owners and co-owners still see file activity, but editors do not. See Managing Collaborators for more information.
Tracking recent file activity via avatars
Depending on permissions (see the note above), Box displays avatars in the header of a file's Preview page. Each avatar represents someone who, within the prior 30 days, has taken one of the following actions on the file:
- edited
- commented
- previewed
- downloaded
Click on any avatar to display a list that gives you a visual, at-a-glance indication of who has been active recently in a file and what action they took. This can be useful in many ways -- for example, if you're working on a time-sensitive document in Box and you need it reviewed. Preview the file in Box and see immediately who accessed it and what they did, so you can send a reminder to anyone for whom you may still be waiting.
Here's what it looks like when you preview a file:
Here's a closer look, with the list displayed:
Hovering over one avatar displays that person's most recent action. Also, Box displays up to three avatars in the file preview page. If more than three people have acted upon the file within the past 30 days, Box displays the most recent three users and also a + sign indicating the number of additional people who've used the file. The limit is 103 people -- that is, you won't know if more than 103 people act on a within 30 days.
Note
Anonymous users -- people who are not logged in to Box and access a file using a shared link -- are not displayed in this recent activity indicator. However, they are included in the Content Insights feature detailed below.
Tracking lifetime file activity via Content Insights
"Content Insights" refers to the actions people take on a particular file. Box begins accruing these statistics the moment the file was uploaded, recording every time someone:
- views the file
- comments on the file
- edits the file
- downloads the file
Content Insights, in essence, are a full audit log of all user activity on a file -- who has accessed the file and what they did next. This can also be useful in many ways -- for example, if you're doing some folder cleanup. Use Content Insights to quickly view a file's history; if no one's accessed it in at least a year, you may consider deleting that file.
You can also export file usage statistics into a downloadable Excel spreadsheet.
Accessing Content Insights
Accessing Content Insights is easy: you can view Content Insights from either your All Files window, or from within the file.
To view Content Insights from your All Files window:
- In your Box All Files window, click next to a document's title but don't open the document.
- In the right-hand Details sidebar, Box displays a summary of recent viewer activity.
- To see further information, click See Details.
To view Content Insights from within a file:
- In your Box All Files window, open a file. Box displays the file in the preview window.
- Do one of the following:
- At the top of the window, click the Content Insights icon. Box displays a summary of recent viewer activity.
- Or, in the right sidebar, open the Details pane. Under Content Insights, Box displays a summary of recent viewer activity.
- At the top of the window, click the Content Insights icon. Box displays a summary of recent viewer activity.
- To see further information, click See Details.
When you click See Details, the Content Insights window shows you totals for event types.
- At the top of the Content Insights window, you can select to see events that have happened over the past week, month, quarter, or year.
- In the Activity pane, you can search for viewer activities based on viewer, date, or activity type.
Note
- File editors will not get Content Insights if the folder-level setting Hide collaborators and their activity from non-owners is enabled. For more information on this setting, please review the article on Folder Settings. Also, Box displays the user names only for people from within your organization who open a shared link. For people from outside your organization, Box displays either their IP address (a set of numbers) or their location.
- If your admin enabled Restrict Content Creation, only the primary admin and co-admin can export Content Insights reports.
- Content Insights enables you to see activity in Box Notes, but because Box Notes cannot be downloaded, Content Insights always reports "0" downloads for Box Notes.
Understanding when "Someone" downloads your files
"Someone" is anyone who downloads a file from a shared link while not logged into Box. You receive these updates if you or one of your collaborators has enabled “Open Access” shared links to content you own or have access to.
"Someone" also displays if you're collaborating in a folder that has the "Hide collaborators and their activity from non-owners" option turned on.
For added security reporting, admins of Business and Enterprise accounts can track the IP addresses associated with each notification referencing "Someone" within the Admin Console.
Exporting Content Insights
In addition to viewing Content Insights, you can also generate an export for further analysis.
Note
The ability to enot available to the following Box users:
- Personal and Personal pro users
- Non-admin users in enterprises that have enabled Restrict Content Creation.
Notes:
Deleted user's information [Name and Email]
If you run a report for less than a one-year, the deleted user's information, including Name and Email, will not be available. These fields are shown as A prior collaborator. If you want a deleted user's information, you can run the 1+ year report, which will populate these fields with the name and email ID of deleted users.
Access via an shared link
User Email displays A prior collaborator when someone who is not logged into Box accesses a file through a shared link.
- In your Box All Files window, open a file.
- At the top of the window, click the Content Insights icon. Box displays a summary of recent viewer activity.
- In the summary window, click See Details.
- In the Activity pane, click Export All Activity and select the filters you want to apply.
- Activity: By default, all event types will be included in the export, though you can choose to limit the export to specific event types.
- Users or Groups: You can optionally limit the export to only include activity performed by certain users or groups of users.
-
Event Categories: A Content Insights report created for a duration less than one year will show limited categories of events, compared to the report exported for more than one year. The events will be limited to the events you see in the UI (Previews, Downloads, Edits, Comments).
- If you want all the events (Previews, Download, Edit, Comment, File Opened, Edited user) and you are an Admin, use the User Activity Report.
- If you want all the events (Previews, Download, Edit, Comment, File Opened, Edited user), and you are NOT an Admin, export a report for a duration of more than one year.
- Date Range: By default, the export will be limited to events in the past day, though you can choose to include events from a longer time period, including All Time or a custom date range.
- Once you’ve chosen your desired filters, click Create to generate the export. Box automatically uploads your exported report to the Box Reports folder in your account. (If this folder does not exist, Box automatically creates it before uploading your export.)