New Box Drive for Windows: Built on a New Architecture

The 2.47 release introduces major improvements to Box Drive on Windows, including enhanced performance, reliability, and compatibility through adoption of the native Windows OS architecture. Key updates include support for ARM devices, known folder redirection, flexible storage management options, the ability to mark files for offline access, new icons with multiple status indicators, and seamless integration into the Windows context menu. These enhancements provide users and administrators with greater control, clarity, and efficiency when managing cloud content on their devices. See the full list of new features and enhancements below.

New Box Drive OS requirements:

• Windows 10: Version 10.0.19045 or later
• Windows 11
• Windows Server: Version 2022 or later

ARM devices support

Starting with Box Drive version 2.47, ARM based devices running Windows OS are supported. Simply install Box Drive version 2.47 or later—no additional configuration is required.

Known Folder Redirection

Admins can configure known folder redirection for end users to Box Drive using system administration tools such as Group Policy Objects (GPO). This setup ensures folders such as Documents and Downloads are automatically synchronized with Box, helping users keep their important files backed up and accessible across devices without manual effort.

For more information on how admins can configure known folder location, visit Enabling Known Folder Redirection on Windows.

Custom Box Folder Location

Box admins can free up space on users’ system drives by configuring the Box folder location to a different internal drive. When this setting is changed, all downloaded Box content will be saved in the new custom folder location instead of the default system drive. For more information on how admins can change the default Box Drive folder location, visit: Configuring the Default Box Drive Folder Location (Windows Only)

Mark Single Files for Offline Access

Previously, only folders could be marked for offline access in Box Drive. With the new version, both individual files and folders can be marked for offline use directly from the main context menu using the “Always keep on this device” option. This provides users with greater flexibility and control over which content is available without an internet connection.

Legacy version	New Version
Only folders can be marked for offline To reach Box menu, users had extra clicks to see more of the context menu	Both files and folders can be marked for offline. Mark for offline option is available in the main context menu as "Always keep on this device"

New icons, multiple statuses and resolved icons overlay issues

Box Drive now features updated sync icons and a dedicated Status column in File Explorer, allowing users to easily view synchronization status, lock status, and when items are open by another user. The new version supports displaying multiple status icons simultaneously, offers additional tooltips for more detailed information, and delivers more reliable and consistent icon overlays—resolving previous display issues with other cloud providers on desktop.

Legacy version	New Version

Legacy version	New version	Description
		Item is up-to-date in Box and available online-only.
		Item is a problem item. More information on problem items and how to resolve them.
		Item is in the process of being saved to Box.
		Item has been locked.
		Item is marked for offline access.
N/A		Item is downloaded.
		Item is open in an active co-authoring session.
N/A		Folder is marked for offline but contains items that can’t be downloaded.

New context menu

The new context menu in Box Drive is now seamlessly integrated into the native Windows context menu, allowing users to quickly access Box-specific actions without any extra clicks. This streamlines workflow and improves ease of use by presenting Box options alongside standard file operations.

Legacy version	New Version
To reach Box menu user had to do extra click to see the different context menu.	Box menu is seamlessly integrated into the native context menu.

Storage Management: Unpinning Folders and Files

Unpinning files and folders in Box Drive allows users to remove downloaded content from their local device, freeing up disk space while keeping the items accessible online. When a file or folder is unpinned, it becomes online-only—meaning it will no longer take up local storage but can still be accessed and downloaded again when needed.

Legacy version	New Version
Making files available online does not guarantee that local storage will be freed immediately. Some cached files may remain on the disk.	Users can identify which files are available locally on disk and have the capability to free up space by making them online-only.

Additional Improvements in Box Drive:

• Box Drive folders remain accessible even when the Box Drive application is not running.
• Improved read and write performance for files already cached on disk.
• Full compatibility of Box Drive with Windows applications from the Microsoft Store.
• Added a progress bar to indicate file download status from Box both in file explorer and as a pop up window
• Added notifications for background downloads, allowing users to monitor progress and cancel downloads if needed.
• Users receive notifications during background file downloads, with an option to cancel.

Limitations and key considerations

Important update required for VDI environments:

If your setup persists the application directory (%localappdata%\Box\Box), you must also persist the mount location (%userprofile%\Box by default). Box Drive now stores downloaded content in the actual mount location, so both locations need to be preserved.

Known Issue with Dell SupportAssist Remediation:
Dell SupportAssist Remediation may cause excessive local storage usage by including Box Drive content in its system snapshot backups. This has been observed on devices such as the XPS 13 and 15. Removing or reconfiguring the application can help resolve the issue. We recommend checking for this tool if you notice unusually high disk space usage.