When you work inside your Box Drive folder on your device, Box Drive syncs your actions in File Explorer or Finder to Box by calling Box APIs. Those API calls differ for move vs copy, and for files vs folders. This article summarizes how.
Moves and renames
A move (including dragging into another folder) or a rename updates an existing file or folder on Box. Box Drive uses the file or folder update APIs to change the parent and/or name. Content is not uploaded again just because you moved or renamed the item. Files and folders both follow this pattern.
Classification labels and move
A normal move or rename is still the same item on Box (the same file ID), so classification on that item is retained unless there are conflicting Shield policies that override this.
Copies
A copy creates new items in the destination. Box Drive creates each new item on Box. Behavior differs for folders and files.
Folders
Copying a folder builds a new folder tree on Box. Each new folder is created as its own item. Files inside the copy are handled one file at a time using the file rules below.
Files
For each new file created by a copy, Box Drive tries to avoid re-sending bytes unnecessarily:
Copy File API (Server-side copy): When Box Drive already knows a file on Box with the same content (i.e. matching SHA-1) as the source, it can ask Box to copy that file in the cloud instead of uploading from your device again.
Upload API: When Box Drive cannot match the content to a known file (for example, the file was never synced through the Box Drive cache, or you copied content in from outside Box Drive), it uploads the bytes as a new file in the destination.
Examples:
Copy a file into Box Drive from elsewhere → Box Drive often has no matching Box file yet → upload.
Copy the same file again within Box Drive after it is known → Box Drive may match content → Copy File API instead of a second full upload.
Classification labels and copy
Box Drive optimizes by uploading a given piece of content once, then reusing it via server-side copy when possible. That works well for unclassified files.
For files with metadata attached in ways that must not be duplicated—including Shield classification applied via cascade or similar policies—using the Copy File API could unintentionally carry metadata forward. To avoid that, Box Drive does not use the Copy File endpoint when the source file has that kind of attached metadata; it uploads a new file instead. In that situation, classification labels are not copied to the new file the way they may be when you copy the same item in your browser with Box on the web.