Final Farewell and FAQs: Stanford University Box Service Ends Feb. 28

The information in this article applies to Stanford University Box only. It does not apply to Stanford Medicine Box.

As a reminder, the Stanford University Box service is being retired Feb. 28, 2023. This will conclude an initiative that kicked off almost three years ago.

After we sunset the Stanford University Box on Feb. 28, you will no longer be able to sign into your Stanford University Box account and access content. This includes files and folders:

• Owned by you and stored in your Stanford University Box account or Stanford University Box trash.
• Owned by collaborators and shared with your Stanford University Box account.
• Please note: this does not apply to Stanford Medicine Box.

Stanford University Box retirement FAQs

As we prepare to say goodbye to Stanford University Box, here are answers to some commonly asked questions.

Will this change impact my use of Medicine Box?

Absolutely not. Stanford has two instances of Box: Stanford University Box and Stanford Medicine Box. This information applies to Stanford University Box only; it does NOT pertain to Stanford Medicine Box.

Why are we retiring the Stanford University Box service?

Box has changed its contractual offering which has dramatically increased the cost to Stanford for using the service. Stanford University offers other file-sharing solutions that provide similar capabilities as Box (e.g., Google Drive, Google Shared drives, Microsoft OneDrive) with the added benefit of integrating with productivity tools already used by the university.

What will happen to the files in my Stanford University Box account?

Once the university’s contract with Box expires March 1, 2023, Box will begin decommissioning Stanford University Box accounts. The Box files will be permanently gone from Stanford University Box — and can instead be found in the location where they were migrated, such as Google Drive or OneDrive.

Box may take up to several weeks to complete the decommissioning process, so it is likely all Stanford University Box accounts will not close on the same date.

What are alternatives to Box?

Google Drive is the university’s preferred collaboration and storage solution. But OneDrive is another option. Review this table to understand how the features of Google Drive and OneDrive compare to Box.

I have no data stored in Stanford University Box; why did I get a notification?

Final notifications were sent to all active Stanford University Box account owners — even those whose accounts contain zero bytes of data. Stanford University Box accounts that contained no data were included in the migration. Thus, you may also see a folder called “BoxMigration” in your Google Drive.

How will I continue to collaborate with internal collaborators?

If you worked with internal collaborators in Stanford University Box on content that you didn’t own, please reach out to the content owner. There’s a good chance it’s now in Google Drive, and you will be able to access the content with the same or similar permissions in its new location.

How will I continue to collaborate with external colleagues?

Box content shared with you by an external collaborator could not be migrated and will not appear in Google Drive or Microsoft OneDrive. You’ll need to ask your external collaborator to re-share with you using an alternate account or shared link. We’ve notified the owners of all Stanford University Box accounts that appear to be sharing files with external collaborators so people can make arrangements before they can no longer access their accounts.

How do I find my migrated content?

If you had data in your account, you should have received multiple emails to let you know if your Stanford University Box content was moved to Google Drive or Microsoft OneDrive. (You can find the notification by searching for the subject line: “Your Box Content Was Successfully Migrated.”) Here’s how to locate your migrated content: Search for a folder called “BoxMigration” in your Google My Drive or Microsoft OneDrive. Search Google Shared drives for a drive with the prefix “BOX_” followed by your workgroup name to access your migrated workgroup content. My content was migrated.

Why don’t I see some of my files?

If you don't see a file or folder, it may be because someone else at Stanford owns the file, and it was shared with you. Only the files for which you were an owner were moved during your migration.

What if I have a question that’s not answered here?

You can contact your local support team or submit a Help request.