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Box Quick Start Guide

This publication is available in alternative media upon request.Penn State is committed to affirmative action, equal opportunity, and the diversity of its workforce.

About Box at Penn State

Box is a secure, cloud-based, commercial file storage, sharing, and collaboration service provided by Penn State for faculty, staff, and students.

SignUp for a Box Account

Go to click on the Loginbutton. The website will then walk you through the easy account creation process.

Types of Data You Can Store on Box

Most common types of files are compatible with Box. This includes office files and many image, video, and audio formats. A complete list can be found on Box’s support site.

Create a Folder

A folder is your Box account’s basic building block, where you’ll group similar files together. Use the following steps to create a folder:

  1. Go to and login to your account. You are now on the All Files page.
  2. Click the New button and select New Folder.

Figure 1: Create a New Folder

  1. In the dialog box that appears, enter the folder name.
  2. If you’d prefer a Private Folder,select Keepprivate for now. To create a folder where you’ll collaborate with others, selectInvite people to upload or download files, and type the collaborators’ names or Penn State email addresses into the field.

Figure 2: Enter the folder name and invite collaborators if desired.

  1. To create sub-level folders, click any folder to open it, and repeat the steps above.

Add Files to a Folder

Now that the folder has been created, you can upload files to it. To upload files, click the Upload button. You’ll see there are two ways to upload content to Box:

  • Upload Files
  • Upload Folders

For individual files, chooseUpload Files. Alternatively, upload a folder and all of the files in it at the same time by choosingUpload Folders.

NOTE: Box also supports drag-and-drop, so another option is to open the file browser on your computer and drag items directly into the Box folder. When you drop them, the items will automatically begin to upload to Box.

Add Collaborators to a Folder

Private folders can be changed to collaborative folders at any time simply by adding collaborators.

Collaboration in Box works at the folder level. You may invite contacts to join one or more of your folders as collaborators, and you can customize the level of access for each individual collaborator.

Use the following steps to add collaborators to a folder:

  1. Open the folder and click Invite People on the right side of page.
  2. Enter your collaborators’ email addresses, and choose the access level you want them to have. You can learn more about the different access levels by hovering over the smalli symbol in this dialog box.
  3. Click Send to complete the process.

Figure 3: Invite Collaborators to a Folder

NOTE: Once you invite collaborators, you’ll notice that the folder color changes from manila to blue – blue folders are collaboration folders, and manila folders are private. When you open the folder, the collaborators’ names will appear on the right side of the page in the collaborators list.

Share a Folder or File

Use the following steps to share a folder or file via link.

  1. Click the Share link that appears to the right of the folder or file that you would like to share. You will see a secure link to the file that lets the recipient view and download it.
  2. Choose the access level for the link; this will determine which people can access the folder or file using the link.

Figure 4: Share a Single File

NOTE: Choosing People with the link will allow anyone with the link to view the items. Choosing People in your company will allow anyone with a Penn State Access Account ID to view the items when they follow the link. Choosing People in this folder will limit the viewers to only those who have already been added as collaborators to the folder.

  1. After choosing the access level, copy and paste the link to share it however you’d like. Examples include in an email, instant message, calendar invitation, and/or Yammer post.

Access Your Files From Multiple Devices

UsingBox Sync

Save files on your desktop or laptop and have them available in your Box account online by using Box Sync.

Visit Box Sync to learn more and install Box Sync.

Using Box Mobile Apps

Access your files while on the go from your mobile device. Box has apps for all major mobile devices including iOS and Android. Visit Box Apps to learn more.

Find More Support for Using Box

Visit the Support page on the Penn State Box website for more information about Box support, and be sure to visit the Training page to browse a curated list of helpful video tutorials and other resources for learning how to use Box.