Troublshooting Box Sync

Owned by Daniel Vega
Last updated: Aug 23, 2016
3 min read

A "healthy" Box Sync folder:

 

  • The Box Sync shortcut appears in the Favorites/Quick access navigation section of File Explorer.
    If the Box Sync folder is not here, make sure you have Box Sync installed.

  • Files and folders have blue check mark icons that indicate successful syncing (blue circle with white check on Mac).  
    On Windows, if there are no icons, you may be logged out of Box Sync. If there are orange icons, the sync is in progress. If there are gray icons, there was an error syncing that item.

  • The Box icon will appear in the system tray (colored blue) to indicate that Box Sync is running and you are logged in.
    If the Box icon is gray, you are not logged into Box Sync. 
    If the icon is not there, but you are certain Box sync is installed, try restarting your computer as Box sync should launch shortly after you log in.

I see a Box Sync folder on my computer, but it's empty

In this case, the first thing to check is that your folders are "marked for Sync" by going to Box on the web.
More information about marking content for Sync can be found here.

I add files to my Box Sync folder, but my coworker can't see them

In this situation, it is good to isolate the problem: Is this a problem with one of the computers or both?  Is this a problem with uploads, downloads or both?

1. Does your Box Sync folder look "healthy" based on the three criteria above?  

2. Do your changes in Box Sync show up in the web app?  If not, make sure Box Sync is running and you are logged in.  

3. Do changes on the Box web app appear in your Box Sync folder?  If not, make sure the parent folder is marked for Sync.

4. If you are able to see changes in your Box Sync folder and on the Box web app, the next step is for your coworker to check their Box Sync setup following the same process. 

5. Your coworker will also need to mark the folder for Sync on their account in order for changes to appear in their Box Sync folder.

 

One thing to note is that folders can have Sync enabled for "all items" or "some items." To see this, hover your mouse over the Sync icon on the Box web app.  If Sync is enabled for all items, any new items will be marked for Sync by default.  However, if Box Sync is enabled for some items, any new items will not be marked for Sync by default.

 

Some of my files failed to sync and have gray icons

Gray icons in the Box Sync folder indicate that a file has failed to sync.  More information about why this is occurring can be found by looking at the problem file notifications.

Windows:

On Windows, files have gray icons that indicate unsuccessful syncing.  Right clicking on the Box icon in the system tray will bring up a menu.  This also indicates if there are syncing errors.  Clicking on Error syncing 1 file... brings up a window that shows files that could not sync and a short description of why the sync failed.  More information about these Problem File Notifications can be found here.

Mac OSX:

Similarly, on Mac, the icons will be gray.  To find the Problem File Notifications, click on the b icon in the upper right near the clock, then click on Error syncing 1 file....

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