transfer files from BOX.net

[libbymitchellre]

Hi I am needing to transfer all my files from my BOX.net account into my Dropbox account. What is the easiest way to migrate all these files?

[Walter]

Hey there @libbymitchellre - welcome to our forums and happy Monday!

The best way would be to download them or move/copy them into your Dropbox Folder (assuming that you use our desktop application) or upload them to your Dropbox account through the web directly. Only note that uploading files to dropbox.com is limited by three things, including: a. the size of the file(s), b. the number of file(s) and c. the bandwidth of your internet connection.

Now, when it comes to our desktop application, our software is designed to watch your Dropbox folder and sync any files placed in the folder. Your Dropbox folder is just like any other folder on your hard drive, but with syncing features.

To take advantage of Dropbox, move or copy files into the Dropbox folder. This will place the files into the Dropbox folder. Once Dropbox sees changes in the Dropbox folder, it automatically syncs the new changes to Dropbox servers and to any other computer linked to your account.   

You can also access your Dropbox online at https://www.dropbox.com

I hope this helps to some extent and keep me posted on your progress.

[libbymitchellre]

I need specific help. What is the fastest and easiest way to transfer a lot of files at once from Box to dropbox? You directions were too vague

[Mark · Accepted solution]

The issue @libbymitchellre is there is no officially supported way to link Box to Dropbox. 

You need to download the files from Box to your computer and upload to Dropbox. Or. You need to use a third party tool such as mover.io to do it for you. 

[JosephS-EPC]

The easiest and quickest way to do this @libbymitchellre (especially if you have hundreds of large folders to transfer from BOX to DropBox) is to nest your BOX sync folder inside your Dropbox sync folder on your local computer. 

1. If you have already installed BOX Sync, log off and delete your BOX sync app and system user pref as BOX Sync won't let you change local folder location after you start sync. Google "uninstall BOX Sync". If you have never installed BOX sync skip this step.
2. Install BOX sync. You should be prompted to go through the full setup sequence. If not, then you didn't uninstall BOX sync correctly in step 1. 
3. Click Customize BOX sync folder location. (You can only customize BOX sync folder on a new install, thus the instructions from line 1.)
4. Select any folder INSIDE your Dropbox local sync folder. This will nest the BOX sync inside the DropBox sync.
5. Start sync.

Now any folders syncing to your BOX Sync folder will also sync to DropBox folder.  Once BOX sync is complete you can turn off the local BOX app and delete your BOX account. All the files will be safe on your local and uploaded to your DropBox cloud as well.  

This method works well if you have hundreds of large folders on BOX. BOX will not let you download more than 15 gigs at once if you try to do it manually through the browser, which sounds like a lot but if you put all your working files online, it's really not. So besides downloading folders and files one-by-one to your Dropbox account from BOX, nested sync is the best way.

NOTE: Anyway you do this, you will still lose your metadata on all the folders (creator name, creation date, etc.). I wish there was a way to keep that somehow. At least files will still keep their correct modification date. 

[maralu]

@JosephS-EPC Does this work if you're using Box Drive not Box Sync? The difference being that Box Drive (like Dropbox Smart Sync) doesn't take up hardrive space. Would nesting still work in that instance? Any help is appreciated. 

[Rich]

It is NEVER advised to nest folders from different syncing services. It can cause problems with the sync, and in some (extreme) cases, data loss.

If you need to move data from one service to the other and don't want to download/upload, use a third-party service such as Mover.io or Multcloud to do the transfer for you.

[maralu]

Ok, thank you. Unfortunately, Mover (and others like it) are just too cost prohibitive for me as an individual. I got a quote for over $1200. (Eek!) Thanks for the clarity though.

[JosephS-EPC]

Sorry - didn't know nesting was contraindicated. I guess one free way to do this (assuming you have enough local storage) is to do normal sync from BOX to your local, meaning all data has to be actually downloaded to your local drive, not just a proxy cloud alias. Once the sync is updated and complete, disconnect from BOX and simply move all those local files from you BOX folder to your DropBox sync folder. This only works if you have the time, bandwidth and local storage to sync-download all your files, then sync-upload to Dropbox. This could take days (weeks?) if you have many terabytes of data and a slow connection. Otherwise, Rich's method seems to be the best alternative.