FAQs

We think there are many great reasons to use Box@SMU. Here a just a few:

  • Log-on is easy with your existing SMU ID and password.
  • Each user receives unlimited cloud-based storage.
  • Access files from any location: campus, home, or while traveling.
  • Clients are available for almost all computer, tablet, and smartphone devices.
  • Users can easily share files with collaborators inside and outside of SMU.

Users have several options to share files and collaborate. They can control the permission levels needed to view, edit, delete, print, upload, download, and comment on files. Collaboration features include:

  • Send a Link — Within Box users can create a secure link to any file over e-mail.
  • Share Whole Folders — Users can invite others to join folders.
  • Share from anywhere on the Web — Files may be embedded and shared through blogs, Intranets, wikis, websites, and more for large audiences to access.

*Editor permissions are assigned to a folder and will impact all files within that folder.  To collaborate on a file, create the folder first and invite individuals to that folder. 

Invitee Permissions

When inviting collaborators to your folder, you have several options for access:

Permission Levels Upload Download Preview Get Link Edit Delete Owner
Co-owner â— â— â— â— â— â— â—
Editor â— â— â— â— â— â—
Viewer Uploader â— â— â— â— â—

Previewer Uploader â—
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Viewer
â— â— â—


Previewer

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Uploader â—





No, you may use Box with any modern web browser. Installation of the Box software is only required for additional features, such as updates and edits to your Box Drive files being automatically saved to the cloud or quickly sharing those file and folders with a simple right-click.

There are also a number of available plugins for Office, Mobile devices etc which enable more advanced functionality of the service.

The Box website lets users view hundreds of file types, including popular formats like DOC, XLS, PPT, PDF, MP3, MP4, JPEG, and many more. This can be helpful when you open a file from a computer that does not have software such as Microsoft Office installed.

Please note:   Box is not acceptable for any institutional data classified as "critical" or "confidential."

Yes, that can be installed on almost any computer, tablet and smartphone device to help you synchronize files.

You can see a list of supported devices and download the software at .

Yes, as a Box user, you may enable sharing with a user at another organization. However, you are responsible for sharing files only with individuals you know to have authorization to access that material. For example, a third-party vendor may not be allowed to access confidential University data.

In most cases, this migration is possible simply by uploading your files into Box or drag-and-dropping the files in to your Box Sync folder. Please contact IT Help Desk at 21-768-HELP if you have any questions or issues.

Yes. Storing your personal files is considered Incidental Use, which is permitted as long as it does not interfere with your performance of official SMU business, pose an unreasonable burden on system resources, result in direct costs to SMU, expose SMU to unreasonable risks, or violate applicable laws or other University policies. 91ÖÆƬSºÏ¼¯ assumes no responsibility for personal files users store on Box. OIT recommends maintaining a backup of your personal files in a location other than your SMU Box account.

While Box allows for unlimited storage of files, the limit for a single file upload to Box@SMU is 50 GB.

While we see great benefit to using Box@SMU, if you currently have any personal content within your Box account that you would like to remove or transfer to a personal Box account that can be done is one of two ways.

  • Open a new personal Box account with a non-SMU email address and invite this personal account into your SMU.edu account folders that you’d like to migrate. Promote your personal Box account to be the folder owner and remove your SMU.edu as a collaborator from the folder(s).
  • Use a third party service such as to transfer content from Box account to another.

Yes. Once you have logged in to Box@SMU, login to your personal account and invite your SMU account (alias@smu.edu) as a collaborator to each folder that you wish to transfer. You can then promote your SMU account to Owner for each folder. See "" for more information.

Feel free to contact the IT Help Desk at 214-768-HELP or help@smu.edu for assistance.

Students who leave the University in good standing (graduates) have 365 days to transfer content from their SMU instance to a personal account. All other accounts will be decommissioned once the user’s relationship with SMU has ended.

To move your content to a personal account, please follow one of these procedures:

  • Open a new personal Box account with a non-SMU email address and invite this personal account into your SMU.edu account folders that you’d like to migrate. Promote your personal Box account to be the folder owner and remove your SMU.edu as a collaborator from the folder(s).
  • Use a third party service such as Mover.io to transfer content from one Box account to another.

Once a Box user loses eligibility, other users no longer have the ability to access items that were shared from that user’s Box folder. OIT can recover these files up to 90 days after the user has lost eligibility. For eligibility details, see FAQ: “What happens to my Box account when I leave the University?”

Requests should be sent to the IT Help Desk, and must be accompanied with authorization from the former manager (faculty and staff), or Deans Office/Student Affairs (students).

We recommend storing folders and files shared for University use in a departmental directory. These items remain accessible after the author or co-owner is no longer eligible for Box. To identify a departmental directory for your team, please consult you ATSD, or send a request to the IT Help Desk.


If you currently have access to files or folders within another managed instance of Box (i.e., shared to you by an outside party), you will lose access once your account is converted. Be sure to contact the folder owner to request access for the Box account to which you are migrating.

The following table shows Box@SMU service eligibility status for different roles across campus. Status is subject to change.

Eligible for Box@SMU?
Admitted Students No
Matriculated Students Yes
Active Students Yes
Former Students No*
Employees Yes
Aramark/Kelly Yes
Retirees No
Adjunct Faculty Yes
Contractors No

*  Former students shall retain access to Box service for 365 days following graduation, to allow for transition of data.

First, verify that you are logged in properly to the Office apps with your O365 credentials. You can do this by opening Word, then click to create a new blank Word doc. Then go to "File" (top left) and then down to "Account". Under the "User Information" and "Product Information" sections you can see who is logged in and if the subscription is active on this product.

If you continue to receive the install prompt after verifying the Office365 login, try the following steps:

  1. Go to your system tray and right click the blue Box icon (this will be there if you have Box Sync). Select Quit to turn it off.
  2. Go to your control panel, Programs and Features. Uninstall the following, if present:
    1. Box Tools
    2. Box Edit
    3. Box Local Com Server
  3. Go to and download and install Box Edit (Tools) for Windows.
  4. Reboot after the installation is complete.

No. SMU’s contractual agreement with Box does not include “using Box as a primary data back-up repository or for the storage of data that is not intended for regular access and use, such as operating system files, application files, or any other files that are not listed by Box as supported file types on Box’s website”.

Crashplan is OIT’s supported solution for desktop backups. For more information, please visit /oit/services/backup.