How to find and export your Box data.
Box shows total storage used under Admin Console > Account and Billing, and the Storage tile on Admin Console > Insights gives more detail. Admins and Co-admins can run a User Engagement report for storage per user. Report the total in GB.
Where Box shows how much you have.
- Sign in to Box as an Admin or Co-admin and open the Admin Console.
- Go to Account and Billing. The Usage section shows the total storage your organization uses and your storage limit if one applies.
- Open Insights and check the Storage tile for a more detailed view.
- For per user figures, go to Reports > Create Report and run the User Engagement report. It lists each user's storage in MB and the number of files and folders they own, both excluding trash.
- Add up the storage column if you want a cross check, and divide by 1,024 to convert MB to GB.
Plan and role. Admins and Co-admins can open the Admin Console and run the User Engagement report. Group Admins cannot run that report.
What to report on the Polyshares intake.
Report Box in GB. The intake also asks how many years the company has used it and how many seats it has.
Report total storage used from Account and Billing, in GB. The User Engagement report excludes trash, so its total can come out lower than the Account and Billing figure; use the Account and Billing number on the intake.
For years in use, use the year your company opened its Box account. The Last Activity column in the User Engagement report helps separate users who still work in Box from dormant accounts.
Seats are managed users. Count users with an active status in the User Engagement report.
Export the full history.
- In the Admin Console, go to Content > Content Manager and search for a user to see their folder structure from their point of view.
- Select the folders to export and click Download. The files download as a ZIP file.
- Repeat for each user who owns content in scope. For folders too large for the browser, split them into subfolders or use the Box API to download files with a script.
- If you have Box Governance, open Admin Console > Governance, click the Legal Holds tab, open a hold applied to a custodian and click Export Content. You can filter by custodian, folder, file type and uploaded or created date.
Browser folder downloads have a 100,000 file limit per folder, and Box recommends 10,000 files. Box's download help page puts bulk downloads at 150 GB with 25 GB recommended. Empty subfolders are left out of the ZIP.
Content Manager downloads work one user at a time, include only the latest version of each file and cannot pull content from trash. Box's eDiscovery help page lists a 15 GB limit for these downloads. Trash content can be exported only through the Box API.
Maximum file size depends on plan: 5 GB on Business, 15 GB on Business Plus, 50 GB on Enterprise, 150 GB on Enterprise Plus and 500 GB on Enterprise Advanced.
Box Governance is needed for legal holds. Held content can be exported with Export Content, through a Box eDiscovery partner integration or with the Box API.
The intake only needs the size, so you do not have to run an export to fill it in. You also do not need to clean or scrub an export. Polyshares handles anonymization before anything moves.
Why Box data has value for AI training.
Box accounts often hold a company's controlled documents: contracts, policies, client deliverables and regulated records, in shared folders that map to teams and projects.
Ownership and collaboration data sits alongside the files. Knowing who owned a document and which people worked on it helps tie content to the part of the business that produced it.
What stays private.
You choose which users and folders are exported, so HR, legal and executive folders can stay out of scope.
We anonymize identifying details before anything moves. Polyshares does that work, so your team does not have to scrub records first.
Your company keeps ownership of its data. The license is bounded to defined material and a defined use.
Polyshares is the buyer and pays your company directly. There is no fee or commission, and Polyshares reviews the record before it makes any offer.
Common questions about Box data.
Where does Box show total storage used?
In the Admin Console under Account and Billing, in the Usage section. The Storage tile under Insights shows more detail.
Can I download a whole Box folder from the browser?
Yes, as a ZIP file, up to 100,000 files per folder. Box recommends staying near 10,000 files and suggests splitting larger folders into subfolders.
Does a Content Manager export include old versions and trash?
No. Content Manager downloads give the latest version of each file and cannot reach trash. The Box API is the route for trash content.
Do we need Box Governance to export our data?
No. Admins and Co-admins can download any user's content through Content Manager without it. Governance adds legal holds, with exports filtered by custodian, folder, file type and date.
Source: Viewing Organization Storage and Bandwidth Usage, User Engagement Report, Exporting Content Under Legal Hold for eDiscovery, Common Issues with Downloading Files. Checked September 2026.
Related
- DropboxStorage details in the Admin console; full copy through desktop sync
- SharePointTenant storage on Active sites, per-site usage report, eDiscovery export
- Google DriveDrive and shared drive storage in the Admin console, exported with Data Export or Vault
- OneDriveOneDrive usage report for storage per user, eDiscovery or sync to export
- EgnyteReports Dashboard Storage tab and Folder Size Report; export with the Desktop App
- All data source guidesEvery system on the Polyshares intake, grouped by category.
Put your numbers on the intake.
List your systems, their sizes and your headcount in one intake. Polyshares reviews the record and prices it. There is no fee or commission to your company.
Check your data