The Basics of Box

Welcome to Box – the intelligent content management platform. Box is a single, secure place to store, share, and work with files while applying AI, automation, and governance so information stays useful—not scattered across tools and inboxes. You can use Box to unlock value from that content in an AI-first world without trading off security. Before you dive into the broad capabilities that drive intelligent content management, learn about the basics and discover what you can achieve with Box.

What is Box?

At its core, Box helps you manage unstructured content in the cloud—folders, permissions, search, and versions—so the right people can access the right files from anywhere. Intelligent Content Management goes further by combining content and AI: you can get strategic insights from documents, speed up routine work with automation and agents where your organization enables them, and apply retention, classification, and security controls at scale. Box is designed to be LLM-agnostic and enterprise-ready, so innovation on top of your content can happen within the same guardrails your admins set.

When does Box help?

The next time you run into situations like these, Box is built to be your starting point:

You need one authoritative copy of a file or project folder—not a thread of conflicting attachments.
You are not sure whether a doc is still current, who owns it, or who has access.
You want to collaborate with teammates or external partners with clear roles (view, edit, co-edit) and an audit-friendly trail.
You are looking for something you know exists—by title, metadata, or text inside the file—without opening ten different apps.
Your organization requires retention, legal hold, e-signatures, or compliance workflows tied to real content.

Box brings those outcomes together in one platform instead of stitching together separate file shares, chat attachments, and point tools.

What you can achieve

Depending on your role and what your admin has turned on, you can use Box to:

Work from anywhere—browser, mobile, and (where available) desktop sync through Box Drive, with familiar navigation, search, recents, and collections.
Share and co-create securely—invite collaborators, use shared links appropriately, and use apps like Box Notes or Box Canvas for real-time teamwork.
Move faster with AI—ask questions, summarize, and extract structure from content with Box AI where enabled, including across curated libraries in Box Hubs.
Run content-centric processes—route reviews, collect signatures with Box Sign, automate handoffs with Box Relay, and connect to other systems using integrations and Box Platform.

Common use cases

Depending on your needs, follow the matching guide to learn more.

Use case	Product guide
Learn everyday Box: organize folders, share safely, and collaborate on files.	Box Fundamentals
Configure your organization: users, access, security settings, and admin visibility.	Box Admin Tools
Ask questions, summarize, and draft from your enterprise content with secure AI.	Box AI
Build intelligent apps with dashboards, metadata views, and integrated workflows.	Box Apps
Preserve content long term for compliance and defensible retention.	Box Archive
Brainstorm and align visually with secure digital whiteboarding.	Box Canvas
Meet regulatory and industry requirements for data and content.	Box Compliance
Generate documents from templates in Box, Relay, Salesforce, and custom apps.	Box Doc Gen
Work with Box files from your desktop using Explorer or Finder.	Box Drive
Pull structured data and metadata from unstructured files with AI and OCR.	Box Extract
Collect information through secure web and mobile forms and kick off follow-on work.	Box Forms
Manage retention, legal hold, disposition, and the content lifecycle.	Box Governance
Curate and publish content in intelligent portals for the right audiences.	Box Hubs
Capture, view, and share content from phones and tablets.	Box Mobile
Co-edit plans and notes in real time from any device.	Box Notes
Extend Box with APIs and developer tools while keeping security and compliance.	Box Platform
Automate content-centric processes with a no-code workflow builder.	Box Relay
Classify content, apply advanced controls, and detect threats to sensitive data.	Box Shield
Plan and run large-scale migrations into Box from other systems.	Box Shuttle
Request and complete e-signatures where your content already lives.	Box Sign
Use legacy desktop sync with Box (with guidance to move to Box Drive when appropriate).	Box Sync
Open and edit Box files in installed desktop applications.	Box Tools

Next Steps

Now that you know the basics, get started by following our guide through the first steps.

​What is Box?

​When does Box help?

​What you can achieve

​Common use cases

​Next Steps

What is Box?

When does Box help?

What you can achieve

Common use cases

Next Steps