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Question

Inquiry regarding "Require Name and Email" feature and Tracking for Shared Links

  • April 1, 2026
  • 1 reply
  • 27 views
K

Dear Box Team,

I am currently testing the Business Plus plan and planning to distribute materials to multiple external partners via Shared Links.

My primary goal is to collect access logs (who downloaded or uploaded files) for each partner. However, we want to avoid forcing our external partners to create or sign up for a Box account. Instead, we would like to implement a simpler verification process, such as requiring them to enter their name and email before accessing the link.

I have attempted to configure this in the Admin Console, but I cannot find the "Require Name and Email" or any similar data collection options under the Shared Link settings.

Could you please clarify the following:

  1. Is there a way to enable the "Require Name and Email" feature in my current Business Plus plan?

  2. If not, is this specific feature (collecting user info via shared links without Box accounts) available upon upgrading to the Enterprise plan?

I need a clear way to track which company accessed our content without the friction of account creation. I look forward to your detailed guidance.

    1 reply

    Jey Bueno Box
    • Jey Bueno Box
    • Community Manager
    • April 3, 2026

    👋 Hi ​@KJS5920, welcome to the Box Community!


    Currently, we do not have a built-in feature that requires name and email when accessing shared links. Open shared links do not require a Box account, and “People with the link” can access the item without signing in.


    As outlined in our Reports Frequently Asked Questions:

    Shared Links: Users do not need to be logged into Box to access a shared link. Thus you may see previews, uploads, and downloads by “Anonymous”.


    These are designed to allow access without login, and in that case user activity may remain anonymous rather than tied to entered identity details.


    For upload only, we have this feature called File Request which is different from Shared Links. You must have a Box Business Plan account or higher to build a File Request form. However, no one needs a Box account to access the finished form and upload content.


    Please check out Using File Request to get Content from Anyone to learn more.

    To enable, go to Admin Console → Enterprise Settings → Content & Sharing tab → Scroll down to “File Request” and confirm that File Request is enabled.


    While the File Request form currently does not have a name field, you can create a custom metadata template, where you can add additional fields including customer name and then apply that metadata to your File Request forms. You can refer to this article on creating metadata templates for guidance.


    In addition, when editing a File Request form, you can add fields to collect extra information such as the sender’s email address or a description of the files being uploaded.


    See this relevant discussion about file request:

     

    To add on this which you may also find helpful, if you need users to both upload and download in the same folder, you may consider inviting them as collaborators. Collaboration does require a Box account though, but users can sign up for at least a Free Individual account to collaborate with other users.


    You may also want to submit your idea as a feature request on Box Pulse. Our Product Team actively reviews customer feedback, and sharing your use case helps guide future improvements to Box features and services.


    Thank you, and let us know if you have any other concerns.

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