Skip to main content
Question

Box ios Files “content unavailable”

  • July 27, 2025
  • 8 replies
  • 315 views

I have an issue with users both in my enterprise org and on private accounts who utilize the files app integration in iOS experiencing a “content unavailable” error in the file browser after the users folders briefly flash/render on the screen. This is when opening up the “box” location in the files app. 

8 replies

  • New Member
  • July 31, 2025

Same situation here. This started about two days ago for me when Apple released iPadOS 17.7.9 for the 6th generation iPad. It is not restricted to the Files app. The same happens in other apps that try to access Box.


  • New Participant
  • August 1, 2025

We are seeing the same thing in our enterprise org. The fix has been to uninstall the iOS files app and then reinstall it. Make sure that users back up any local data to iCloud before doing so. 

I have seen this before about 5 months ago, seems to be related to whenever a box app update comes out/ios update. 


  • New Member
  • August 1, 2025

Uninstalling the iOS Files app makes no difference. There is a bug somewhere. Either in iPadOS or the Box app.

 

For what it is worth, this is not happening on the iPhone 11 running iOS 18.6.

 

I can’t update (downgrade) the iPad to iPadOS 18.x due to Apple’s planned obsolescence. Obviously, Apple wants me to replace my iPad.


  • New Participant
  • August 1, 2025

That is interesting, have you also tried doing a soft reset on your ipad? 

Hold down the home button and power button at the same time until you see the ipad restart and show the apple logo. 

I had another user experiencing this and their combination was: 

 

Soft Reset

Uninstall Box & Files app

Soft Reset again

Reinstall both apps 

Soft reset once more

 

 


  • New Member
  • August 1, 2025

Yes, I did all that. Twice already. It makes no difference. Even with a cold start it makes no difference. There is a major bug in the Box app, iPadOS 17.7.9, or both.

 

Over on my even old iPad Air running iOS 12.5.7, the Files app and Box app work as intended. However, these are old versions that have not been updated in years. Leading me to believe the problem is with the Box app and iPad OS 17.7.9.

 

Too bad rclone isn’t available for Apple. Rclone is a bit of a pain to set up the first time, but it solves all these problems and is rock solid once your bash scripts are working properly and you integrate it into your desktop environment’s file manager. Trouble is, Apple’s iOS and iPad OS are not real operating systems, unlike the Linux distros running on my computers. Box works perfectly with rclone, despite Box not supporting Linux.


Is there any solution to this problem - I see/open box files within the files app, but all other apps, can’t - so I can’t actually open my photoshop file for example directly from box, I have to download a copy of it to the iPad download folder, then work on it, finally saving it an manually moving it back into box.   I’ve never encountered problems like this using other cloud storage services.


  • New Member
  • August 11, 2025

I am having the same difficulty accessing files that I have added on my iPad. Any documents that I have added on my iPad since mid-February are not uploading so that I can access them on other devices. When I enter my Files app and select Box, the icons flash, and then it says they are not available. “Try again” 

 


  • New Member
  • August 24, 2025

Recently iPadOS was upgraded (downgraded?) to 17.7.10. With this version of iPadOS, Box is once again functional.

 

Apple, in their extremely limited knowledge of reality, should make it very easy for the end user to downgrade (upgrade?) the operating system to the previous versions. Better yet, the end user should have an easy way to hose off Apple’s buggy operating systems and install Linux, seeing as how a certain Linux disto that is not mainstream but “very based” is very quick to respond to any bugs that might arise.