File name length limits

I found the info here: https://community.box.com/t5/Managing-Your-Content/How-Much-Content-Do-You-Want-To-Migrate-To-Box/ta-p/1883 

Folder names shouldn't be longer than 100 characters

File paths shouldn't be longer than 255 characters

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Folder names shouldn't be longer than 100 characters

 

File paths shouldn't be longer than 255 characters

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Do these limitations apply to Box Drive as well? Or does Drive adopt the limitations of the OS you are working from?

Hi ,

Yes, if you're working with Windows for example, you will have the same limitations for file and folder lengths in a Box Drive window as well. 

In other places I read that Box does not impose a file name or file path limit.  Why 100 and 255 then? 

Hi ,

You're correct, Box does not impose file name or file path character limits. These limits are imposed by the local OS. This behavior is explained in the following articles from Microsoft's forums and Apple's forums, respectively:

"This error message occurs when you save or open a file if the path to the file (including the file name) exceeds 218 characters. This limitation includes three characters representing the drive, the characters in folder names, the backslash character between folders, and the characters in the file name.

This behavior is based on a 256-character limitation in Excel for creating links to another file. This limit of 218 characters for the path name is based on the following:

• Up to 31 characters in a sheet name.
• Apostrophes and brackets used to denote the workbook name.
• An exclamation point.
• A cell reference."

Error message when you open or save a file in Microsoft Excel: "Filename is not valid"

"'For maximum compatibility, the length of the path should be 1024 bytes or less,' and file names of 255 characters.
Office itself may be imposing restrictions since the one bit of easy to find information was that Windows has a 255 character restriction on the whole path."

Messages that file name/path is too long

The figures you are referencing are suggestions that will keep Box running at peak performance, and are not hard-and-fast product limits; as noted in this Box Community article: How Much Content Do You Want To Migrate To Box?

Thanks for using the Box Community!

Hi, 

Could anyone help me? I tried uploading to box by sending email straight to the box with an attachment. 

I need a long file name for my attachment, however, the file name got truncated at 24 characters, with an additional _001 defaulted to the end of the file name.

Why is this so?

Hi ,

Thanks for sharing your question. Box doesn't have any character limits or need to truncate the file names, but I'd suspect it might have to do with your email client. The 001 added could also be because of a duplicate file, but is this happening when you try to upload the file regularly through the browser online?

Hope that helps

Are the filename/filepath restrictions for documents uploaded into box via File Reuqest?

Here's an update that might interest Box developers.

We had a file path that exceeded the 255 byte limit. I noticed the problem when I downloaded the parent folder and then unzipped it on my local drive. The file that resulted in the error was not in the folder tree (also, it was not visible through the Box.com UI). There were 2 folders in my download that were not in our Box setup -- one was a simple underscore and the other was zero  (  _  and  0 ). Both of these folders had the file with the too-long name.

I shortened part of the path by getting rid of an unnecessary folder and the file magically appeared in the UI.

I don't know how that file got there with a too-long name -- whether it was an upload or if it was created-in-place, but it seems like it should have complained during creation or possibly alerted us that there was a problem.