"This file has been moved" Error with Box Drive/Excel

Recently, I have experienced an issue where every Excel workbook I open from Box Drive will open with the message “This file has been moved. We recommend saving it now to finish moving it.”

Some things to know:

1. It only happens with Excel files, nothing else.
2. The files have not been moved as their location, name, and last modified dates all reflect that which is in Box Online.
3. Uninstalling and reinstalling Box Drive does not fix it
4. Repairing Office does not fix it

I have heard of other users having a similar issue but have not seen a resolution from Box yet regarding this.

Hi ​@User1825, 

Welcome to Box Community, and we’re glad to help! 

Try to manually reset your Box Drive application: 

New Version - To reset Box Drive on Windows 

1. Exit Box Drive (if it is running). If necessary, use Task Manager to end the Box.exe process.
2. Run command

   “C:\Program Files\Box\Box\FS\cf\cfctl.exe" drive reset Box

   on command prompt. Files not uploaded to Box will be saved to the Desktop with a timestamp.
   1. The output should say “Box Drive reset completed successfully” at the end. If this is not so, then it may be that some files were still open and could not be deleted. Once everything is closed, a re-run of step 2 should be successful.
3. From RegEdit, delete the registry entries under HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Box/Box to clear Box preferences.
4. Restart the Box Drive and follow the prompt to log back in.

If you are still having trouble, open a support ticket.

 Legacy Version - To reset Box Drive on Windows 

1. Exit Box Drive (if it is running). If necessary, use Task Manager to end the Box.exe process.
2. Ascertain whether any files exist in C:\users\[USERNAME]\AppData\Local\Box\Box\unsyncedFiles. These are files that have not been uploaded to Box. If these files do exist, and if you want to keep them, copy them to any location outside of C:\users\[USERNAME]\AppData\Local\Box\Box\ (such as your desktop). Proceeding with the steps below deletes these files.
   • You may need toshow hidden folders to see \AppData.
3. Delete this folder: C:\users\[USERNAME]\AppData\Local\Box\Box.
4. From RegEdit, delete the registry entries under HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Box/Box to clear Box preferences.
5. Restart the Box Drive and follow the prompt to log back in.

Hope it helps, and please let us know how it goes!

We have two users experiencing this issue as well. None of our other users are experiencing this issue. I have performed the Box reset as outlined above, and no values existed under preferences in the registry to remove.

Is there anything else we can try?

We have Box Drive, Box Tools, and Box for Office installed in the environment.

​@Rona Box 

Thank you for your response. Like ​@EPIC Forensics, we tried the reset as well, and it did not resolve the issue.

Do you have any additional troubleshooting steps?

Same here and issue persists after attempted above troubleshooting. 

​@Rona Box Any advise? 

​@EPIC Forensics 

We are experiencing the same issue with two of our employees. After following the suggested resolution steps, the problem still persists. We also confirmed that both users are on the latest Box Drive version (2.48.250).

Here is what we tried:

Manual Reset of Box Drive (Windows):

1. Exit Box Drive (use Task Manager to end the Box.exe process if needed).
2. Run the following command in Command Prompt:

   "C:\Program Files\Box\Box\FS\cf\cfctl.exe" drive reset Box
   

   Files not uploaded to Box will be saved to the Desktop with a timestamp.
   The output should read: “Box Drive reset completed successfully.” If not, ensure all files are closed and re-run the command.
3. In RegEdit, delete the registry entries under:

   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Box\Box
   

   This clears Box preferences.
4. Restart Box Drive and log back in when prompted.

Despite these steps, the issue continues. Any additional guidance or alternative solutions would be greatly appreciated. Our next step is to submit a ticket with Box Support.

Hi ​@User1825 ​@EPIC Forensics ​@Jason XJ ​@jbyford, 

Thank you for getting in touch, and we’ll continue to assist. 

I just a couple of questions regarding this, 

• Is this a recurring activity on all excel files? 
• Is it happening only for all excel files or all file types? 
• Does your Box Drive application up to date? 
  • Please see the available Box Drive (v2.47), on Mac and Box Drive v2.48 for Windows. 

Thanks for posting! 

We have a couple users reporting similar issues. I followed the steps as mentioned by Rona also but we are still receiving the same error message. We are also on latest Box version for Windows and it appears to only occur when opening Excel files through File Explorer - Box Drive. If we go through a web browser with logging into Box.com and selecting to open file in Excel Desktop it seems to be a workaround, but it’s not efficient.

Hi ​@dmarshall_LLUX, 

Welcome to Box Community, and thank you for joining this thread. 

Our Engineering team have identified this error and we are working sort this out the soonest time possible. 

In the meantime, please ensure that your excel applications are fully updated.

Thanks for posting, and we’ll keep you posted. 

We have some Windows users reporting the same issue not just with Excel but also with Word when using Box Drive through File Explorer. The error will stop appearing if AutoSave is turned on but it’s inconvenient if the user does not want to save changes after editing a file.

We have 2 users with this same problem.

We’ve done the same resets, We also cleared the users Cache and reinstalled.

But their Excel files continue to give this error. Inside the document there is another error we’ve noted that is consistent to these 2 users 
 

So when this is resolved I would love an update.

Same issue.  Following

Three of us encountered the same problem; the error message only appeared when we opened Excel.

We are experiencing the same issue at my company. 

The work around we have implemented is removing Box as a Connected Service in Excel (File - Account - Connected Services - Remove). 

This prevents the error message from appearing but you will be prompted to authorize with Box everytime you open an excel sheet and you have to be sure not to do it. This is very annoying but less problematic than the warning message. 

I hope Box resolves this soon.

I have had one user report the same issue while using Excel. Following to monitor resolution.

Also attempted the fixes listed with no success. Following for update.
Current workaround for my user was opening the file from within Excel itself, not from Box Drive.

Commenting to follow the thread. Two of my end users have now reported this issue with no fix to be found yet. 

Same issue here. Any word on if this is widespread or the root cause?

We also have a few users experiencing this issue, the steps above did not resolve it. Mainly limited to Excel files opened from Box in file explorer.
Commenting to be notified when solution has been found. 

+1 on this. We also have a pair of users with the same issue - Excel files throw that message when launched via Box Drive in File Explorer. I just grabbed Box Drive logs to add to our open support ticket. Please help!

-Ryan

Hi ​@ryancappuccino and everyone, 

Thank you for reaching out! 

We have seen an influx of cases with this exact behavior, and we believe it to be a bug related to the latest Seamless Login release from Microsoft.

Rest assured that our team are continuously working to fully resolve this error and please ensure that your excel applications are up to date. 

Meanwhile, you can edit your Box files through Microsoft Online or download the file then reupload. 

To work directly with the Box Product Support team, please submit a case and contact us through this support link. 

Thanks for posting! 

users in out company are experienceing the same issues.  why doesn’t this issue get posted on the box status page?

I’m not sure if anyone has point this out 
but if you turn autosave on in excel or word for me that resolve the issue 

Following - we have the same issue across multiple users.