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Box Cloud files deleted after using Mac Migration Assistant on machine; now storage "over capacity" and unable to restore

  • May 23, 2025
  • 2 replies
  • 69 views
C
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Hello! I recently purchased a new mac and, after using Apple's built-in migration assistant tool, I again faced a significant migration issue unique to Box. Unlike Dropbox and OneDrive that detected a move in my respective sync folders, Box decided to obliterate my content, deleting every folder from the cloud, and re-upload every local folder instead. This broke every shared link I have ever created, and removed anything I had in a cloud folder that wasn't synced locally to my device.

Unlike with the last new machine I purchased, "fortunately," all content from my cloud account was moved to trash, with the local content re-uploaded. I deleted the newly-uploaded content and attempted to restore the old files from the trash, but Box is now preventing me from doing so, claiming my storage is full despite only having 14% of my quota in my directory.

  1. Could you please investigate why my usage is incorrect such that I can restore my files from the trash without the "We could not perform this action because you do not have enough space in your account." error message?

  2. Given that this is now the second time I have experienced this issue when migrating to a new machine, and it appears there have been other posts about similar issues — although it no longer directly applies to me (as the damage is already done) — it might be worth investigating what's causing the Box Sync application to delete one's entire cloud directory and re-upload all local contents after migrating to a new machine.

 

Thanks!

    2 replies

    C
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    Hi Jeff, 

    Welcome to the Box Community, I'm happy to help!

    When users are upgrading their computer or are provisioned new machines needing access to their Box content locally, we recommend following the guidelines provided in this article if you are syncing items to your local machine and also need Box Sync or Box Drive.

    Some disaster recovery tools (i.e. Time Machine, Carbon, Genie Timeline) may have a "backup", "restore", or "sync" function. These functions should not be used to move Box Sync or Box Drive content from one device to another or when upgrading. We recommend to use the instructions for reinstalling Box Sync/ Box Drive on your newly updated or new device as mentioned on the shared article. 

    If there are missing items from your Box account, could you check in your Trash in Box.com and see if you can find it in there? You can use the search feature and filter to make your search a little easier and see if you can find the folders missing in there.

    Regarding the issue with your account's incorrect storage usage, this seems related to what is described in this article: Storage Usage Or File Count In My Account Is Incorrect. I've ran the script that will recount all of the files and how much storage is being used in your account, so you should now see the correct storage size available in your Box.

    Feel free to write back in if you have any questions for me!

    All the Best, 

    C
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    Thanks, France; yes, the script solved the storage issue which allowed me to restore the files from my trash.

    And I appreciate the suggested backup practice, although I'd note that (a) it requires active effort to quit the Box app before it launches after restoring on a new machine, and (b) having to redownload every file from the cloud isn't a positive user experience. While I understand this is an infrequent issue for most people, it's a continued frustration every time I get a new machine or restore from a backup, particularly given that other cloud service providers handle the transition gracefully without any manual intervention required.

    Just my two cents for your product development backlog; thanks for the support!

     

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