Key takeaways
- Box shows total storage under Admin Console > Account and Billing, and an Admin or Co-admin can run a User Engagement report for storage per user, which leaves out the trash.
- Admins and Co-admins export from Admin Console > Content > Content Manager, one user at a time, and each download holds the latest version of each file, up to 15 GB.
- Browser folder downloads stop at 100,000 files per folder (10,000 recommended), and a legal-hold export needs Box Governance; trash content comes only through the Box API.
- You don't need to export anything to apply: have your storage in GB, years of history and seat count ready, and the data vendor anonymizes the records before any AI lab sees them.
01
What is Box data, and why do AI labs and data vendors buy it?
The short answer
Box data is the document library a company keeps in Box: contracts, policies, client deliverables and regulated records, stored in shared folders along with a record of who owns and edits each file. AI labs (companies that build and train AI models) and data vendors (companies that anonymize business records and package them for those labs) buy a copy because controlled business documents are rarely public, and they show how a business writes, reviews and files its important paperwork.
What a Box account holds
Box is cloud storage built for businesses, where employees keep documents in folders and share them with colleagues and clients. A company's Box account is run from the Admin Console, the management area where administrators see users, storage and settings. Many companies use it for the documents they must control tightly, such as signed contracts, written policies, work delivered to clients and regulated records.
The folders usually mirror the company's structure, with one for each team, project or client. Next to the files, Box keeps ownership and collaboration information: who created a file, and which other people were invited to work on it.
Why a document library teaches an AI model something
An AI model learns by studying a very large number of examples and finding the patterns in them, and those examples are called training data. Public text rarely includes the documents a business keeps private, such as a master services agreement or a compliance policy. A Box library supplies real examples of those documents, written by the people who do the work.
The ownership trail adds to this. Knowing which team produced a document, and who reviewed it, lets a data vendor tie each piece of content to the part of the business that made it. The full mechanism is in AI training data: why AI companies want your company's data.
How Box fits into a dataset
Box is usually one of several systems in a company's dataset, next to email, chat and billing records. Companies are paid $100K to $2M or more per dataset, according to micro1, the data vendor we typically refer companies to. The price covers the whole dataset, not each app on its own, and what your data is worth explains what moves it.
02
Where does Box show how much data you have?
The short answer
Box shows total storage used under Account and Billing in the Admin Console, and the Storage tile under Insights adds detail. An Admin or Co-admin can also run a User Engagement report that lists the storage each user holds. Report the Account and Billing figure in gigabytes (GB).
How to read your storage total
The steps below read the size of a Box account from the Admin Console, as Box describes in its guide to viewing organization storage and bandwidth usage.
- Log in with an Admin or Co-admin account and launch the Admin Console.
- Choose Account and Billing. Its Usage section states how much storage the whole organization has consumed, plus the storage cap if your plan has one.
- Choose Insights and read the Storage tile when you want a finer breakdown.
- To see storage person by person, open Reports > Create Report and generate the User Engagement report. For every user it gives the storage in megabytes (MB) and a count of owned files and folders, both without the trash.
- For a cross-check, sum the storage column and divide by 1,024, which turns MB into GB.
Who can run the User Engagement report
Admins and Co-admins can run it, and Group Admins (administrators limited to managing particular groups of users) cannot, as Box states in its User Engagement report guide. The Account and Billing page and the Insights tile are in the same Admin Console, so the people who can open it can read the total.
Why the report can show less than the Account and Billing total
The User Engagement report counts each person's storage and file totals without the trash, so adding up its column can give a lower figure than the Account and Billing page. Treat Account and Billing as the headline number and the report as a way to see which users hold the most.
03
What should you know about your Box data before you apply?
The short answer
Have three facts ready: how many gigabytes Box holds, how many years your company has used it and how many people have an account. They go into the data manifest, the written summary of which apps hold your records, how many years each covers and roughly how much. You don't need to run an export, and applying through micro1, the data vendor we typically refer companies to, shares no data.
The storage size
Use the total from Account and Billing, in GB. The User Engagement report leaves out the trash, so its sum may be smaller, and the Account and Billing number is the one to give.
The years of history
The history starts in the year your company opened its Box account. In the User Engagement report, the Last Activity column separates people who still work in Box from accounts nobody uses.
The number of seats
Seats are managed users, meaning the people whose Box accounts the company administers. Count the users with an active status in the User Engagement report.
What you don't need to do first
You don't need to export anything to apply, and you don't need to clean or scrub the files. The data vendor anonymizes the records before anyone else sees them, and nothing moves until a lawyer-reviewed license is signed. The application, the intro call and each later step are laid out in how to sell your company's data.
04
How do you export your full Box history?
The short answer
An Admin or Co-admin opens Admin Console > Content > Content Manager, finds a user, selects their folders and clicks Download, which delivers a ZIP file. The tool works for one user at a time and gives only the latest version of each file, so a full export means repeating it for every user who owns content. Box Governance adds a separate export for content under legal hold.
Content Manager: the steps
Content Manager is the Admin Console tool that lets an administrator browse any user's folders, and Box documents it in its guide to exporting content for eDiscovery. It sits under Content in the Admin Console, so it does not depend on Governance.
- Open Content > Content Manager in the Admin Console and look up a user by name. Box displays that person's folders the way the person sees them.
- Tick the folders you want and press Download. Box returns the files as a ZIP file.
- Do the same for every other user who owns content in scope.
- If a folder is too large for the browser, split it into subfolders, or use the Box API (the interface that lets a script request files from Box) to download the files with a script.
Legal holds: the Governance route
A legal hold freezes a person's content so it cannot be deleted while a legal matter is open, and a custodian is the person whose content is held. Box Governance is the add-on product that provides legal holds. If your company has it, the export is one more way to take a full copy.
- Choose Governance in the Admin Console, then its Legal Holds tab.
- Pick a hold that covers a custodian and press Export Content.
- Name the export. You can narrow it by custodian, folder, file type and a required upload or creation date range, as the Governance settings reference lists.
- Start the export. Box packs the held files into one or more ZIP archives, and large exports can take up to seven days.
Held content can also be exported through a Box eDiscovery partner integration (eDiscovery software searches and collects records for legal cases) or with the Box API.
What each download includes
The diagram compares the two download routes an administrator uses most. Content Manager takes the latest version of each file and cannot reach the trash, while a browser folder download is limited by file count and total size.
Limits to plan around
Box documents its browser limits in its guide to download problems. A browser folder download holds at most 100,000 files per folder, and Box recommends about 10,000. A bulk download tops out at 150 GB, with 25 GB recommended, and empty subfolders are left out of the ZIP file.
Content Manager downloads are capped at 15 GB, include only the latest version of each file and cannot pull items from the trash. Trash content can be exported only through the Box API.
How large a single file can be
The largest single file Box accepts depends on the plan, as Box's file-size guide lists. The figures apply to what a company has been able to store, so they rarely limit an export.
| Plan | Largest file |
|---|---|
| Business | 5 GB |
| Business Plus | 15 GB |
| Enterprise | 50 GB |
| Enterprise Plus | 150 GB |
| Enterprise Advanced | 500 GB |
What a Box export leaves out
A Content Manager export leaves out older versions of files and everything in the trash, and the legal hold export likewise gives the most recent version of each held file. If the version history or deleted files matter to your dataset, mention it on the intro call so the data vendor can plan the transfer.
Sources: Box Support and Box Docs, Governance Settings, Common Issues with Downloading Files, Exporting Content Under Legal Hold for eDiscovery, User Engagement Report and Viewing Organization Storage and Bandwidth Usage. Steps checked against these pages in November 2026.
05
What stays private when Box data is licensed?
The short answer
The company chooses which users and folders are exported, so human resources, legal and executive folders can stay out of scope. The data vendor replaces names and other personal details with consistent stand-ins before an AI lab sees anything, and the company keeps ownership of its files.
You choose what is in scope
Because Content Manager works one user and one folder selection at a time, the company decides exactly what leaves Box. Leaving out folders that hold personnel files, legal matters or executive material is simply a matter of not selecting them. The data vendor also deletes records too sensitive to clean safely instead of anonymizing them.
Names are replaced before a lab sees them
Anonymization means replacing every detail that identifies a person or a client, such as a name or an email address, with a stand-in that is the same every time it appears. The files still read in order and the ownership trail still makes sense, but nobody can tell who the people are. The diagram shows one folder before and after.
The method, including what is deleted outright and how you review samples, is in how company data is anonymized for AI training.
Ownership and payment
Licensing gives the buyer limited rights to a copy, while the company keeps ownership of the originals. The terms that matter, such as exclusivity, permitted use and deletion, are covered in data licensing. micro1 pays in full within 30 days of accepting the data, usually as a single payment.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Where in Box can I see how much storage we are using?
Open Account and Billing in the Admin Console and read the Usage section. The Storage tile on the Insights page breaks the number down further, and both are open to an Admin or Co-admin.
Can a whole Box folder be downloaded through the browser?
Yes, Box packs it into a ZIP file, as long as the folder holds no more than 100,000 files. Box advises keeping each download near 10,000 files and breaking bigger folders into subfolders.
Are earlier file versions and deleted files in a Content Manager export?
No. It delivers only the newest version of each file, and anything in the trash stays out of reach. Only the Box API can fetch trashed items.
Is Box Governance required for a full export?
No, because Admins and Co-admins can pull any user's content through Content Manager. Governance is what provides legal holds, and an export from a hold can be filtered by custodian, folder, file type and date.
Why is the User Engagement total lower than our Account and Billing total?
The report excludes the trash and counts only what each user owns, so its sum can fall short of the Account and Billing figure. Give the Account and Billing number when you apply.
Do we need to export Box before we apply?
No. The application takes about two minutes and shares no data. You only need your approximate storage in GB, your years of history and your number of seats for the intro call, and the Admin Console gives you the first. The exports are needed later, when the records are transferred after you sign the license.
What is Box data worth to AI labs and data vendors?
Box files are priced as part of a whole dataset rather than on their own. Companies are paid $100K to $2M or more per dataset, according to micro1, and the price depends on the years of history and how completely the records show the work. What your data is worth explains the factors.
Bottom line
Know what is in Box, then see what it is worth
You don't need to export anything to apply. Apply in two minutes, describe your records on the intro call, and micro1, the data vendor we typically refer companies to, prices the whole dataset and sends an offer 1–2 days later.
Not legal, tax or financial advice. Figures come from micro1's published pages and public reporting as of November 2026.