Both Box and SharePoint have their place in the enterprise content management arena. Sometimes it is a preference based on features or it is due to an option to save financially. One reason to move from Box and SharePoint is for the dedicated Enterprise features for compliance and security with an intuitive user interface. But no matter the reason, there's one question to keep in mind when doing a SharePoint to Box migration: how do you make the migration successful?
Box is a security-focused cloud storage platform that's a solid choice for industries handling sensitive data like financial institutions, governments, and healthcare providers. Features like Box Shield add an extra layer of protection to stored data. Box Shield can detect malware, automatically classify data as sensitive, stop file sharing with unauthorized users, and more.
Even with the emphasis on security, Box still has dedicated tools for collaborating on projects. Box Canvas works as a sort of virtual whiteboard that has sticky notes, voting, and chats. Box Notes allow for real-time document collaboration so users can work together no matter where they are without sacrificing security.
In 2025, Box unveiled a new Enterprise Advanced plan that includes full access to the Intelligent Content Cloud. This system takes advantage of the latest advancements in AI including Box AI Studio to build custom AI agents and Box Doc Gen to automate workflows from start to finish, including dynamically generating documents at scale. As different cloud platforms start developing AI with different focuses, cloud platforms will probably start divesting more and becoming more specialized, with Box aiming to become the intelligent content cloud for enterprises.
Migrations from SharePoint to Box usually go smoothly because there aren't many differences in restrictions between the two platforms. Both don't allow the same set of characters " * : < > ? / \ | and have a 255-character file path limit. And since Microsoft doctypes have become the standard, you won't have any issue migrating and opening O365 files in Box, with the Box for Office integration making working on Office files in Box even easier.
Box also increased their max file size limit on the Enterprise Advanced plan to 500GB in 2025, which is more than the 250GB max in SharePoint. On other plans, this could potentially be a problem though, since Enterprise Plus in Box has a 150GB max and each lower tier shrinks the maximum more.
One of the most common obstacles that comes up when moving from SharePoint--whether migrating SharePoint to Box or anywhere else--is rate limiting. Since these limits are set by Microsoft, there isn't a good way to get around them and limits will simply have to be waited out.
If you are looking to migrate your business data from SharePoint to Box there are tools out there that can help, but there are some catches and features you should look for when searching for your migration tool. Some of these include scan functionality, cost, platform security, error handling, reporting, and support.
Scanning is key when looking to move any size or number of users and shared data. When looking through specific platforms such as SharePoint and Box, they use slightly different ways to calculate the data; one file may only be 0.2KBs different, however when you add this up millions of times, it can quickly increase to TBs.
Additionally, when you have file versions and Google Docs these may not show up in your own investigation. Another reason to do the scan is to see what actually is going to be moved and to identify any errors before the transfer starts. This lets you catch potential issues before you move any data and make any required fixes to make your transfers a success.
There is always going to be a cost, whether it is your time waiting for data to sync between providers or the monetary cost that you’ve invested into a third-party tool to help you. There are free tools out there, but most free tools have severe limitations and support doesn’t exist. The cost of free migration tools can quickly add up to be more expensive than a paid platform, especially when dealing with large, complex migrations that involve dozens of users and terabytes of data.
When it comes to cost some tools out there cost several dollars per gigabyte which is heavily overpriced, whereas others are cost-effective and scale with your data. In the end, you don’t want to be paying more to move your data than your yearly storage subscription cost.
You can't afford for data to get in the hands of the wrong person, and fortunately, the risk of large cloud storage providers being breached at scale is minimal. But what about when you migrate data? Could it be at risk like a transport truck in the movies? A good migration tool should have end-to-end encryption for added protection. But that might not be enough to meet stricter compliance requirements.
For instance, to be HIPAA compliant, all data processing must take place within the US. The same can be true for other standards with geographic restrictions that require data to remain within a country (data sovereignty). Check that your data migration tool gives you the option to specify a processing region so you aren't in breach of compliance.
As mentioned earlier some platforms have different requirements or support an array of options; for example Google Drive supports duplicate files, SharePoint has character limitations and path lengths and Box has single file size limits depending on your subscription tier.
When dealing with data you want to know what is happening, how much is being moved, what was not moved, the file types, and in-depth logging to know what is happening in real-time. A good migration tool will provide you with in-depth information and doesn’t hide anything — especially rate-limiting issues.
Moving data isn’t easy and often comes with its challenges, and there's always the chance that something happens when different systems communicate with each other. Issues like stalls, slow speeds, and outright failures can happen and when they occur it’s best to know you can reach out and get assistance to help. Make sure the tool has a method to get in touch with support and that you have that on hand just in case.
It's probably not a surprise that Movebot meets all of the above standards. As the data migration tool with the most supported platforms, moving from SharePoint is easy, but it's just as easy to go from Box to SharePoint or between any of the other 30+ platforms Movebot supports.
No matter which platforms you migrate between, Movebot follows the simple the-step PAC process of Plan, Advance, Cutover.
Plan is the first step of the process, where you connect your transfers and set up your migration project.
Connecting to Box is simple and only takes a minute. Log in to Movebot and choose to make a new connection, then choose Box. Decide if you want to exclude shared content and connect as a team admin, both of which are recommended when moving an organization.
SharePoint takes a little longer, but can be done in a few minutes as long as you have the right access (you'll need to have access to the Azure administrator account for the domain). You'll then need to set up a new application in Azure and add the details into Movebot. If you aren't sure how to do that, check out the video below.
Once both Box and SharePoint are connected, set up a new project and choose your settings. Movebot has helpful features like filename deduplication and exclusion filters to help make sure you only move the files you need and to help make sure they're ready for Box.
When you've configured your general settings, it's time to start moving. Map your transfers and start running the migration. While you can move the entire organization if you want, you can also map by drive or even folder for more control. You can run multiple transfers at once without hurting performance, and you can see live stats about any transfers that are in progress.
Once you've finished a transfer, you can run delta migrations to check for any files that changed at the source. Movebot will scan SharePoint and see if there are any new files or files with a more recent modtime, then move only those to Box. You can run unlimited delta migrations, so keep running them until everything is moved across.
And that's it! Moving from SharePoint to Box has never been easier.
With lightning-fast data moving capabilities, an easy-to-use interface, and affordable pricing, Movebot is an excellent choice for SharePoint to Box migrations.
With features like a pre-migration scan, automatic doctype conversion, and the ability to move permissions, Movebot simplifies data movement between clouds. Find out how Movebot handles other SharePoint migrations at The Complete Guide to SharePoint Migrations with Movebot.
Want to try Movebot for yourself? It's easy. All you have to do is Register for a free account to try Movebot today.