Box Drive Not Opening or Disappearing After Login
Workaround available Windows, macOS Updated October 21, 2026
Quick answer
When Box Drive won't launch, or shows the login and then vanishes, the usual fix is a reset: Box's Reset Tool on Mac, or deleting Box Drive's local app data on Windows. Then sign in again.
Most likely fix: Restart the computer and update Box Drive.
Symptoms
Clicking Box Drive does nothing, it crashes on start, the login window appears and disappears, it shows 'Box Drive has encountered an issue', or it stops working after a macOS update.
Why it happens
- Corrupted local Box Drive data or preferences
- Incomplete Box Drive update that needs a restart
- macOS upgrade affecting the File Provider extension
- Unsupported (old) macOS version for current Box Drive
How to fix it
Try these in order — the most common fix is first.
1. Restart the computer and update Box Drive
- Restart to complete any pending Box Drive update
- Download the latest Box Drive from box.com and install it over the current version
2. Reset Box Drive on Mac
- Quit Box Drive
- Run Box's Reset Tool and choose Restart (it writes a log to your Desktop)
- Open Box from Applications and sign in again
3. Reset Box Drive on Windows
- Back up anything in the unsynced files folder
- Quit Box Drive and end Box.exe in Task Manager
- Delete C:\Users\<you>\AppData\Local\Box\Box
- Optionally clear HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Box\Box in Registry Editor
- Start Box Drive and sign in
4. Check macOS support
- Box ends Box Drive support for older macOS versions (macOS 12 and 13 have EOL notices); update macOS if you're on an unsupported version
5. Escalate to Box support
- If reinstalling and resetting fail, open a ticket and attach the Reset Tool log or Box Drive logs
This guide also covers
- box drive not opening
- box drive won't start
- box drive not launching
- box drive shows login and then disappears
- box drive has encountered an issue
Still not working?
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