In many ways, Windows remains a “learn as you go” kind of thing. So it was upon returning home to update my PCs. The team I worked with used the Box Drive app to exchange big files. Thus, I found myself asking “How does one update Box Drive?” It took a bit of digging, but here is the Box App update secret revealed.

Getting to Box App Update Secret Revealed

It’s an app, so my first update thought was to go to the Windows Store, where such things normally get handled. No go. Next, I tried the winget command in Powershell. Nothing doing. And my typical auto-update tools — namely PatchMyPC and SUMo — didn’t help, either. Obviously, there had to be another way…

When I went poking around for help online, I couldn’t seem to find much insight there at first. Then I found a Box Support article with the essentials of this operation:

1. Find the Box Drive entry in the notification icons (click the up-caret if it’s not already showing on the toolbar).

2. Click that entry, then click the Settings (gear) icon at lower left.

3. If an update is pending, an update option appears in the resulting pop-up menu. Once up-to-date, though, the item no longer appears.

And that’s really all there is to it. Like much else about Windows, it’s dead easy if you know how to do it. Otherwise, it’s a bit of a runaround figuring things out.

Why Not Stick to Standard Methods?

Good question! Given that Box Drive is a Windows app, why did its maker decide not to use the Windows Store to deliver updates? I can’t say, except to observe that Box Drive is concerned with security and file protection, as well as offering file exchange services. My best guess is they opted for explicit control to help maintain security, rather than relying on less visible background updates through the store.

Again: it’s pretty easy to accomplish, once you understand how it works. And thus, I’ve got another item to add to my usual update drills.