PennBox is the University of Pennsylvania’s preferred cloud storage and collaboration service. Similar to Google Drive, OneDrive, and Dropbox, PennBox allows users to store files and folders, access materials from various electronic devices, and share with others in and out of the Penn community.

PennBox is accessible to students, staff, and faculty with a PennKey through Penn’s single sign-on (SSO) interface. By default, users have 1 TB of storage.


Accessing PennBox

To access PennBox, navigate to box.upenn.edu. If you are not already logged in with your PennKey, you may be asked to authenticate using Penn’s SSO interface.

If you have not previously signed into PennBox, the system will automatically create an account for you. Your username and default email address will be [PennKey Username]@upenn.edu. Do not delete this email address in your PennBox settings.


Important note: you must sign into PennBox at least once in order for other users to add you as a collaborator on files and folders.


Linking Your Email Address

After you sign into PennBox for the first time, you link your preferred email address to your account. This allows collaboration invitations sent to your primary email to be funneled to your Box account. We recommend linking your Penn Medicine email address to your PennBox account. To do this:

  • From the PennBox web interface, click on the user icon at the top right of the browser window.
  • This will open a dropdown menu. From the menu, click account settings.
    Account Settings, highlighted on the dropdown menu at the top right of the PennBox web interface.
  • From account settings, navigate to the log in and email addresses area and click add more emails.
         In Account Settings, the Add More Emails button.

This will bring up a modal dialog box that will allow you to add your preferred email addresses to the account.


Sharing Files and Folders

Allowing Others to View and Download

You can share links to files and folders from your PennBox that will allow others to view and download specific materials. To do this:

  • Hover over the file or folder you wish to share, and click the link button, which uses a chain link icon.
    An illustration of the link button, which appears when you hover over a file or folder in PennBox.
  • This will bring up a modal dialog box where you can 1) copy a shared link to the file or folder, and 2) set security preferences for that item.
    1. If you are sharing a link with a user who is an invited person on that given item, choose the invited people only security option.
    2. If you are sharing a link with someone who is not already a collaborator, set your security preferences to people with the link and can view and download.
      An illustration of the dropdown menu, in which you can choose to share a file or folder with anyone who has the link.


Inviting Collaborators to Edit or Modify Materials

You can also invite others to collaborate with you on a particular folder or file in PennBox. This will give them access to view and download, as well as to edit or modify materials. This is particularly useful for collaborating with teammates in courses.


Important note: prospective collaborators must sign into PennBox at least once before you can add them to files and folders.


To invite collaborators:

  • Hover over the file or folder you wish to share, and click the share button, which uses a right-facing arrow icon.
    An illustration of the share button, which appears when you hover over a file or folder in PennBox.
  • Begin typing your collaborator’s name or PennKey username in the invite people field.
    An illustration of the invite people field. A name is typed in and PennBox is offering a suggestion for a collaborator.
  • If your collaborator already has a PennBox account, they will appear in the suggested list beneath the field, and you will be able to select them. If they do not appear, you may need to ask them to log into PennBox for the first time, before you can invite them.

Once you have selected all your desired collaborators, click send to complete the invitation process.


Troubleshooting PennBox

If you have difficulty accessing PennBox, please visit Penn ISC’s PennBox FAQ, which includes answers to common troubleshooting questions. If you need help finding your PennKey login information, please visit Penn's PennKey support site.