Dropbox vs. OneDrive vs. Box file requests: collect client files without sharing your folder

A file request lets a client send documents to a folder without receiving ordinary access to its contents. Dropbox suits a simple request into storage you already use. OneDrive suits an existing work or school account whose organization permits file requests. Box Business or higher gives you a form with required metadata when you need a case number and document type attached to each file. Start by giving each client a separate request folder and a reference such as C104. That reference helps you sort files; it does not verify who uploaded them.

Service	Who can send files	Published per-file limit relevant to a request
Dropbox File Requests	An uploader does not need a Dropbox account.	2 GB on Basic, Plus, and Family; 250 GB on Professional, Essentials, Business, Business Plus, Standard, Advanced, and Enterprise.
OneDrive file requests	An uploader does not need a OneDrive account. Available for eligible OneDrive for work or school and SharePoint folders.	Microsoft publishes a 250 GB individual-file service upload ceiling. This is a service ceiling, not a measured file-request upload result.
Box File Request	An uploader does not need a Box account unless login is required. Creating a request requires Business or higher.	Based on the folder owner’s plan: Business 5 GB; Business Plus 15 GB; Enterprise 50 GB; Enterprise Plus 150 GB; Enterprise Advanced 500 GB.

These are per-file limits, not promises that an account has room for the upload. Two 1.2 GB files each fit under Dropbox Basic’s 2 GB per-file limit, for example, but the request can still run into the owner’s available-storage limit. Dropbox charges requested uploads to the owner’s storage. Check capacity as well as file size before sending a link. Dropbox File Requests · Box maximum file sizes · OneDrive restrictions

Create a request for each client

In Dropbox, choose File Requests > New Request, add a title and description, choose the upload destination, create the request, and copy its link. The destination is private by default. The 250 GB plans also support deadlines. For sorting, use naming conventions: a Keyword such as C104 plus Date uploaded can distinguish a batch. Open the destination folder’s settings > Organize > Set naming convention. These rules apply to the folder and can apply to future files. They do not authenticate the client or provide Box-style required case fields.

In OneDrive, select the folder > Request files > descriptive name > Next > Copy link > Done. The link permits uploads while hiding existing files and other submitters. Uploaded filenames get an uploader-name prefix; duplicates receive a number. An unsigned-in person types a first and last name that Microsoft does not validate. A signed-in person’s identity is recorded. Neither a familiar name nor a client reference proves that the submission is authorized. OneDrive home, 21Vianet, and Office 365 Germany do not support the feature. Microsoft’s file-request instructions

In Box, open the folder’s Sharing pane, choose File Request → Create Link, and edit the title and description. A request can include Email, File Description, File Upload, and File Metadata fields. With enterprise metadata enabled, a form can use one existing metadata template; added metadata fields are required by default unless made optional. Use the required metadata fields for the case reference. Only one file request can be attached to a folder, uploaders cannot upload folders, and a submission can contain at most 500 files at once. An external collaborator cannot create the request even with editor or co-owner access. Box File Request guide

For a Box workflow collecting proposals, contracts, and footage, an organization could create a ClientSubmission template with CaseID as required text, DocumentType as a required choice of proposal, contract, or source-footage, and Version as optional text. Those are example fields to configure, not fields Box supplies by default. An invoice workflow would need invoice added to the choices before that form could classify invoices. Box attaches the template’s metadata to each uploaded file. If the underlying template changes or is deleted, the request form does not update automatically; its affected fields need to be removed and added again. A case ID remains a sorting aid, not proof of the uploader’s authority. Box administration guide

Send instructions that distinguish two clients

Suppose Cedar has reference C104 and Alder has A208. Both client contacts are named Alex, and both might otherwise send invoice.pdf. Create separate request folders and put the nonsecret reference in each request title and invitation. Ask for distinct filenames so a downloaded file still carries its context.

For Cedar, use this invitation after replacing the link placeholder:

Cedar: C104 file submission
Please upload your October invoice as C104_invoice_2026-10.pdf and your source video as C104_source-footage_v1.mp4 at [C104 request link] by October 15, 2026, 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time. If you correct a file, use v2 in its name and reply to this email to identify the replacement. Please reply here if either requested file is missing. We will confirm what arrived after checking the folder; receipt does not mean the files have been approved.

For Alder, change the title to “Alder: A208 file submission,” use the separate A208 link, and request A208_invoice_2026-10.pdf and A208_contract_2026-10.pdf. Do not reuse Cedar’s destination simply because both contacts are named Alex. When these files are downloaded later, the reference in the filename still identifies the intended case.

The deadline in these examples is an instruction in the invitation. It should not be mistaken for an automatically enforced setting on every service or plan. If Cedar’s video is 3 GB, it exceeds Dropbox Plus’s 2 GB per-file limit even if the account has plenty of total storage. It is below Box Business’s published 5 GB per-file limit, subject to the owner’s available capacity and the upload conditions. A 30 GB video exceeds the published limits for Box Business and Business Plus. OneDrive’s published 250 GB service ceiling is not a measured guarantee for this particular request workflow.

Check arrivals before closing intake

Review the destination folder against the invitation and your known client contact. A filename, form entry, or uploader-supplied name can help route a submission, but it cannot settle an identity question by itself.

What arrives	Next action
Files in the expected client folder with the matching reference	Record what arrived and check that both requested items are present.
A file with the wrong reference	Ask the client through the known contact channel which request it belongs to before moving or accepting it.
Two apparent versions or a duplicate filename	Confirm which version supersedes the other; do not silently discard one.
A file attributed only to “Alex Smith”	Match it against the separate request and verify any uncertainty with the known contact.

If Request files is missing in OneDrive, ask the administrator to inspect whether file requests are enabled for the relevant OneDrive or SharePoint scope. Microsoft lists work or school access, organization-level Anyone links, folder-level Anyone upload permissions, and the absence of an “allow only specific security groups” restriction among the conditions. Disabling Anyone links disables requests. Those settings have wider sharing implications, so the remedy is an administrator review of the feature and its scope, not an instruction to loosen sharing broadly or give a client ordinary folder access. Microsoft’s admin requirements

Box administrators can limit requests to managed owners and co-owners, include editors, or limit the enabled users and groups. External collaborators cannot create a request through a role granted on a folder. An enterprise login requirement applies to existing requests as well as new ones and prevents the request creator from choosing anonymous access. A required Box login captures the account email, but an account email alone does not establish that a person was authorized to submit for a particular client. If a file will not upload to OneDrive, also check its filename: Microsoft disallows characters including * : < > ? / \ | and quotation marks, and an administrator can block file types. Microsoft recommends its sync app for browser uploads of a few gigabytes or more; that recommendation does not mean a file-request sender should be made a folder collaborator. Box sharing controls · OneDrive restrictions

Close the request link

After confirming the intake, close each request deliberately. In Dropbox, open the request under File Requests → Opened and choose Close request. A closed request can be reactivated; a deleted one cannot. A Dropbox team administrator turning off File Requests stops new requests and deactivates existing ones. Dropbox request controls

In OneDrive, open the folder’s Manage Access controls and delete the request link. That action cannot be undone; collecting more files later requires a new link. In Box, disable or delete the individual request when intake ends; changing who may create requests does not revoke links already sent. Disabling the Box feature for an enterprise can stop creation while existing links remain live, so that organization-wide change is not a substitute for checking the particular request. OneDrive link removal · Box administration guide

Source note: The linked official guidance was checked on October 7, 2026 KST. No paid-plan upload or administration was independently tested. The client submissions and invitations are worked examples.