Box Search Returns Partial-Match Results — Unable to Search for Exact Folder/File Name Only
Summary: When a user searches for a term in Box that is also a substring of another folder or file name, Box returns both the exact match and the partial matches in the search results. There is currently no way to perform an exact-match-only search in Box, which makes it difficult for users to isolate specific content when similarly named items exist.
Problem Description: Box search uses partial/substring matching by default. When a user types a search term, Box returns all items whose names contain that term — not just items whose names exactly equal the term. This behavior cannot be overridden by the end user through the UI or any available search syntax.
Example Scenario: A user has a collaborated folder containing the following two subfolders:
データ (Data)
データ移行 (Data Migration)
When the user searches for "データ", both folders appear in the search results. The user only wants to find the folder named exactly "データ", but there is no way to exclude "データ移行" from the results using Box's current search functionality.
This is particularly problematic in migration or data management workflows, where users need to precisely identify and act on a specific folder without confusion from similarly named items.
AdminShogo Araki
(Admin, Box)
shared this idea