Usage
Usage By Philipp Kraft — last modified 07/15/2026 The main function of next.Hessenbox is to store your data securely and in compliance with data protection regulations on the servers of Hessian universities. You can save your data in next.Hessenbox via the web client or a desktop application. The desktop application ensures your data is synchronized. Additionally, files or folders stored in your next.Hessenbox can be shared with other users (including external ones). Furthermore, next.Hessenbox offers the ability to work collaboratively (or alone) on documents. If you double-click a standard Office file (e.g., a Word document) in the Hessenbox web client, you can edit the file directly in your browser. If you have shared the file with others, they can also edit the file at the same time. You will see the changes in real-time.
Problems and Solutions
Synchronization vs. Collaborative Work
In our experience, mixing certain ways of using next.Hessenbox can quickly lead to problems, including data loss. If you edit files collaboratively and do not use the web interface to do so, the desktop client's synchronization function can cause data to be overwritten. We generally recommend strictly using the web interface when collaboratively editing files.
Backing Up Data on Lab Computers
It is often practical to back up measurement data from lab computers directly to next.Hessenbox. However, since these computers are generally used by two or more people, logging in with a single employee's personal user account makes little sense. In this case, an "impersonal functional account with email function" can be requested. If you would like to make use of this option, you can send an informal request via email to HRZ Support. We recommend CCing our email address, it@fb09.uni-giessen.de, so that we can assist you with the application and setup if necessary. We are also happy to answer any questions you may have about the best way to back up data from lab computers.
Hard Drive Full!
By default, next.Hessenbox saves its data on the C: drive of your PC. On smaller drives, this can result in data no longer being synchronized because there isn't enough local storage space available. Additionally, other problems can occur if there isn't enough free hard drive space left for paging or temporary files. In this case, we recommend moving the Hessenbox folder to another hard drive. This can be done using the Nextcloud app. If you have any questions, we are happy to help.