Using Naver MYBOX to create and edit Hangul Office (.hwp) files

In addition to the various other ways I've highlighted on this blog to work with Hangul Office (.hwp) files for free, Naver has introduced a new one. 

Inside their online storage drive service, known as Naver MYBOX, you can now both create new .HWP files and edit those you have uploaded. 

Using MYBOX to create/edit Hangul files

Using this feature is very simple. 

• Login to your MYBOX drive
• Inside the "create new document" (새로 만들기) menu you will see the option for creating a new Hangul (한글) file. 
• Done

Here's a screenshot of how it looks:

Naver MYBOX new document creation. Image: 백전백승

A new Hangul document will open in the Hangul Online Web editor beta version, but changes to the document will be automatically saved to your MYBOX. 

New Hangul document. Image: 데비룽의 촉촉한 블로그

It seems like this is simply a collaboration between Naver and Hancom. Previously using Hancom Space (which gave smaller free online storage) could be connected to your Naver Drive space anyway, so this seems a mutual extension of that ability. 

You can also edit other documents inside your MYBOX drive, using the Hangul Office Web version editor now incorporated into Naver's MYBOX. 

Of course you can edit HWP files in this way, but you can also even open other file types (such as MS Word .doc files) in the Hangul Office editor.

Here's a screenshot showing how to open the documents in the editor:

Option to edit documents. Image: 백전백승

You can also right-click on documents in the drive and in the contextual menu you will see two options: one for opening the document in the Hangul Online editor, and another for opening in the default Naver Office editor. For best results, use the new Hangul editor. 

Options for opening the file in either Hangul Office Online or Naver Office editor. Image: 데비룽의 촉촉한 블로그

With these features, it's surprisingly easy to convert between different document file types, all online without needing to install any software, for free. And at any time, you can download a local copy in multiple formats. 

Limitations

There are a few limits to these features. 

The biggest limitation for a new user is going to be the fact that you need to log-in to your Naver account to access MyBox, but crucially, it needs to be a verified Naver account. 

In other words, a Naver account that you have verified ownership of with a phone number. In other words, if you only signed-up to Naver using a social media login (Google, Facebook, etc), it's likely that your account won't work for this by default. You will need to submit your phone number or iPin for verification, and apparently you need to be age 18+ to use it. 

Everyone will need to accept the MyBox terms to use the service (the white box in the blue window below), but if your Naver account has no associated phone number, you'll also get the other green popup box requesting parental consent. You may be over age 18, but Naver needs an adult-registered phone number to verify it. 

For this reason, I'm skeptical that foreign phone numbers would work for this process. Please leave a comment if it does or does not work for you.

Naver requesting phone or iPin verification

So if you're outside Korea, there's a good chance this method may not work for you. You can always try to verify the account with your own number. Here's a nice guide to that: How to Verify Naver Account and Set Up Naver Pay for Foreigners | 10 Magazine Korea

Or just check my various other posts for other methods. 

Other limitations include:

• Documents created with Hangul 97 or earlier versions may not work
• Files greater than 30 MB (some sources say 50 MB) may not work
• Some fonts may not be available
• Hangul file (hwp) creation/editing is only available for desktop PCs, not the mobile apps. But standard file movement, sending, copying, etc is possible in-app. 

Final thoughts

Naver MYBOX photo editor. Image: 감동의 순간들 !

Overall, MYBOX is a decent offering. At 30 GB free storage space, it's definitely one of the most generous cloud storage offerings, and official apps are available for many platforms. 

It also has very decent built-in photo editing, managing, and sharing. As seen here:

And an interesting new feature also recently added is the ability to take your MYBOX stored photos and have them professionally printed on a variety of items, from phone cases to pillows with more items to be added.

So overall, it's a lot more than just a cloud storage. Or just use it as a 30 GB backup for a Cryptomator vault. 

Either way, shove it in MYBOX.