---
schema_version: "1"
id: b187e4f16d2064d7d4c2829d4d4d5b32e64d06f7159407be604e4e334aefebe0
title: Create a Sandbox
collection: admin
version: current
locale: en-us
portal_url: https://docs.salesforce.com/admin/current/en-us/platform/264-0-0/data_sandbox_create.md
canonical_url: https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.data_sandbox_create.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5
source_site: help.salesforce.com
content_type: documentation
content_hash: 43da3b5f351041d55b3b7c010dcf87262a569945d918d3f6c333629037625398
description: When you create a sandbox, Salesforce copies the metadata from your production org to a sandbox org. What data gets copied depends on the sandbox type.
products:
  - Salesforce Platform
release: "264"
---
# Create a Sandbox

When you create a sandbox, Salesforce copies the metadata from your production org to a sandbox org. What data gets copied depends on the sandbox type.

### Required Editions

<table class="slds-table slds-table_bordered slds-max-medium-table_stacked slds-m-bottom_small edition"><colgroup><col></colgroup><tbody><tr class=""><td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;">Available in: both Salesforce Classic and Lightning Experience</td></tr><tr class=""><td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;">Available in: <strong>Professional</strong>, <strong>Enterprise</strong>, <strong>Performance</strong>, <strong>Unlimited</strong>, and <strong>Database.com</strong> Editions</td></tr></tbody></table>

<table class="slds-table slds-table_bordered slds-max-medium-table_stacked slds-m-bottom_small permission">
        <colgroup>
          <col style="width:50%">
          <col style="width:50%">
        </colgroup>
        <thead class="slds-text-title_caps ">
          <tr class="">
            <th scope="colgroup" class="slds-cell-wrap" colspan="2" style="text-align:center;vertical-align:top;" id="d3831e75">User Permissions
              Needed</th>
          </tr>
        </thead>
        <tbody>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="User Permissions Needed" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d3831e75 ">To view a sandbox:</td>

            <td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d3831e75 ">View Setup and Configuration</td>

          </tr>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="User Permissions Needed" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d3831e75 ">To create, refresh, activate, and delete a sandbox:</td>

            <td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d3831e75 ">Manage Dev Sandboxes (Developer or Developer Pro only) or Manage Sandboxes (all
              sandbox types)</td>

          </tr>
        </tbody>
      </table>

![Note](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-platform-deploy_sandboxes-264-0-0-production-enus/654e51d1-6795-49fe-bd43-b5385950cf4a/images/icon_note.png)

Note Note these considerations for creating a sandbox.

- If you’re creating a Full sandbox from a production org hosted on a Hyperforce instance, your sandbox is created using the Quick Create technology based on availability. The Quick Create method creates your sandbox faster than the legacy method. However, because of resource limitations within the shared infrastructure, sandbox creation on Hyperforce instances can sometimes default to the legacy method, rather than the faster Quick Create method. See [Best Practices for Salesforce Sandbox Creation and Refresh Times](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.data_sandbox_what_impacts_sandbox_creation_time.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Although Salesforce can’t speed up the process of creating or refreshing sandboxes, these strategies can help you to minimize sandbox copy times.") for more information.
- Between the completion of a major release upgrade and the start of the next release upgrade, we attempt to create sandboxes that preview the next release by default. To create non-preview sandboxes during the transition between major releases, contact Salesforce Customer Support to enable this functionality. When this functionality is enabled, you can choose to create non-preview sandboxes during release transitions. See [What are Preview and Non-Preview Sandboxes](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.data_sandbox_preview.htm&type=5&language=en_US) for more information.

1. From Setup, find and select **Sandboxes**.
2. Click **New Sandbox**.
    
    ![Note](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-platform-deploy_sandboxes-264-0-0-production-enus/654e51d1-6795-49fe-bd43-b5385950cf4a/images/icon_note.png)
    
    Note If the **New Sandbox** button is deactivated, confirm with your Salesforce admin that you have the Manage Sandboxes or Manage Dev Sandboxes user permission, or that your org has available sandbox licenses.
3. Enter a name (10 characters or fewer) and a description for the sandbox.
    
    We recommend that you choose a name that:
    
    - Reflects the purpose of this sandbox, such as QA.
    - Has only a few characters, because Salesforce appends the sandbox name to usernames on user records in the sandbox environment. Names with fewer characters make sandbox logins easier to type.
4. Select the type of sandbox you want.
    
    If you don’t see a sandbox option or need licenses for more, contact Salesforce to order sandboxes for your org.
    
    If you reduce the number of sandboxes you purchase, you’re required to match the number of your sandboxes to the number you purchased. For example, if you have two Full sandboxes but purchased only one, you can’t create a Full sandbox. Instead, convert a Full sandbox to a smaller one, such as a Developer Pro or Developer sandbox, depending on which types you have available.
5. Select the data to include in your Partial Copy or Full sandbox.
    
    - For a Partial Copy sandbox, click **Next**, and then select the template you created to specify the data for your sandbox. If you haven’t created a template for this Partial Copy sandbox, see [Create or Edit Sandbox Templates](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.data_sandbox_templates.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Sandbox templates control which data is copied into a Partial Copy or Full sandbox.").
    - For a Full sandbox click **Next**, and then decide how much data to include.
        - In the **Object Data Included** field, select **All** to include all production data, or select **Template-based** to choose an existing sandbox template. For more information, see [Create or Edit Sandbox Templates](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.data_sandbox_templates.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Sandbox templates control which data is copied into a Partial Copy or Full sandbox.").
        - Choose whether to include field tracking history data of the copied objects. If your production org is on Hyperforce, select the checkbox to include 30 days of field tracking history. For non-Hyperforce production orgs, select an option from the dropdown menu.
        - Decide whether to copy Chatter data. Chatter data includes feeds, messages, and topics and is used in many components that affect your sandbox copy.
    
    Decreasing the amount of data you copy can significantly speed sandbox copy time.
6. (Developer or Developer Pro only) If you have an available storage upgrade and want to use it, click **400 MB** or **2 GB**.
    
    If you don’t upgrade the storage at this time but change your mind post-creation, you can upgrade it by going to the Sandbox Details page, and clicking **Edit**. If you upgrade the storage now but later want to downgrade it, you can do so when you refresh the sandbox.
7. (Optional) To run scripts after each create and refresh for this sandbox, specify the name of an Apex class you previously created from the SandboxPostCopy interface.
    
    ![Note](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-platform-deploy_sandboxes-264-0-0-production-enus/654e51d1-6795-49fe-bd43-b5385950cf4a/images/icon_note.png)
    
    Note See [Create an Apex Class](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.sfdx_dev.meta/sfdx_dev/sfdx_dev_develop_create_apex.htm) and [SandboxPostCopy Interface](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.apexref.meta/apexref/apex_interface_System_SandboxPostCopy.htm) for more information on creating this Apex class.
8. For Sandbox Access, indicate a public user group that contains the users that require access to the sandbox (required for Developer and Developer Pro sandboxes).
    
    For Partial Copy and Full sandboxes, you also have the option to select **All Active Users**. Selecting all users can increase sandbox creation times and impact the login experience.
    
    How you select the public group depends on how many public groups exist in your production org.
    
    - If the production org has fewer than 60 public groups, select the group from the Public Groups dropdown.
    - If the production org has 60 or more public groups, enter the group name in the Public Groups field.
    
    For more information on Selective Sandbox Access, see [Determine Who Has Sandbox Access](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.data_sandbox_selective_access.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Selective Sandbox Access helps you limit access to only required users who are included in a public group. It also removes the additional step for a Salesforce admin to change user email addresses back to their original format.").
9. Click **Create**.
    
    ![Tip](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-platform-deploy_sandboxes-264-0-0-production-enus/654e51d1-6795-49fe-bd43-b5385950cf4a/images/icon_tip.png)
    
    Tip Try to limit changes in your production org while the sandbox copy proceeds.

The process takes from several minutes to several days, depending on the size and type of your org. When the sandbox status is **Completed**, your sandbox is ready for use. See [Sandbox Action and Status Reference](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.data_sandbox_status.htm&type=5&language=en_US) to learn about all sandbox statuses.

You also receive an email notification when your sandbox is ready for use. To access your sandbox, click the link in the notification email. Users can log in to the sandbox at https://test.salesforce.com by appending .sandbox\_name to their Salesforce usernames. For example, if a username for a production org is `user1@acme.com`, and the sandbox is named “test,” the modified username to log in to the sandbox is `user1@acme.com.test`.

However, if a sandbox username exists, a 7-digit alphanumeric value is prepended to the username to ensure that the sandbox username is unique. For example: `1a2bc3duser1@acme.com.test`.

A user’s password to a sandbox is the same as their password to log in to the production org. If your production org uses single sign-on (SSO), ask your Salesforce admin to set up SSO for the sandbox environment as well.

If you prevent user logins from https://login.salesforce.com in production through My Domain settings, the sandbox prevents user logins from https://test.salesforce.com by default. In this case, instruct users to log in to the sandbox using its My Domain login URL in the format https://MyDomainName\--SandboxName.sandbox.my.salesforce.com. You can find an org's My Domain login URL on the My Domain Setup page.

![Note](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-platform-deploy_sandboxes-264-0-0-production-enus/654e51d1-6795-49fe-bd43-b5385950cf4a/images/icon_note.png)

Note

Salesforce automatically changes sandbox usernames, but not passwords. New sandboxes have the default email deliverability setting System email only. The System email only setting is especially useful for controlling email sent from sandboxes so that testing and development work doesn’t send test emails to your users.

#### See Also

- [_Apex Developer Guide_: SandboxPostCopyInterface](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.apexcode.meta/apexcode/apex_interface_System_SandboxPostCopy.htm)
- [Sandbox Types and Templates](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.create_test_instance.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Sandboxes are isolated from your production org, so operations that you perform in your sandboxes don’t affect your production org.")
- [Sandbox Licenses and Storage Limits by Type](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.data_sandbox_environments.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "A sandbox is a copy of your organization in a separate environment that you can use for a variety of purposes, such as testing and training. Sandboxes are completely isolated from your Salesforce production organization. The operations you perform in your sandboxes don’t affect your Salesforce production organization. You can create different sandbox environments for your org, depending on your needs for storage, copy configuration, and frequency of refresh.")
- [Create or Edit Sandbox Templates](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.data_sandbox_templates.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Sandbox templates control which data is copied into a Partial Copy or Full sandbox.")
- [Sandbox Setup Considerations](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.data_sandbox_implementation_tips.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Sandbox behavior is similar to a Salesforce production org, but important differences affect how you configure and test a sandbox org.")
- [Unlock a Sandbox](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.data_sandbox_licenses.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Sandboxes are licensed separately from the Salesforce service and are subject to restrictions. When your sandbox licenses expire, Salesforce decreases the count of available sandbox licenses for the selected sandbox type.")