Microsoft introduced the Windows Sandbox feature starting with Windows 10 to help create a secure environment that isolates running apps from the main systems. This is feature is very useful, especially for security professionals testing apps that are not trusted or are unknown. When you enable Windows Sandbox, it creates an on-demand lightweight temporary desktop session to run untrusted apps without accessing files, the Windows registry, and other critical parts of the main Windows OS. Apps that are already installed on the system won’t have access to the secured Sandbox environment. You must first enable Windows Sandbox, then install untrusted apps you want to test or run from within the Sandbox environment. To enable Windows Sandbox in Windows 11, follow the steps below:
Enable Sandbox from Apps and Features
To enable Windows Sandbox from Apps and Features, press the Window key + R to open the Run apps box. Then type in the commands below into the box and press Enter to open. When the Windows optional features panel opens, select Sandbox from the list and install.
Install from Command Prompt
Another way to enable and disable Windows Sandbox is via Windows Command Prompt. If you’re logged in as administrator, use Windows search and open the Command Prompt as administrator. Then run the commands below to enable Windows Sandbox feature. After running the commands above, restart your computer for your changes to apply. If you want to uninstall Sandbox, run the commands below:
Enable Windows Sandbox via PowerShell.
Windows Sandbox is also enabled and disabled via PowerShell. To enable via PowerShell, use the Windows search feature to open PowerShell as administrator. When PowerShell opens, run the commands below to enable it. Restart your computer for the changes to apply. To disable via PowerShell, run the commands below: That should do it!
Using Windows Sandbox
Now that Sandbox is enabled, log in and begin using Windows Sandbox to test untrusted apps. That’s should do it! Conclusion: This post showed you how to enable or disable Windows Sandbox when using Windows 11. If you find any error above, please use the comments form below to report.
