How to set up Windows Sandbox on Windows 11

Windows Sandbox is a very useful feature for testing software on Windows 11. Here's how to set it up on your own PC.

If you follow news around Windows 11 (and Windows 10 before it), you might have heard of Windows Sandbox, but there's a good chance you may also not know what it is. This is a feature Microsoft added in later versions of Windows 10, specifically for the Pro or Enterprise editions.

Essentially, Windows Sandbox gives you a safe, isolated environment to test software in, very much like using a virtual machine, but even simpler to use. If you're wondering how to set up Windows Sandbox on Windows 11, we're here to help with that.

Windows Sandbox is a feature introduced with Windows 10 version 1903, and it has been a part of Windows ever since. It's only available for Pro and Enterprise editions, however, so there's a good chance your PC doesn't support it. However, there's third-party software like Sandboxie that achieves a similar purpose.

Windows Sandbox relies on virtualization technology, the same kind of technology that powers Hyper-V virtual machines (VMs), to create an isolated environment for you to test software in. This can be downloading a potentially dangerous piece of software or testing your own software that you're developing, which might cause issues with your system.

Unlike a traditional VM, however, Windows Sandbox doesn't need to you to provide an ISO file, a virtual hard disk, or anything. Everything is set up automatically, and the operating system inside Windows Sandbox is the same you're currently using. It's just a clean copy of your operating system, which is isolated from the rest of your files so everything stays safe. While it's not as versatile as setting up a VM with whatever settings you want, Windows Sandbox is extremely easy to use for anyone. which is a benefit in its own right.

Setting up Windows Sandbox is extremely easy, but there are some things you'll need to check first. Your PC's processor needs to support virtualization, and that feature needs to be enabled in the BIOS. To check this, follow these steps:

If you see a message saying "A hypervisor has been detected. Features required for Hyper-V will not be displayed", it means you likely have some kind of virtualization technology installed. It may be that Hyper-V is already enabled, or your PC has some form of virtualization-based protection, which is common in business devices. This shouldn't stop you from using Windows Sandbox.

Aside from making sure your PC is easy to run it, setting up Windows Sandbox is actually incredibly easy. Here's what you need to do:

You should now have Windows Sandbox available as an optional Windows feature. Follow the steps we described in the section above to enable the feature, and you'll be good to go.

I've been covering the tech world since 2018, and I love computers, phones, and - above all that - Nintendo videogames, which I'm always happy to talk about.