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Sandboxes: Staging Environments for Customizing and Testing
Sandbox Setup Considerations

Sandbox Setup Considerations

Sandbox behavior is similar to a Salesforce production org, but important differences affect how you configure and test a sandbox org.

Required Editions

Available in: both Salesforce Classic and Lightning Experience
Available in: Professional, Enterprise, Performance, Unlimited, and Database.com Editions
User Permissions Needed
To view a sandbox: View Setup and Configuration
To create, refresh, activate, and delete a sandbox: Manage Dev Sandboxes (Developer or Developer Pro only) or Manage Sandboxes (all sandbox types)
  • Servers and IDs
    Sandbox and production orgs have unique org IDs. The sandbox copy engine creates an org as part of each creation and refresh request.
  • Users and Contacts
    User information is included in a sandbox copy or refresh for all sandbox types.
  • Email Deliverability
    New and refreshed sandboxes use the System email only setting by default. Sandboxes created before Spring ’13 default to All email.
  • Configuring Full Sandboxes
    When you create or refresh a full sandbox, you can configure it to determine what data is copied. Minimizing the amount of data you include speeds up your sandbox copy.
  • Sandbox Access Considerations
    Review some important considerations about access before you create a sandbox so that sandbox users can make full use of the sandbox environment for development and UAT testing.
  • Customization and Data Changes
    Customizations and data changes in your production org aren’t reflected in your sandboxes.
  • Multi-Factor Authentication
    Sandbox environments aren’t contractually required to use multi-factor authentication (MFA). But we strongly recommend using MFA for sandboxes that include intellectual property, customer data, or other Salesforce production data. To develop a strategy for managing MFA in sandbox environments, review these considerations.
  • Product and Service Exclusions
    Some products and services are enabled in production orgs and disabled by default in sandboxes. Some can be re-enabled, while others cannot.
  • Other Service Differences
    Sandbox behavior is similar to a Salesforce production org, but important differences affect how you configure and test a sandbox org.
 
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