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Unable to Create or Refresh a Salesforce Sandbox When License is in Use by Another Copy

Julkaisupäivä: May 14, 2026
Kuvaus

When a Salesforce organization uses more sandboxes than its purchased licenses allow, the system automatically assigns lower-tier sandbox types (Developer, Developer Pro, or Partial Copy) to higher-tier license types. This sandbox license hierarchy means a Developer sandbox may consume a Full sandbox license when no lower-tier license is available.
This behavior causes the sandbox list page to display unexpected license usage, and may prevent you from creating or refreshing a sandbox.
Example 1:
Your sandbox list page shows:

  • Full: 2 of 2 in use
  • Partial Copy: 1 of 1 in use

You have one Full sandbox named UAT, and two Partial Copy sandboxes named UAT2 and UAT3. Since there is only one Partial Copy license, UAT3 has consumed one of the Full sandbox licenses. The Full sandbox license is being used to run a Partial Copy sandbox.
Example 2:
Your org has a single Developer sandbox license but has two Developer sandboxes in use. The sandbox list shows:

  • Developer: 0 Available (1 in use)
  • Developer Pro: 1 Available (0 in use)
  • Partial Copy: 0 Available (0 in use)
  • Full: 0 Available (1 in use)

The second Developer sandbox appears under the Full license type on the list page, although it still operates as a Developer copy.
To view your sandboxes, see Manage Your Sandboxes.

Ratkaisu

Sandbox license assignment follows a hierarchy. A higher-tier license (for example, Full) can be used to create any lower-tier sandbox type. When lower-tier licenses are exhausted, excess sandboxes consume the next available higher-tier license.
Sandbox License Hierarchy — What Each License Can Create:


Specifically, the following table shows the type of sandbox you can create with each license:

 FULL SANDBOX LICENSEPARTIAL COPY SANDBOX LICENSEDEVELOPER PRO SANDBOX LICENSEDEVELOPER SANDBOX LICENSE
ALLOWS YOU TO CREATE:
Developer sandbox type                                checkmark                                 checkmark                                  checkmark                                   checkmark
Developer Pro sandbox type                                checkmark                                 checkmark                                  checkmark 
Partial Copy sandbox type                                checkmark                                 checkmark  
Full sandbox type                                checkmark   


License Stage Definitions:

  • Available: The number of sandboxes purchased but not yet used.
  • In Use: The number of sandboxes purchased and actively in use.

To resolve the issue and regain the ability to refresh sandboxes:

  1. Check the quantity of sandbox licenses for each type in your production organization.
  2. Count the number of sandboxes of each type currently in use.
  3. If your sandbox usage exceeds your licensed quantity, delete sandboxes until you are within your licensed limits.
  4. Once in compliance, you will be able to refresh sandboxes again.

Note: When sandbox licenses expire, existing sandboxes face certain restrictions. See Unlock a Sandbox for resolution steps.

Knowledge-artikkelin numero

000387460

 
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Salesforce Help | Article