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Unable to Add or Remove a Salesforce Sandbox from Release Preview Without Refreshing

Udgivelsesdato: Jun 15, 2026
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Overview


When managing Salesforce Sandbox environments during a major release cycle, you may find that the sandbox preview release upgrade date has already passed. As a result, your sandboxes are no longer on the desired release version. This article explains what options are available and what steps you can take.

What is the Salesforce Sandbox Release Preview?

The Salesforce Sandbox Preview window allows Salesforce administrators to direct sandbox copies to preview instances that will receive an early upgrade of the next major Salesforce release. This gives teams an opportunity to test new features before they reach production.

Sandbox preview instructions are made available approximately one month prior to each planned major Salesforce release. For a list of when each instance will receive major releases, check Trust Status.

It is your responsibility as an Administrator or Developer to watch for and carefully review the preview instructions once they are made available, in order to plan a refresh strategy for your own development lifecycle needs while maintaining your contractual sandbox limits.

Warning: If you currently have a sandbox that is on the release preview, refreshing it before your production instance is upgraded to the next major release will cause your sandbox to revert off the preview and back to production's current release version.

Løsning

Can I move my sandbox off the release preview without a refresh?

No. To move a sandbox off the release preview, you must submit a refresh to direct the copy to a non-preview instance.

There are no exceptions — a refresh is always required. The preview upgrade is applied to the entire instance, not at the org level. This is why a refresh is required to move the sandbox from a preview instance to a non-preview instance.

Can I upgrade my sandbox to the preview after the preview release date has passed?

No. Since your production environment is still on the current release, it is not possible to move an existing sandbox or refresh a new sandbox copy onto the release preview after the preview date has passed.

The release version of a sandbox always matches the version of its production organization at the time of the copy. The preview window is designed to allow you to direct copies to sandbox instances that will receive an early upgrade. The only way to have a sandbox on the release preview is for the refresh to complete while the sandbox is located on a preview instance, so it can be upgraded with the instance.

If the preview upgrade date has already passed, the next opportunity to refresh a sandbox to the next major release will be after your production instance has been upgraded.

Possible alternatives if you need to test in a preview environment

  • Sign up for a pre-release org to access new features before your production instance is upgraded. Note: Pre-release orgs do not support creating sandboxes — see Create Sandboxes in Pre-release Orgs for details.
  • Clone a Sandbox that is already on the desired release version.

Can I refresh my sandbox and keep it on the release preview if production hasn't been upgraded yet?

No. Since your production instance and the sandbox copy's target preview instance are on different release versions, this is not possible from an architectural and versioning standpoint.

If additional sandbox licenses are available, administrators may choose to clone an existing sandbox that is on the release preview. Sandbox clone requests are processed on the same release version as the sandbox being cloned.

Alternatively, you can migrate application changes to the sandbox using Change Sets, the Salesforce CLI, or the Force.com Migration Tool to migrate your metadata. To bring in additional data entered since the refresh, use the Salesforce Data Loader (API) to extract the data from production and import it into your sandbox.

Vidensartikelnummer

000387533

 
Indlæser
Salesforce Help | Article