Some Considerations

Sandbox Copy and Post-Copy

• You can specify a post-copy script to run on a sandbox every time it’s refreshed (and the first time it’s created). Specify the script when you create the sandbox.
• Sandbox copy is a long-running background operation. You’re notified of the completion of a sandbox copy by email. A sandbox refresh can take hours, days, or even more than a week to complete.
• Several conditions affect the duration of a sandbox copy or refresh. These conditions include the number of customizations, data size, numbers of objects and configuration choices, and server load. Also, sandbox refreshes are queued, so your copy request doesn’t always start immediately.

Creating a Sandbox

• A sandbox isn’t a point-in-time snapshot of the exact state of your data. We recommend that you limit changes to your production org while a sandbox is being created or refreshed. Setup and data changes to your production org during the sandbox creation and refresh operations can result in inconsistencies in your sandbox. Check for inconsistencies in your sandbox after it’s created or refreshed.
• If you’ve reached your org's limit, some types of sandboxes aren’t available. For example, if your org is limited to one full sandbox, and you already have a full sandbox, you can’t create another full sandbox. However, you can refresh your existing full sandbox.
• Requests to create a sandbox can’t be canceled.
• Provision Data 360 fully in a sandbox before activating Agentforce, Einstein, or any generative AI features. Activating these features prematurely can result in an unusable environment and require a sandbox refresh to resolve.

Refreshing a Sandbox

• When you finish with a sandbox, you can refresh it. This process replaces the sandbox with a copy of your production org. Requests to refresh a sandbox can’t be canceled.
• You can choose to either activate or discard a refreshed sandbox. A discarded sandbox can’t be recovered. Discarding a refreshed sandbox reverts it to its previous version, and deletes the new version. Activating a refreshed sandbox deletes the previous sandbox version.
• If you have active Salesforce-to-Salesforce connections in your sandbox, deactivate the connections and then reactivate them after the sandbox is refreshed. The connections and mappings aren’t copied to the refreshed sandbox.
• When you refresh a sandbox, Apex scheduled jobs from the source org aren't copied. You must reschedule any jobs that you need in the refreshed sandbox.

Deleting a Sandbox

• If you’ve reduced your org’s number of sandbox licenses, a Delete link shows next to existing sandboxes. Delete a sandbox before creating or refreshing any more sandboxes.
• A deleted sandbox can’t be recovered.
• Deleting a sandbox doesn’t terminate your sandbox subscription. If you delete your sandbox, you can create another one.

Editing a Sandbox

You can edit a sandbox only through the Sandbox Details page. At this time, you can upgrade the storage for a Developer or Developer Pro sandbox post-creation, if you have available storage upgrades.

Upgrading Sandbox Storage

For Developer and Developer Pro sandboxes, you can upgrade storage to support developing and testing solutions that require larger amounts of data. See Salesforce Help: Sandbox Storage Upgrades for all the details.

Note Not available for Partial Copy and Full sandboxes.

Sandboxes with an Associated Custom Domain

If custom domains are associated with your sandbox, before you refresh, clone, or delete it, review Considerations for Custom Domains in Sandboxes.