Understanding Salesforce Sandboxes
A Salesforce Sandbox is an isolated copy of your production Salesforce environment used for development, testing, training, and quality assurance. Sandboxes allow teams to build and validate configuration changes, customizations, and integrations without risking production data or disrupting business users. They can include metadata (configuration, code, reports, dashboards) and, depending on the type, a subset or full copy of production data.
Why use Sandboxes?
Key reasons to use a sandbox include:
- Safe development and testing environment separate from production.
- Ability to validate configuration, Apex code, integration flows, and automations.
- User acceptance testing (UAT) and training using realistic data (for Partial/Full sandboxes).
- Performance and load testing (best done in Full sandboxes).
- Experimenting with new features or upgrades without impact to live users.
Types of Salesforce Sandboxes
Salesforce offers four main sandbox types. Choose the type based on your needs for metadata only, sample data, or a full production copy.
1) Developer Sandbox
Developer sandboxes are intended for individual developers or small configuration tasks. They contain a copy of your production organization’s metadata (objects, fields, Apex classes, triggers, flows, page layouts, etc.) but do not include production data (except for a few setup objects). Because they are lightweight, they are typically quick to create and refresh.
2) Developer Pro Sandbox
Developer Pro sandboxes are like Developer sandboxes but with larger storage limits for data and files. They are useful when you need a deeper dataset for development or integration testing but still do not require a full copy of production. Developer Pro is a good middle-ground when several developers or automated tests need more space.
3) Partial Copy Sandbox
Partial Copy sandboxes include metadata plus a sample of production data defined by a sandbox template. Use Partial Copy sandboxes for realistic testing, QA, or training without the storage needs of a Full sandbox. You control which selected objects and records are copied via sandbox templates (for example: accounts, contacts, and recent opportunity records).
4) Full Sandbox
Full sandboxes are a complete replica of your production org — metadata, attachments, files, and all data. Full sandboxes are used for full-scale regression testing, performance testing, user acceptance testing with real data, and staging prior to major releases. Because they copy everything, they require more time to create/refresh and consume more of your Salesforce sandbox allocation.
Refresh Intervals and Considerations
Each sandbox type has a minimum refresh interval (the minimum time you must wait between refreshes). Typical intervals are:
- Developer / Developer Pro: short interval (often 1 day)
- Partial Copy: medium interval (commonly around 5 days)
- Full: longest interval (commonly around 29 days)
Note: Exact refresh intervals and sandbox allocations depend on your Salesforce edition and contract — always verify in your org’s Sandbox setup.
Choosing the Right Sandbox
To choose the correct sandbox type, match the sandbox purpose to its capabilities:
- Daily development and unit testing: Developer or Developer Pro.
- Integration testing with sample data: Developer Pro or Partial Copy.
- User acceptance testing, training, and realistic QA: Partial Copy or Full.
- Performance/load testing or pre-production staging: Full sandbox.
Best Practices
- Establish a naming convention and purpose for each sandbox to avoid confusion.
- Use sandbox templates to control which data is included in Partial Copy sandboxes.
- Mask or anonymize sensitive data in non-production copies where required by compliance.
- Document refresh schedules and coordinate with teams before refreshing a sandbox.
- Backup critical metadata and data before major changes or refreshes.
Quick Setup Steps
To create a sandbox from Setup:
- Go to Setup > Sandboxes (or search for “Sandboxes” in Quick Find).
- Click “New Sandbox” and enter a name and description.
- Select the sandbox type (Developer, Developer Pro, Partial Copy, or Full).
- For Partial Copy, select or create a sandbox template to choose the data to include.
- Start the creation and monitor status from the Sandboxes page. After provisioning, log in using the sandbox login URL (typically sandboxname.my.salesforce.com) or use your production username appended with the sandbox name.
Example: Sandbox login pattern
When logging into a sandbox, append the sandbox name to your production username and use the sandbox-specific domain. Example:
Username: [email protected]
Login URL: https://test.salesforce.com
Conclusion
Sandboxes are essential for safe, repeatable Salesforce delivery. Select the sandbox type that balances data fidelity with cost and refresh cadence: Developer/Developer Pro for day-to-day work, Partial Copy for realistic QA and training, and Full for complete staging and performance testing.