Sandboxie earns its keep in small, repeated moments: opening an attachment you are not sure about, trying a utility recommended in a forum, visiting a site you would rather not let near your real browser profile. None of these calls for a virtual machine or a lengthy setup. They call for a habit, and the purpose of this guide is to help you form one. It concentrates on the Plus edition and its SandMan manager, which is what most people install, and walks through the things you will actually do from day to day: starting programs in a box, telling boxed windows apart from ordinary ones, organising several boxes, making certain programs always start sandboxed, getting useful files out and throwing everything else away.
It assumes the program is already installed from a compiled installer on the project's GitHub releases page, on 64-bit Windows 10 or 11, with administrator rights used for the installation. Nothing here requires hardware virtualisation or a paid certificate unless stated.
How to use Sandboxie for the first time
After installation, SandMan opens with a single box already created, called DefaultBox. A box is simply a named, isolated space: anything a program writes while running inside it lands in the box's own folder and its own registry hive rather than in your real system. By default those folders live under C:\Sandbox, followed by your user name and the name of the box.
The quickest way to run something sandboxed is from Explorer. Right-click a program, a shortcut or a document and choose Run Sandboxed. If you have more than one box, you will be asked which to use; with only DefaultBox, the program simply starts inside it. On Windows 11 the entry appears in the modern context menu as well, a convenience available on the free tier. You can achieve the same thing from SandMan by right-clicking a box and choosing to run a program in it, or by dragging a file onto the box.
Try it with something harmless first. Run Notepad sandboxed, type a few lines and save a file to your Desktop. Now look at your real Desktop: the file is not there. Notepad believes it saved the file, and inside the box it did, but the copy lives within the sandbox folder. This is copy-on-write isolation at work. When a boxed program reads a file it has not changed, it sees the original; the moment it writes, a private copy is created in the box and the program uses that copy from then on.
Make a point of running a trivial program sandboxed and saving something before you rely on the tool for anything important. Seeing a "saved" file fail to appear on your real Desktop is the fastest way to understand what the sandbox does and does not keep.
Telling sandboxed windows from ordinary ones
Once you run several programs at once, some boxed and some not, it becomes important to know at a glance which is which. A file you meant to save permanently is easily left in a box if you forget where its window came from. The program offers three cues.
- Title marks. The title of a sandboxed window is wrapped in [#] marks. If you want to see which box a window belongs to, the BoxNameTitle setting places the box name between the marks.
- A coloured border. When a sandboxed window is active, it is outlined with a coloured border, yellow for the default box. Each box can have its own colour through the BorderColor setting, so a browsing box and a testing box can be told apart instantly. Recent releases added further border styles, including modes that draw the border outside the window, and an option to keep the border visible inside maximised windows.
- The process list. SandMan lists every running process under the box that contains it. If you are ever uncertain, this list settles the matter.
Since version 1.17.6, a sandboxed window running with administrator rights also shows "(Administrator)" in its title, which is a helpful reminder that the program inside the box has higher privileges than usual.
Give your boxes distinct, memorable border colours from the start. Within a week, you will register the colour before you read the title, and the risk of saving something in the wrong place falls sharply.
Creating and organising boxes
One box is enough to begin with, but separate boxes for separate purposes make life easier. A box used for casual browsing, another for testing unfamiliar software and a third for opening documents from strangers can each be emptied on its own schedule, and a problem in one does not spill into the others. Unlike Windows Sandbox, which offers a single instance, you can run many boxes at the same time.
To create a box, open the Sandbox menu in SandMan and choose to create a new one. You will be asked for a name and a type. Recent releases also allow GUID-based box names, and display aliases let you show a friendly name in the interface while keeping a simple internal name.
The type determines how strictly the box isolates its contents:
| Box type | What it does | Typical use | Certificate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard Isolation | The default: restricted token, file and registry virtualisation | Everyday browsing and testing | Not required |
| Security Hardened | Drops administrator rights, restricts devices, locks down system calls | Software you trust least | Required |
| Privacy Enhanced | Boxed programs cannot read your user data and see empty folders instead | Keeping personal files out of reach | Required |
| App Compartment | Keeps virtualisation but disables token-based security isolation | Compatibility with trusted programs only | Required |
App Compartment deserves a warning of its own. It improves compatibility precisely by giving up the security boundary, so it must never be used for untrusted software. It is designed for keeping a trusted program's files and settings tidy and separate, not for containing anything hostile.
Making programs start sandboxed automatically
The weakness of Run Sandboxed is that it depends on you remembering to use it. Forced programs remove that dependence. You tell the program that a particular executable, or everything launched from a particular folder, must always run inside a given box, and it obliges whenever that program is started outside a sandbox.
You can set this up on the options pages of a box in SandMan, or directly in the configuration file. In the file, settings belong to the section named after the box. The following example forces Firefox into DefaultBox and sends anything launched from a dedicated downloads folder into a box called Untrusted:
[DefaultBox]
ForceProcess=firefox.exe
[Untrusted]
ForceFolder=C:\Users\Alex\Downloads\UntrustedForceProcess accepts the wildcards * and ?, so a pattern can cover a family of related executable names. ForceFolder takes precedence when both could apply. The folder rule is particularly useful as a working routine: save every file of uncertain origin into that folder, and anything you open from there will automatically land in the Untrusted box without any decision on your part.
There will be moments when you deliberately want to run a forced program outside the sandbox, for instance to update it. The Start.exe utility, described later, has a switch for exactly this purpose.
Using a browser inside a box
Web browsing is the use most people have in mind, and it remains the program's original purpose: it began in 2004 as a way to sandbox Internet Explorer. Running a browser in a box means that cookies, cache, downloaded files and anything a malicious page manages to write are confined to the box and disappear when you empty it.
The practical points are these:
- Force the browser into a box with ForceProcess, as shown above, so that every launch is sandboxed, including launches triggered when you click a link in another program.
- Decide whether you want a disposable or a persistent profile. If you empty the box frequently, you will lose saved logins and extensions each time; if you prefer to keep them, use a dedicated browsing box that you empty less often.
- For Chromium-based browsers, version 1.18.0 made sharing a profile between the real and the sandboxed browser reliable for Chrome, Edge and Brave, and added support for the browsers' data protection features.
- Electron-based applications are detected automatically since 1.17.4. If a browser-like program behaves oddly, the SBIE2189 message may suggest adding a SpecialImage entry, such as SpecialImage=chrome,program.exe, to treat it as a Chromium program.
Keep in mind that a Standard Isolation box can still read most files on your system. A boxed browser cannot permanently change them, but a malicious page that manages to run code could, in principle, read your documents. Privacy Enhanced boxes address that concern for those who hold a certificate.
Getting files out and clearing the box
Isolation would be frustrating if nothing useful could ever leave the box. Recovery is the controlled way of moving chosen files into the real system, and deletion is the routine way of disposing of the rest.
Immediate Recovery
Certain folders are designated as recovery folders, by default including Desktop, Documents, Downloads and Favourites. When a sandboxed program writes a file into one of them, Immediate Recovery prompts you straight away and offers to copy the file to the real folder. You can add your own locations with the RecoverFolder setting; since 1.18.0 it accepts wildcards. This is ideal for downloads: the browser saves a file, a prompt appears, and you decide on the spot.
Quick Recovery
When you come to empty a box, Quick Recovery lists files found in the recovery folders and lets you rescue any you want before everything is deleted. You can also browse the contents of a box in SandMan and recover individual files from any location.
A recovered file is a copy that has left the protection of the sandbox. If its origin is uncertain, scan it with your antivirus first; the sandbox is not itself an antivirus and does not judge whether a file is safe.
Deleting contents, snapshots and auto-delete
Deleting a box's contents removes everything written inside it and returns the box to a clean state, while the box itself and its settings remain. Do it from the box's context menu in SandMan once all its programs have closed.
Snapshots, available free, offer a middle way. Set up a box exactly as you want it, with a browser configured and a few extensions installed, then take a snapshot. You can later return the box to that state rather than to an empty one, which saves repeating your setup after each clean.
Auto-delete makes cleaning automatic: when the last program in the box closes, its contents are removed. It suits boxes used for opening untrusted documents, where nothing should persist. Combine it with Immediate Recovery and you have a sound routine: files you choose to keep are recovered as you go, and everything else vanishes when you finish.
A tidy pattern for most people: a browsing box with snapshots and occasional manual cleaning, plus an Untrusted box with auto-delete and a forced folder. Between them they cover the bulk of everyday risk without much thought.
Working from the command line with Start.exe
Start.exe, installed alongside SandMan in the program folder, controls the sandbox from the command line, shortcuts and scripts. A few commands cover most needs. To run a program in a named box:
Start.exe /box:Untrusted notepad.exeTo run a forced program outside the sandbox on this occasion only, use the switch that disables forcing:
Start.exe /dfp firefox.exeTo close programs and clear boxes, which is useful in a shortcut on your desktop or at the end of a script:
Start.exe /box:Untrusted /terminate
Start.exe /terminate_all
Start.exe /box:Untrusted delete_sandbox_silentOther options include /listpids to list the processes running in a box, /reload to make the program reread its configuration after you have edited it by hand, default_browser to start your default browser sandboxed, and /silent to suppress pop-up messages. For encrypted boxes, /mount and /unmount, used with /key, handle the box image. Building a few of these into desktop shortcuts, such as one that opens your browser in its box and another that empties the Untrusted box, turns the command line into a set of one-click tools.
Understanding how to use Sandboxie well also means knowing its limits. It does not replace antivirus software. Some programs, particularly games protected by anti-cheat systems and software that installs drivers, will not run sandboxed. Windows updates can occasionally break the driver until a new release appears. For analysing genuinely dangerous software, a full virtual machine offers a stronger boundary, and researchers often run Sandboxie inside one.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do files saved by a sandboxed program go?
They go into the box's own folder, by default under C:\Sandbox followed by your user name and the box name. They stay there until you recover them or delete the box contents.
How can I tell whether a window is sandboxed?
Its title is wrapped in [#] marks, and while active it has a coloured border, yellow for the default box. SandMan also lists each running process under the box that contains it.
What is the simplest way to learn how to use Sandboxie safely?
Start with Run Sandboxed on a harmless program, save a test file and observe that it does not appear in your real folders. Then add a forced folder for untrusted downloads and enable Immediate Recovery for the files you want to keep.
Do I lose my browser logins when I empty a box?
Yes, if they were stored inside the box. Use a dedicated browsing box that you empty less often, or take a snapshot of the box once your browser is set up and restore it instead of emptying the box completely.
Can I run a forced program normally when I need to?
Yes. Start it with Start.exe and the /dfp switch, which disables forcing for that launch.
Are recovered files safe?
Not automatically. Recovery copies a file out of the sandbox into your real system, so scan anything of uncertain origin before opening it outside the box.
Conclusion
Learning how to use Sandboxie is mostly a matter of turning a few features into routine. Run Sandboxed handles the occasional one-off; forced programs and forced folders handle the cases you would otherwise forget; distinct border colours and the [#] marks keep you aware of where each window lives; Immediate and Quick Recovery let the useful files out; and deletion, snapshots and auto-delete clear away the rest. Separate boxes for browsing, testing and untrusted documents keep each activity contained and easy to reset.
Once those habits are in place, Start.exe lets you fold them into shortcuts and scripts so that the safe choice is also the quickest one. Keep the limits in view: a standard box can still read most of your files, recovered items leave its protection, and App Compartment is a convenience rather than a barrier. Used with that understanding, the sandbox becomes an ordinary part of working on Windows, quietly absorbing the risks of the small, uncertain moments that would otherwise leave their mark on your system.