How to Enable Windows Sandbox Feature in Windows 11/10 Home Edition?

There are so many features that your Windows computer provides you with one of which is Windows Sandbox. It is a feature that is included in Windows 11/10 Pro and Enterprise as of version 1903 (build 18305), although it is not included in Windows 11/10 Home Edition. Using the new, lightweight Windows Sandbox desktop environment, you may safely execute applications in isolation.

What is the use of Windows Sandbox?

We frequently worry about running an application that we get from an unreliable website on our computer. If you’ve ever found yourself in a scenario like this, you can use the isolated Windows Sandbox platform, which won’t harm your genuine Windows 11/2010 computer. Any software that is installed in the Windows Sandbox environment remains solely there and has no impact on your host. All of the software, together with its files and state, are permanently removed whenever Windows Sandbox is closed.

Windows Sandbox automatically creates a read-only, 8 GB PortableBaseLayer system partition without a drive letter when it is turned on, and deletes it when it is turned off.

System requirements

There are the following requirements that you need to fulfill in order for Windows Sandbox to work:-

• Virtualization capabilities enabled in BIOS
• At least 2 CPU cores (4 cores with hyperthreading recommended)
• Minimum 1 GB of free disk space (SSD recommended)
• At least 4GB of RAM (8GB is recommended)
• Windows 11/10 build 18305 or higher
• AMD64 architecture (64-bit)

How to Enable Windows Sandbox Feature in Windows 11/10 Home Edition?

Step 1: To access the Run command box, press the Windows logo key and R.

Step 2: To open the Notepad software, enter the following into the Run box and press Enter on the keyboard: –

Notepad

Step 3: Copy and paste the lines below into the Notepad document:-

@echo off

echo Checking for permissions

>nul 2>&1 "%SYSTEMROOT%\system32\cacls.exe" "%SYSTEMROOT%\system32\config\system"

echo Permission check result: %errorlevel%

REM --> If error flag set, we do not have admin.

if '%errorlevel%' NEQ '0' (

echo Requesting administrative privileges...

goto UACPrompt

) else ( goto gotAdmin )

:UACPrompt

echo Set UAC = CreateObject^("Shell.Application"^) > "%temp%\getadmin.vbs"

echo UAC.ShellExecute "%~s0", "", "", "runas", 1 >> "%temp%\getadmin.vbs"

echo Running created temporary "%temp%\getadmin.vbs"

timeout /T 2

"%temp%\getadmin.vbs"

exit /B

:gotAdmin

if exist "%temp%\getadmin.vbs" ( del "%temp%\getadmin.vbs" )

pushd "%CD%"

CD /D "%~dp0"

echo Batch was successfully started with admin privileges

echo .

cls

Title Sandbox Installer

pushd "%~dp0"

dir /b %SystemRoot%\servicing\Packages\*Containers*.mum >sandbox.txt

for /f %%i in ('findstr /i . sandbox.txt 2^>nul') do dism /online /norestart /add-package:"%SystemRoot%\servicing\Packages\%%i"

del sandbox.txt

Dism /online /enable-feature /featurename:Containers-DisposableClientVM /LimitAccess /ALL

pause

Step 4: Now, select Save As from the File menu by clicking on it.

Step 5: Type “File name” as sandbox.bat in the Save As dialogue box. Choose All Files from the Save as type drop-down menu. Finally, click on the Save button.

Step 6: A sandbox.bat document will be created once you complete all the above steps. Choose Run as administrator from the drop-down menu when you right-click on the batch file that is just created.

Step 7: The Windows Sandbox feature will now be installed on your Windows 11/10 Home of your computer via a command line window. To restart the computer, enter Y and then click on Enter.

You can now enable and disable Windows Sandbox once your machine has finished rebooting. Click on the Start button and type “Sandbox” to open the Windows Sandbox. Now, select Windows Sandbox from the search results.

How to uninstall the Windows Sandbox feature using Command Prompt?

Use the following steps to uninstall the Windows Sandbox feature with the help of Command Prompt:-

Step 1: First, go to the elevated Command Prompt.

Step 2: Type the following in the administrative Command Prompt and then press Enter:-

Dism /online /Disable-Feature /FeatureName:"Containers-DisposableClientVM"

After you complete the above steps, you will be able to remove Windows Sandbox from your computer.

That is it.

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