Sandboxing is one of the biggest features added in Windows 10 1903. Since the roll out is now well under way and most users will be able to get the update via Windows update, you may want to know just how you can enable Sandboxing on Windows 10. You should know that this feature is only available on Windows 10 Pro and not on Windows 10 Home. Additionally, your processor must also support virtualization which, if it’s a fairly recent one, it should.
Remember that Sandboxing is a 1903 feature so check which version of Windows 10 you’re running before you attempt to enable it. You will need admin rights to enable Sandboxing on Windows 10.
Enable Sandboxing on Windows 10
Open the Control Panel and go to Program group of settings. Select the ‘Turn Windows features on or off’ option.
A new window will open listing all the optional features that you can enable on Windows 10. Scroll to the end and look for Windows Sandbox. Enable it by checking the box next to it. Click OK, and wait for the feature to be enabled. You will have to restart your system to finish the process.
What is Sandboxing?
Sandboxing isn’t a new term and this is hardly the first time it’s being used in an OS. In fact, Apple has sandboxing on all its operating systems and it plays a core part in keeping its devices safe from malicious attacks. Sandboxing is basically a virtual environment within which you can run apps that are ‘cut off’ from the rest of your PC. Think of it like running a virtual machine and running an app on the virtual machine. This is far more simple.
Once Sandboxing has been enabled, you can run it like any other app. Open the Start menu, and go to the apps’ list. Look for Windows Sandbox. Click it to run it and you will have what essentially looks like another Windows 10 running on your desktop.
Samdboxing isn’t implemented through out the OS. It’s a virtual environment that you get for running other apps in. As an end user, you can use it to run apps that you might be suspicious of. Developers will probably get more use out of it than an end user will.
If you’ve ever tried to set up a virtual machine, you know that it can take a little time to set up and sometimes, the OS image that you use for the VM doesn’t boot. It’s a tricky and long process.