Windows Sandbox

Windows Sandbox is a lightweight desktop environment included in Windows 10 and 11 that allows users to safely run untrusted applications in isolation. It provides a secure way to test software without risking the host device.

Windows Sandbox alternatives ➤

What is Windows Sandbox?

Windows Sandbox is a virtualized desktop environment included in recent versions of the Windows 10 and Windows 11 operating systems. It allows users to run untrusted or unreliable software applications in an isolated environment without risking damage to the host device or operating system.

Sandbox provides a lightweight virtual machine that shares kernel components with the host PC but keeps the rest of the environment separate. Any software installed or files downloaded inside the Sandbox do not affect the host Windows installation. Once the Sandbox session is closed, all traces are automatically deleted.

This makes Sandbox useful for testing unknown or beta software, running utilities that may not be trustworthy, or visiting dubious websites. Since the virtualized environment is destroyed afterwards, even if malware is executed inside the Sandbox, it cannot persist or infect the host system.

For regular consumers, Sandbox provides a way to securely evaluate new software. For enterprise users, it offers a disposable environment for high-risk operations without needing dedicated hardware virtualization. Overall, Windows Sandbox bolsters security and stability by confining risky activities to an isolated desktop that cannot endanger the underlying OS.

Official Links

Official Website
techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Windows-...

The Best Windows Sandbox Alternatives

Top Apps like Windows Sandbox

VirtualBox, QEMU, Sandboxie Plus, Parallels Desktop, VMware Workstation Pro, Portable Virtualbox, VMware Workstation Player, KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine), virt-manager, VMware Fusion, AQEMU, Bochs, UCS Virtual Machine Manager, ReHIPS, Boxes, Firejail, MobaLiveCD, JavaQemu, VMWare Disk Mount, QtEmu, VMLite Workstation, Qemu Simple Boot, VMLite VBoot, bhyve, GreenVBox, Veertu, xhypervisor, FAUMachine, Bubblewrap, GNURoot Debian, VMLite XP Mode, VMLite MyOldPCs, OpenVZ, PetiteCloud, SysInfoTools Virtual Disk Machine Recovery Tool are some alternatives to Windows Sandbox.

Sugggest an alternative ❐

VirtualBox

Oracle VM VirtualBox, commonly referred to as VirtualBox, is a powerful and open-source virtualization platform developed by Oracle. It allows users to create and manage virtual machines (VMs) on a host machine, enabling the simultaneous execution of multiple operating systems on a single physical system. Key Features: Cross-Platform Support: VirtualBox...

QEMU

QEMU is a free and open source hypervisor and machine emulator. It emulates a complete computer system, including the processor, memory, storage, network interfaces and peripherals. This allows you to run software and operating systems written for one machine on a different machine.Some key features of QEMU include:Full...

Sandboxie Plus

Sandboxie Plus is a free, open source sandbox program for Windows that allows users to isolate programs and prevent them from making permanent changes to their underlying operating system. It creates an isolated environment known as a sandbox for running untrusted programs safely.With Sandboxie Plus, any changes made to...

Parallels Desktop

Parallels Desktop is a popular virtualization solution specifically designed for macOS, enabling users to run multiple operating systems on their Mac computers. It is known for its user-friendly interface, performance optimizations, and seamless integration of virtual machines with the macOS environment. Key Features: Cross-Platform Virtualization: Parallels Desktop supports a wide...

VMware Workstation Pro

VMware Workstation Pro is a Type 2 hypervisor developed by VMware for desktop virtualization on x64 versions of Windows and Linux. It allows users to set up multiple virtual machines on a single physical machine and run different operating systems and applications in each VM without rebooting.Key features include:Ability...

Portable Virtualbox

Portable Virtualbox is a free, open-source virtualization software that allows you to run multiple guest operating systems on your Windows host computer without needing to go through a lengthy install process. It runs directly off a USB thumb drive, making it easy to take your virtual machines with you wherever...

VMware Workstation Player

VMware Workstation Player is a Type 2 hypervisor developed by VMware for desktop virtualization. It allows users to set up multiple virtual machines (VMs) on a single physical machine and run them simultaneously.Key features of VMware Workstation Player include:Ability to run production environments and test software on different operating...

KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine)

KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) is an open-source virtualization technology built into Linux. It allows you to create and run virtual machines (VMs) on any Linux server or desktop with hardware virtualization capabilities.KVM is implemented as a kernel module that leverages the virtualization extensions of modern CPUs like Intel VT...

Virt-manager

virt-manager is an open-source graphical application for managing virtual machines using the libvirt toolkit and related technologies. It provides a simple way to view, control, and manage guest virtual machines running on the KVM and Xen hypervisors as well as other libvirt-supported technologies such as LXC, QEMU, and VirtualBox.Some...

VMware Fusion

VMware Fusion is a Type 2 hypervisor developed by VMware for Mac users. It allows you to create and run virtual machines that emulate other operating systems on your Mac hardware. Fusion provides a simple user interface to set up, manage, and use virtual machines.Some key features and capabilities of...

AQEMU

AQEMU is an open-source machine emulator and virtualizer. It can emulate a variety of guest hardware platforms and allows you to run operating systems and software within virtual machines on your existing host operating system.Some key features of AQEMU include:Processor emulation including x86, ARM, SPARC and PowerPC architecturesVirtualized...

Bochs

Bochs is an open source emulator for the x86 architecture, allowing you to run operating systems like Windows, Linux, BSD and others on your computer without needing virtualization support from the CPU. It emulates common x86 hardware, including the CPU, memory, disks, network cards, graphics and more.Some key features...

UCS Virtual Machine Manager

UCS Virtual Machine Manager (UCS VMM) is a comprehensive virtualization management platform designed specifically for Cisco UCS environments. It enables IT administrators to centrally manage their entire virtual infrastructure from one simple web-based interface.Key capabilities and benefits of UCS VMM include:Automated provisioning of virtual machines on UCS serversMonitoring...

ReHIPS

ReHIPS is an open-source host-based intrusion prevention system (HIPS) designed for Linux systems. It provides protection against malware and unauthorized changes by monitoring system activities in real-time.Some key features of ReHIPS include:Real-time system monitoring - ReHIPS uses various techniques like system call interception to monitor processes, files, network...

Boxes

Boxes is an open-source and free virtualization application for Windows, Linux and Mac OS. It allows users to run multiple operating systems simultaneously on a single machine. Boxes creates virtual machines that act like real computers, on which users can install operating systems like Windows, Linux, etc.Some key features...

Firejail

Firejail is an open source sandbox program for Linux operating systems. It uses security features built into the Linux kernel, such as namespaces and seccomp-bpf filters, to restrict the environment that an application can access.When an application is launched using Firejail, it is restricted to its own filesystem namespace...

MobaLiveCD

MobaLiveCD is a bootable live Linux distribution that is tailored for mobile broadband usage and troubleshooting. It can be run directly from a CD or USB drive without needing to install anything on the computer's hard drive.Some key features of MobaLiveCD include:Comes preloaded with various applications like speedtest-cli...

JavaQemu

JavaQemu is an open-source Java emulator that provides a virtual machine environment to run Java bytecode and Java applications without needing to install a Java runtime. It emulates Java hardware like the processor and memory to execute Java binaries compiled to bytecode format.Some key features of JavaQemu include:Full...

VMWare Disk Mount

VMWare Disk Mount is a free, standalone utility from VMWare that allows you to mount virtual disks on a Windows machine without needing to run VMware or Hyper-V hypervisors. It supports mounting VMDK and VHD format virtual disks and provides read-only access to files and folders stored on those disks...

QtEmu

QtEmu is an open-source, cross-platform emulator that can emulate a variety of older computer systems and classic games consoles. It provides a user-friendly graphical interface to emulate systems like DOS, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo, Sega Master System, Sega Genesis, and more.Some key features of QtEmu...

VMLite Workstation

VMLite Workstation is a powerful, free system virtualization platform for desktop computers. It allows you to simultaneously run multiple operating systems as virtual machines on a single physical host system. VMLite Workstation works on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X host operating systems.Some key features of VMLite Workstation include...

Qemu Simple Boot

Qemu Simple Boot is an open-source emulator that allows you to create and run virtual machines on your computer without going through a lengthy boot process. It is part of the Qemu project for machine virtualization.Some key features of Qemu Simple Boot:Allows you to quickly test operating systems...

VMLite VBoot

VMLite VBoot is a fast and lightweight virtual machine manager for Windows designed for simplicity and ease-of-use. It allows you to easily create, run, and manage virtual machines on your Windows desktop or laptop without slowdowns or bloat.Some key features of VMLite VBoot include:Intuitive and straightforward user interface...

Bhyve

Bhyve is an open-source Type 2 hypervisor that runs on FreeBSD. It allows users to run multiple guest operating systems (called virtual machines or VMs) simultaneously on a single FreeBSD host system. Bhyve supports hardware virtualization features like Intel VT-x and AMD-V to improve the performance of guest VMs.Some key...

GreenVBox

GreenVBox is an open-source and free virtualization software that allows users to run multiple guest operating systems on a single host machine. It utilizes hypervisor technology to create isolated virtual machines that share hardware resources from the host.Some key features of GreenVBox include:Lightweight and fast performance - It...

Veertu

Veertu is a virtualization software developed specifically for Mac computers. It allows Mac users to virtually run Windows operating system on their Macs without having to reboot or partition the hard drive.Some key features of Veertu include:Seamless Windows experience - Users can run Windows software, play Windows games...

Xhypervisor

XHypervisor is an open-source, lightweight Type-1 hypervisor designed for enterprise virtualization. As a bare-metal hypervisor, XHypervisor installs directly onto server hardware to control the hardware and manage guest operating systems.Some key features of XHypervisor include:Efficient resource management using dynamic memory and storage allocationLive migration of virtual machines between...

FAUMachine

FAUMachine is an open-source, cross-platform application for designing, visualizing, and simulating finite automata. It allows users to create nondeterministic and deterministic finite automata (NFAs and DFAs), convert them into state diagrams, minimize DFAs, and test them with input strings.Some key features of FAUMachine include:Intuitive drag-and-drop interface for creating...

Bubblewrap

Bubblewrap is an open-source and free web application builder that allows anyone to visually build full-stack web applications using a drag-and-drop interface, without the need for coding. It enables rapid application development and empowers people with no programming experience to create complete web apps.With Bubblewrap's visual editor, you can...

GNURoot Debian

GNURoot Debian is an application for Android that provides a chrooted Debian GNU/Linux environment that runs directly on top of the Android kernel, without the need for device root access or installation of a custom ROM.It sets up a minimal Debian filesystem with access to most Android hardware...

VMLite XP Mode

VMLite XP Mode is a free virtualization software that allows users to run Windows XP as a virtual machine on modern Windows operating systems. It utilizes lightweight virtualization technology to provide an integrated XP virtual machine without slowing down the host system.Some key features of VMLite XP Mode include...

VMLite MyOldPCs

VMLite MyOldPCs is a user-friendly virtual machine program designed to emulate older Windows operating systems on modern computers. It allows you to easily install and run Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and other legacy OSes in a virtual environment within your current system.MyOldPCs creates a separate, sandboxed virtual machine that...

OpenVZ

OpenVZ is an open source container-based virtualization platform for Linux operating systems. It provides operating system-level virtualization that allows multiple isolated virtual containers, called Virtual Private Servers (VPSs), to run on a single physical server.With OpenVZ, each VPS runs its own operating system and applications separate from the other...

PetiteCloud

PetiteCloud is an open source platform-as-a-service (PaaS) designed for hosting web applications and services. It provides developers with on-demand infrastructure to deploy, scale, and manage their apps without managing servers.Key features of PetiteCloud include:Supports popular languages like Node.js, Python, PHP, Ruby, JavaBuilt-in support for databases like MySQL...

SysInfoTools Virtual Disk Machine Recovery Tool

SysInfoTools Virtual Disk Machine Recovery Tool is a comprehensive utility designed to recover deleted, corrupted, or inaccessible virtual machine disk files. It supports recovering data from major virtual disk formats such as VMDK, VHD, and VHDX used in VMware, Hyper-V, VirtualBox, and other virtualization platforms.The tool provides an intuitive...