Windows Sandbox fails to launch completely?
Windows Sandbox fails to launch completely?
Hi
I attempted to start Windows Sandbox, but it fails completely. Clicking the icon only displays a brief hourglass before nothing appears. The application does not launch properly.
OS
:
Windows 11 Pro, version 25H2, build 26200.7840.
What I have tried:
- Confirmed virtualization is enabled in both Windows and BIOS
- Activated all necessary Windows Sandbox features
- Used systeminfo to check system details
- Disabled Memory Integrity under Core Isolation to rule out interference
- Installed Microsoft Edge fully, no actions taken to force it
- Ran PowerShell command: Get-AppxPackage
- Did not apply any ‘debloat’ scripts
Note:
Running WindowsSandbox.exe from PowerShell returned error code 80070002.
Features enabled in Windows features dialog:
– Hyper‑V and all sub‑components
– Virtual Machine Platform
– Windows Sandbox
– Windows Hypervisor Platform
System info shows:
Virtualization‑based security: Running
Hyper‑V Requirements: Detected hypervisor, required features hidden
Additional details:
Running WindowsSandbox.exe from PowerShell produced error (0x80070002)
You're not alone, I had Sandbox opening issues too and a web search shows it's fairly common. Not only that, but there is a vulnerability in the sandbox that (IMO) makes it risky to use. See
https://windowsforum.com/threads/ho...ge...es.362666/
I have abandoned the Windows Sandbox in favour of VirtualBox. I have a Windows 11 Pro guest installed (but not activated because it's only for testing). The nice thing about VirtualBox is I can take snapshots and restore to them, so I can mess about inside the guest as much as I like, and next time revert to the clean system snapshot. The time difference between starting the VM guest Windows and opening the Windows Sandbox isn't that huge either.