Note: this is a community fork that took place after the open-source code release of Sandboxie and not the official continuation of the previous development (see the project history).
Sandboxie is a sandbox-based isolation software for 32-bit and 64-bit Windows NT-based operating systems. It creates a sandbox-like isolated operating environment in which applications can be run or installed without permanently modifying local & mapped drives or the Windows registry. An isolated virtual environment allows controlled testing of untrusted programs and web surfing.
| System requirements | Release notes | Security policy | Project maintenance | Contribution guidelines |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Windows 7 or higher, 32-bit or 64-bit. | CHANGELOG.md | SECURITY.md | David Xanatos | CONTRIBUTING.md |
Sandboxie is available in two flavors, Plus and Classic. They both share the same core components, this means they have the same level of security and compatibility. What's different is the availability of features in the user interface.
Plus build has a modern Qt based UI, which supports all new features that have been added since the project went open source:
- Snapshot Manager - this feature takes a copy of any box in order to be restored when needed
- Maintenance mode - it allows to uninstall/install/start/stop Sandboxie driver and service when needed
- Portable mode - you can run the installer and choose to extract all files to a directory
- Additional UI options to block access for Windows components like printer spooler and clipboard
- More customization options for Start/Run and Internet access restrictions
- Global hotkey to terminate all boxed processes
- A new firewall per sandbox which supports Windows Filtering Platform (WFP)
Classic build has the old no longer developed MFC based UI, hence it lacks native interface support for Plus features. However, most of them can be configured manually in the Sandboxie.ini configuration file, and some valuable contributions can still be applied nowadays.
If you need to check all new features at once, a good way to highlight them quickly is to find the equal sign in the CHANGELOG.md file.
A GitHub copy of the Sandboxie documentation is currently maintained, although more volunteers are needed to keep it updated with the new changes. We recommend to check also the following labels in this repository:
future development | feature requests | documentation | build issues | incompatibilities | known issues | regressions | workaround | help wanted | more...
A partial archive of the old Sandboxie forum that was previously maintained by Invincea is still available. If you need to find something specific, it is possible to use the following search query.
Sandboxie's functionality can be enhanced with specialized tools like the following:
- LogApiDll - this adds a verbose trace output to Sandboxie's trace log, listing invocations of relevant Windows API functions.
- SbieHide - this hides the presence of SbieDll.dll from the application.
- SandboxToys2 - this allows to monitor files and registry changes in the sandbox.
| Timeline | Maintainer |
|---|---|
| 2004 - 2013 | Ronen Tzur |
| 2013 - 2017 | Invincea Inc. |
| 2017 - 2020 | Sophos Group plc |
| Open-source code | Tom Brown |
| 2020 onwards | David Xanatos (Roadmap) |
Thank you Vector 35 for providing a Binary Ninja license to help with reverse engineering.
Binary Ninja is a multi-platform interactive disassembler, decompiler, and binary analysis tool for reverse engineers, malware analysts, vulnerability researchers, and software developers.
Thank you Icons8 for providing icons for the project.
- DavidBerdik - Maintainer of Sandboxie Website Archive
- Jackenmen - Maintainer of Chocolatey packages for Sandboxie (support)
- vedantmgoyal2009 - Maintainer of Winget Releaser for Sandboxie (support)
- blap - Maintainer of SandboxToys2 addon
- diversenok - Security analysis & PoC's / Security fixes
- TechLord - Team-IRA / Reversing
- hg421 - Security analysis / Code reviews
- mpheath - Author of Plus installer / Code fixes / Collaborator
- offhub - Documentation additions / Collaborator
- isaak654 - Templates / Documentation / Code fixes / Collaborator
- okrc - Code fixes
- stephtr - CI / Certification
- typpos - UI suggestions / Documentation / Code reviews
- Dyras - Templates additions
- cricri-pingouin - UI fixes
- Valinwolf - UI / Icons
- daveout - UI / Icons
- yfdyh000 - Localization support for Plus installer
- NewKidOnTheBlock - Changelog fixes
- Naeemh1 - Documentation additions
- APMichael - Templates additions
- weihongx9315 - Windows Credentials fix
- 1mm0rt41PC - Documentation additions
- Luro223 - Documentation additions
- lwcorp - Documentation additions
- yuhao2348732, nkh0472, yfdyh000, gexgd0419, Zerorigin, UnnamedOrange, 4rt3mi5 - Simplified Chinese
- TragicLifeHu, Hulen - Traditional Chinese
- RockyTDR - Dutch
- clexanis, Mmoi-Fr - French
- bastik-1001, APMichael - German
- isaak654 - Italian
- VenusGirl - Korean
- 7zip - Polish (provided separately)
- JNylson - Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese
- lufog - Russian
- sebadamus - Spanish
- pb1 - Swedish
- xorcan, fmbxnary, offhub - Turkish
- SuperMaxusa, lufog - Ukrainian
- GunGunGun - Vietnamese
New translators are encouraged to look at the Localization notes and tips before creating a pull request.
If you find Sandboxie useful, then feel free to contribute through our Contribution guidelines.