How to Enable Audio and Video in Windows 11 Sandbox

How to turn on or off audio and video input between host and Sandbox in 🪟 Windows 11

The Windows 11 Sandbox audio and video settings decide whether apps inside the sandbox can use your computer’s microphone and camera. Windows 11 Sandbox blocks these devices by default for privacy. You can turn them on with the Local Group Policy Editor. Search for gpedit.msc in the Start menu to open the editor and change the hardware sharing rules for your sandbox sessions.

Two things to check first. Windows Sandbox is only available on Windows 11 Pro, Enterprise and Education, and it has to be turned on as an optional Windows feature. The Local Group Policy Editor is also missing on Windows 11 Home. If you cannot find it, use the registry method further down.

Here is how to enable or disable these features in Windows 11. Sign in with an administrator account before you start, because both methods change system-wide policy.

1. Click the Start Menu⊞ and type Edit group policy in the search🔍 box.
2. Check that the search🔍 results list Edit group policy. This opens the Local Group Policy Editor.

3. Under Best match, select Edit group policy.

The Local Group Policy Editor window opens, with a tree of folders on the left and the details of the selected folder on the right. If nothing matches your search, you are most likely on Windows 11 Home. Skip to the registry method.

4. In the left pane of the Local Group Policy Editor, expand the tree to the folder shown below.

When you select the Windows Sandbox folder, its policies are listed in the right pane. If the folder is missing, your Windows edition does not include Windows Sandbox.

Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Sandbox

5. In the Windows Sandbox details pane on the right, double-click Allow audio input in Windows Sandbox.
6. When you finish with that one, repeat the step for Allow video input in Windows Sandbox.

Each policy opens in its own window. You set audio and video separately, so you can allow the microphone and keep the camera blocked, or the other way round.

7. In the Allow audio input in Windows Sandbox or Allow video input in Windows Sandbox window, choose Not Configured, Enabled or Disabled.
8. Click Apply, then OK.

Here is what each choice does:

• Not Configured (default) – No policy is applied, so Windows Sandbox keeps its normal behavior. Choose this to undo any change you made earlier.
• Enabled  – Windows Sandbox will receive audio and video input from the user on the host.
• Disabled – Windows Sandbox will not be able to receive audio and video input from the host.

Enable or disable audio and video input with Sandbox via Windows Registry

You can configure Windows 11 Sandbox audio and video permissions through the Windows Registry if you do not have access to the Group Policy Editor, for example on Home. Making a quick change to the registry keys lets you control hardware sharing between your main computer and the sandbox. Open the Registry Editor by typing regedit in the Start menu and go to 🗝️HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Sandboxcopy to update the settings.

1. Open the Windows Registry.
2. Navigate to the folder key path listed below. You can type or paste it into the address bar at the top of the window.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Sandbox

3. If the Sandbox folder key is missing, right-click the Windows key.
4. Select New › Key and name the new subfolder key Sandbox.

On a PC that has never had a Sandbox policy set, this key usually does not exist yet, so creating it is normal.

5. Right-click an empty space in the right pane of the Sandbox key.
6. Select New then DWORD (32-bit) Value.
7. Type the name AllowAudioInput and press Enter.
8. Repeat steps 5 and 6 and name the second value AllowVideoInput.

You should now see both values in the right pane. Type the names exactly as written, because Windows ignores a value with a misspelled name.

9. Double-click AllowAudioInput.
10. Enter 1 in the Value data box and click OK.
11. Do the same for AllowVideoInput.

A value of 1 enables audio and video between your host system and the sandbox environment. Set only the one you want if you need just the microphone or just the camera.

To undo the change, set the value to 0, or delete the key entirely. Either way, audio and video input between your host system and the sandbox is disabled.

Close the Registry Editor. As with the Group Policy method, the setting takes effect the next time you launch Windows Sandbox, so close any open sandbox window first. That completes the setup process.

Reference:

Microsoft.com

Conclusion:

• Enabling audio and video input from the host to the sandbox environment in Windows 11 lets you test apps that need a microphone or camera, such as video call or recording software, inside the isolated environment.
• You can use the Local Group Policy Editor on Pro, Enterprise and Education, or the Windows Registry on any edition that has Windows Sandbox, to configure the settings.
• With the steps above, you can turn audio and video input on or off between the host and Windows Sandbox in Windows 11. Set the policy to Not Configured, or remove the registry values, to go back to the default.