Enable Clipboard Sharing in Windows 11 Sandbox

How to turn on or off copying and pasting between host and Sandbox in 🪟 Windows 11

The Local Group Policy Editor is the easiest method. It gives you a normal window with three choices and no registry editing. It ships with Windows 11 Pro, Enterprise and Education, but not with Home. If you run Home, skip to the Registry Editor method further down. Windows Sandbox itself is only offered on Pro, Enterprise and Education, so check your edition under Settings › System › About if the feature is missing.

You need to be signed in with an administrator account. If clipboard sharing is blocked, copying on the host and pasting in the sandbox (or the other way round) does nothing until you grant permission.

1. Click the Start Menu ⊞ and type Edit group policy in the search 🔍 box.
2. Under Best match, select Edit group policy. This opens the Local Group Policy Editor.

You should now see a window with a folder tree on the left and a details pane on the right. The screenshot below shows the search 🔍 result.

3. In the left pane of the Local Group Policy Editor, expand the folders along the path shown below until you reach Windows Sandbox.

Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Sandbox

4. Click Windows Sandbox in the left pane. Its settings appear in the details pane on the right.
5. Find the setting titled Allow clipboard sharing with Windows Sandbox and double-click it.

A window with the same name opens, as shown below.

6. In the Allow clipboard sharing with Windows Sandbox window, select Enabled to allow clipboard sharing.
7. Click Apply, then OK.

These are the three options and what each one does:

• Not Configured (default)
• Enabled  - Copy and paste between the host and Windows Sandbox are permitted.
• Disabled - Copy and paste in and out of Sandbox will be restricted.

A running sandbox may not pick up the change. Close Windows Sandbox and start it again, then test by copying some text on your main PC and pasting it inside the sandbox. To undo the change later, return to this window and select Not Configured or Disabled.

Enable or disable clipboard sharing with Sandbox via Windows Registry

The same setting can be changed in the Registry Editor. Use this method when the Local Group Policy Editor isn't available, such as on Windows 11 Home. Be careful here: a wrong change in the registry can cause problems, so only edit the entries below. You need an administrator account.

1. Type regedit in the Start menu search bar and open the Registry Editor. Click Yes if User Account Control asks for permission.
2. In the left pane, go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Sandbox, as shown below.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Sandbox

If the 'Sandbox' folder isn't visible, it doesn't exist yet. Create it:

3. Right-click the 'Windows' key in the left pane.
4. Choose New › Key and name the new subfolder 'Sandbox'.
5. Click the new 'Sandbox' key to select it. Its right pane will be empty.

Now add the value that controls clipboard sharing:

6. In the right pane of the 'Sandbox' folder, right-click an empty area and choose New › DWORD (32-bit) Value.
7. Name the new value AllowClipboardRedirection.
8. Double-click AllowClipboardRedirection and set its Value data to 1. This enables clipboard sharing between the host and the sandbox environment.
9. Click OK.

Setting the value data to 0 or deleting the value stops copying and pasting between the host and the sandbox environment. That is also how you undo the change. As with the policy method, close any open Windows Sandbox window and start it again so the new setting applies.

That completes the setup process.

Reference:

Microsoft.com

Conclusion:

• Clipboard sharing between the host and Windows Sandbox in Windows 11 is a setting you control. Copy and paste works only once you enable it.
• You can enable or disable it with the Local Group Policy Editor or the Windows Registry, depending on your edition and preference.
• Once it is on, you can move text and files into the sandbox without extra tools, which makes testing software quicker.