Get a StoreConnect sandbox from a Salesforce sandbox

When you create or refresh a Salesforce sandbox org, it copies your StoreConnect configuration from production — but it does not automatically get its own website. Your sandbox org’s records still point at your production store’s website and media. To get a working sandbox store — a separate website environment for your sandbox org — you provision one from inside the Console.

This guide covers getting a StoreConnect sandbox store running in a Developer, Partial Copy, or Full Copy Salesforce sandbox. The steps are the same for every sandbox type — the only difference is how much data Salesforce copies into the sandbox. A full copy sandbox brings all records; a partial copy sandbox only brings data for the objects included in its sandbox template.

If you are evaluating StoreConnect and do not yet have a production store, use a Salesforce trial org instead — see Explore StoreConnect in a Salesforce trial org.

:::warning Partial copy sandboxes only copy the objects in your sandbox template. Before you create or refresh a partial copy sandbox, make sure its template includes all StoreConnect objects (the s_c__* objects — Store, Page, Content Block, Media, Products, Setup Configuration, and the rest). If they aren’t in the template, their records won’t be copied and your sandbox store will have no data or configuration to set up from. Full copy sandboxes copy all data, so this doesn’t apply to them. :::

Before you begin

• Run this in the Salesforce sandbox, not production. The Get sandbox action only appears when you are logged into a Salesforce sandbox org.
• You must be a Salesforce System Administrator and hold the StoreConnect Administrator permission.
• The parent production org’s StoreConnect setup must be complete — the sandbox inherits that configuration when it is created.
• Sandbox type doesn’t matter for the setup flow. Developer, Partial Copy, and Full Copy sandboxes all use the same Get sandbox flow.
• A sandbox store is free for 90 days. No license or install key is required to start one. To keep it running longer than 90 days you need a ‘Persistent Copy sandbox license’, see Sandbox license costs.
• Sandboxes have far less storage than production, and Salesforce will not let a sandbox exceed 100% of its storage limit. Plan to reduce the initial sync load before you set up the sync user.

Manage sandbox storage and the initial sync

Sandboxes — especially developer and partial copy sandboxes — have much less data storage than your production org, and Salesforce does not allow a sandbox to exceed 100% of its storage limit. The StoreConnect initial sync can push storage usage up sharply, so plan for it before you set up the sync user.

When you first configure the sync user, StoreConnect performs an initial bulk pull of every record it monitors on the standard objects — Account, Contact, Order, Order Item, and more — into its sync database. In an org with large volumes of accounts, contacts, or orders, this pull can spike storage usage and, in a smaller sandbox, take it over the 100% limit. See Initial sync when setting up the sync user for what the initial sync includes.

To mitigate the spike, you can manage the standard object sync (per-record sync opt-in) to sync only the records you actually need for testing. Any accounts, contacts, orders, or other standard-object records that aren’t needed for your testing can be suppressed from syncing, which reduces both the storage spike and the time the initial sync takes.

:::tip Configure sync opt-in before you run setup and choose a sync user, so the filtering applies to the first sync — only the records you have marked will be pulled in. Configuring it afterward means the full initial sync has already run, and you would need to carefully prepare your existing records before enabling it. See Manage standard object sync for the full sequence. :::

Provision the sandbox store

1. Create or refresh your Salesforce sandbox in Setup > Sandboxes, then log into it.
2. Open the StoreConnect Console from the App Launcher.
3. In the header, select Setup, then under Tools select Get sandbox.
4. When the confirmation appears — “Are you sure you want to start a new sandbox?” — select Yes, let’s create a sandbox.
5. On the Sandbox setup welcome screen, select Let’s get started.
6. Review the sandbox availability information (your sandbox is free for 90 days), then select Start sandbox.
7. Follow the remaining setup steps (permissions and choosing a sync user) to finish.

:::note The Get sandbox action resets the installer and begins sandbox configuration. It clears the inherited production website and media settings so the sandbox can be given its own. :::

What happens next

When you start the sandbox, StoreConnect:

• provisions a new website environment for the sandbox store, separate from your production store, with its own store URL.
• sets up separate media storage for the sandbox store so it does not share images with production.
• re-imports your media into the sandbox store’s own storage. Media records that pointed at your production images are queued to import fresh copies, so the sandbox store displays its own media. This runs in the background — allow some time after setup for images to finish importing.

After setup

• Your sandbox store has its own website URL, separate from production. You can test changes freely without affecting your live store.
• When you have finished testing and want to move changes into production, see Move data from sandbox to production.

For more information about StoreConnect Console actions, see About the StoreConnect console.