**Obsidian’s sandbox vault** is a feature that lets you explore various functionalities without affecting your existing data. This vault is helpful both as a learning tool and for debugging issues. It helps determine if a problem is caused by a plugin, theme, or the application itself. > [!note] The sandbox vault is not available on mobile devices. However, you can download a copy from the [Obsidian Help](https://github.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-help) repository for use on mobile. ## Opening the sandbox vault You can open the sandbox vault in multiple ways. In all cases, it opens separately from your current vault. **Left Sidebar** 1. Expand the **left sidebar** ( ![[obsidian-icon-side-bar-left.svg#icon]] ). 2. Next to the **vault switcher**, press the **Help** icon ( ![[obsidian-icon-help.svg#icon]] ). 3. Select **Open** next to the **Sandbox vault** option. **Command Palette** 1. Enable the **command palette** core plugin. 2. Open the **command palette**. 3. Search for **Open sandbox vault**. 4. Press **Enter** or select the item to open the sandbox vault. ## Close the sandbox vault To close the sandbox vault, close the **Obsidian Sandbox** vault window.