Activating Users in Salesforce Sandbox After Refresh (Removing .invalid Email Suffix)

Problem

After a Salesforce sandbox refresh, user email addresses have ‘.invalid’ appended to them. Users cannot log in because verification codes are being sent to the invalid email addresses instead of their real email addresses.

What We Found

This is standard Salesforce sandbox behavior - all email addresses get ‘.invalid’ appended during a refresh to prevent accidental emails from sandbox going to real users. The challenge is updating the email without requiring verification to the old (invalid) address.

Solution

1. Go to Setup > Users and find the user you need to activate
2. Click Edit on the user detail page
3. Change the email address to remove ‘.invalid’ AND check the ‘Generate new password and notify user immediately’ checkbox at the bottom of the edit screen - both changes must be made at the same time
4. Click Save
5. Salesforce will update the email immediately and send a password reset email to the new (correct) address

Notes

• The key is checking ‘Generate new password and notify user immediately’ at the same time as changing the email - this bypasses the verification requirement
• If the above method still sends verification codes to the .invalid address, try the standard method: remove .invalid from the email and save, then have users verify using the same verification codes they use for production login
• This is standard Salesforce functionality - for persistent issues, Salesforce Support may need to assist

Warnings

⚠️ In some cases, even with the password reset checkbox, verification codes may still go to the old .invalid email address - if this happens, users may need to use their production verification codes or contact Salesforce Support

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Source: KHELP-12328