Create a test database in Odoo without touching live data.

This guide shows how to create a test copy of your Odoo database, so you can try a new workflow, train staff or check a change without touching live data. The short answer: on Odoo Online, open the database manager at odoo.com/my/databases, click Manage on your database, then Duplicate. Give the copy a clear test name, leave For testing purposes switched on, and click Duplicate. Odoo creates a copy of your data in which emails, payments and other outside connections are switched off.

It is written for the owner or administrator who looks after the database. The steps follow Odoo's documentation for Odoo Online, checked in October 2026.

Before you start

• Hosting: the steps below are for Odoo Online, where Odoo hosts the database for you. On Odoo.sh, staging and development databases are already test copies. A self-hosted installation has its own database manager page on your server, covered further down.
• Access: you sign in to the database manager as the database administrator.
• Limit: Odoo allows up to five duplicates per database. Odoo Support can extend this in exceptional cases.
• Terms used: a duplicate is a full copy of a database, with its own name and web address. A neutralized database is a copy in which Odoo switches off the features that reach the outside world, such as outgoing email, so that tests cannot affect customers or production data.

Duplicate your database for testing

1. Sign in to odoo.com as the database administrator and open the database manager at odoo.com/my/databases. Your databases are listed, each with a Connect button.
2. Select your production database and click Manage, next to the gears icon. The management screen opens with options such as Rename, Duplicate and Download Backup.
3. Click Duplicate. A dialog box opens.
4. In New name, enter a name nobody could mistake for production, for example your company name followed by "test" and the date.
5. Check that For testing purposes is enabled. It is on by default, and it is what neutralizes the copy.
6. Click Duplicate. Odoo creates the copy under its own web address.
7. Connect to the copy and sign in. Because it is a copy of production, it holds the same users, so you use your usual login.

A red banner across the top of the screen confirms that you are in a neutralized database. If you do not see it, stop and check which database you are in before you change anything.

What a test copy switches off

Neutralizing a database in standard Odoo does the following:

• Email: existing outgoing mail servers are archived and replaced by a placeholder server that cannot deliver anything. Incoming mail servers are deactivated.
• Scheduled actions: the automatic jobs Odoo runs on a timer, such as recurring subscription invoices or mass mailings, are deactivated, apart from Odoo's own internal clean-up job.
• Payments: payment providers are taken out of live mode.
• Shipping: delivery methods connected to outside carriers are switched to test mode and archived. Fixed Price and Based on Rules methods stay available.
• Bank synchronization: links to your bank feeds are disabled.
• In-App Purchase services: the accounts Odoo uses for paid services, such as SMS, are disconnected.
• Website: custom domains are removed, and search engines are told not to index the copy.

That means you can confirm sales orders, post messages on a quotation, or walk a new employee through invoicing, and nothing reaches a customer, a bank or a carrier.

Check that it worked

1. Look for the red banner at the top of the screen in the copy.
2. Open a quotation, send it by email to an address you control, and check that inbox. The message is logged on the quotation, but no email arrives.
3. For a closer look, turn on developer mode: open the Settings app, scroll to Developer Tools and click Activate the developer mode. Then go to Settings, Technical, Email, Outgoing Mail Servers. The only active server is the placeholder named "neutralization - disable emails".

Test copies for upgrades

Version upgrades on Odoo Online follow the same test-first pattern. In the database manager, click Manage, then Upgrade, which only appears when an upgrade is available. The purpose is set to Test for your first upgrade request, so Odoo builds an upgraded, neutralized copy instead of upgrading production. To open it, click the small arrow before your database name in the database manager, then Connect. Test your daily processes there first: once a production upgrade is complete, it cannot be reverted to the previous version.

Test copies on a self-hosted server

A self-hosted installation duplicates databases from its own database manager page, which asks for the master password. Its Duplicate Database dialog has a Neutralize checkbox that is not ticked by default. Tick it. Without it, the copy is a live twin of production that can still send email and run scheduled actions.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Judging an automatic process on a test copy. Scheduled actions are switched off, so anything that runs on a timer will not run by itself. The process looks broken when it is only paused.
• Testing bank feeds on a copy. Bank synchronization is disabled. To test it, ask your bank synchronization provider for sandbox credentials.
• Treating the copy as permanent. Odoo Online duplicates expire. Nothing moves back from the copy to production on its own, so repeat in production any configuration you want to keep.
• Testing against an old copy. A duplicate holds your data as it was when it was made. Make a fresh one before each round of testing, within the limit of five.
• Relying only on Odoo's backups. Odoo backs up Odoo Online databases daily under its Cloud Hosting SLA. To keep your own copy, click Download Backup under Manage to get a ZIP file. If the button is disabled, the database is too large to download there, and Odoo Support can provide it another way.

Steps verified on Odoo 20. Menus and labels can differ on other versions.

Common questions

How do I create a test database in Odoo Online?

Open the database manager at odoo.com/my/databases, click Manage on your database, then Duplicate. Enter a new name, leave For testing purposes enabled, and click Duplicate.

Does a duplicated Odoo test database send emails to customers?

Not when For testing purposes is enabled. The copy is neutralized, so outgoing mail goes to a placeholder server that cannot deliver anything, and scheduled actions are switched off.

How many test databases can I create in Odoo Online?

Up to five duplicates per database. Duplicates expire, and Odoo Support can extend the limit in exceptional cases.

Why do scheduled actions not run in my Odoo test database?

Neutralizing a database deactivates its scheduled actions, apart from Odoo's internal clean-up job. Recurring invoices, mass mailings and other timed jobs therefore do not run by themselves in a test copy.