It is advisable to ensure that your sandbox is published to the same release and patch bundle level in which it was originally created, whenever possible. This practice helps prevent potential conflicts.
Before publishing your sandbox, always download it and securely store the zip file. This way, you have a backup in case you need to re-import the sandbox at a later time. It is also recommended to maintain a spreadsheet where the first column lists the sandbox names and subsequent columns represent the environments used in your project. As you import and publish each sandbox in a specific environment, record the corresponding date in the spreadsheet.
After downloading your sandbox, be sure to check that the file size is not zero bytes. This serves as a reliable indicator that your sandbox indeed contains your personalizations.
I hope this blog post was helpful for you. If you have any questions or feedback, please leave a comment below.