Manage environments

Each environment is a set of key-value pairs, with the key as the variable name. These can be edited using the data editor.

Environment and global variables will always be stored as strings. If you’re storing objects/arrays, be sure to JSON.stringify() them before storing, and JSON.parse() them while retrieving.

What are environments?

While working with APIs, you will often need to have different setups. For example, your local machine, the development server, or the production API. Environments give you the ability to customize requests using variables. This way you can easily switch between different setups without changing your requests. You won’t have to worry about remembering all those values once they are in Postman. Environments can be downloaded and saved as JSON files and uploaded later.

Create a new environment

Click the gear icon in the upper right corner of the Postman app and select “Manage Environments”. Click the Add button to create a new environment.

Manage environments

Click the gear icon in the upper right corner of the Postman app and select “Manage Environments”. In addition to creating and sharing an environment, you can also duplicate, export, and delete an environment. This is also where you can import an environment as a single JSON file.

Select an active environment

Click the dropdown in the upper right corner of the Postman app to select an active environment, or type in the environment name. Once you select an environment, you can access variables within the active environmental scope.

Edit an active environment

Click the Quick Look icon in the upper right corner of the Postman app to display the environment and global variables. Clicking on the Edit link will open a modal for editing keys and values.

Share an environment

Click the gear icon in the upper right corner of the Postman app and select “Manage Environments”. Click the Duplicate Environment icon next to the environment you want to share.

It’s a best practice to create a duplicate, remove any sensitive values like passwords and access tokens before downloading the copy to share with someone else. When someone else imports the environment, or accesses the shared template, they can input their own personal information within their own version of the template.

For Postman Pro and Enterprise users, learn how to share environment templates with team members.