# How to add/alter environment variables?

**URL:** <https://community.umbrel.com/t/how-to-add-alter-environment-variables/20058>\
**Category:** Support and Troubleshooting\
**Created:** [November 20, 2024, 6:53pm UTC](https://community.umbrel.com/t/how-to-add-alter-environment-variables/20058 "2024-11-20T18:53:45Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![1337gut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/76d3ee/32.png) [@1337gut](https://community.umbrel.com/u/1337gut)\
**Post date:** [November 20, 2024, 6:53pm UTC](https://community.umbrel.com/t/how-to-add-alter-environment-variables/20058/1 "2024-11-20T18:53:45Z")

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How do you add or alter environment variable of apps?  
I.e. I need to change some settings in Paperless-ngx which are part of the docker-compose file. Is there a way to edit those via umbrel or do I have to use the terminal to edit and re-deploy it myself?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![denny](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/community.umbrel.com/denny/32/6330_2.png) [@denny](https://community.umbrel.com/u/denny)\
**Post date:** [November 20, 2024, 8:29pm UTC](https://community.umbrel.com/t/how-to-add-alter-environment-variables/20058/2 "2024-11-20T20:29:27Z")

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In Umbrel, there isn’t a direct GUI option to edit the environment variables of an app like Paperless-ngx. To alter environment variables, you’ll need to this via terminal:

SSH in to your umbrel (ssh -t umbrel@umbrel.local) and type

`sudo nano umbrel/app-data/paperless/docker-compose.yml`

Then restart the app by right-clicking on the app and clicking restart.

There is also the option of using Umbrel´s on board terminal via the advanced settings.