---
title: preserve_existing
description: This setting must be either True or False. If preserve_existing is set to True, and the configuration attempts to push a setting to an index that already...
url: https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3016/reference/elasticsearch/curator/option_preserve_existing
products:
  - Elasticsearch
  - Elasticsearch Curator
---

# preserve_existing
```yaml
action: index_settings
description: "Change settings for selected indices"
options:
  index_settings:
    index:
      refresh_interval: 5s
  ignore_unavailable: False
  preserve_existing: False
filters:
- filtertype: ...
```

This setting must be either `True` or `False`.
If `preserve_existing` is set to `True`, and the configuration attempts to push a setting to an index that already has any value for that setting, the existing setting will be preserved, and remain unchanged.
The default value of this setting is `False`