Hi, today morning I opened my Postman. And my all enviroments are without initial values (I see just two columns - Variable and Value), where I stored them. Is it just hidden? How to show? Quite annoying to hide me my values without asking.
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Hello @hron,
Thank you for sharing your feedback.
We are gradually rolling out the new Simplified Variables experience to a limited set of users.
Why We Changed Variables
For years, Postman variables had “Initial” and “Current” values. These terms were confusing, often leading to users unintentionally syncing secrets with their teams or even exposing them to public workspaces. We’ve seen real incidents where this caused data leaks
Our goal was to simplify variable management, reduce accidental leaks, and make security the default, all without breaking existing workflows.
What’s New
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One clear value field – Instead of two fields, you now see a single value. This is always the value used in requests and runs. This is the equivalent of the current value field. This field can be optionally and explicitly “Shared”.
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Explicit sharing – New Variables are local by default. You can now choose to share/unshare values with a toggle, or even bulk share/unshare.
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Safer defaults – Nothing is shared unless you decide to share it. Sensitive variables can be masked, and we warn you before sharing them.
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Autosave - Variables auto-save by default so you don’t have to wonder why a value is not getting updated.
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Descriptions - Add context and instructions to a variable clearly.
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Share All/Unshare all - You can toggle share/unshare all variables in an environment/collection/global with a click of a button.
What Happens to Existing Variables
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Variables with an initial value are now marked as Shared.
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Values are equivalent of current value.
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If your current value differed, the variable is flagged as Edited, and you’ll be prompted to update the shared value or reset its value to the shared value.
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Secrets remain masked.
Backward compatibility
These changes are fully backward compatible. Here’s how the mapping works:
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Same initial + current value → Value shown, marked as Shared.
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Only current value → Value shown, variable is Unshared.
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Only initial value → No value shown, but variable is Shared.
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Different initial and current values → Current value shown, Edited state flagged.
In Short, the Value field ALWAYS shows the current value.
Here’s a small sample of the various features:
We know this is a big shift from how variables looked before. The intent isn’t to take away visibility but to reduce confusion and make managing variables simpler, safer, and more predictable.
We’re actively listening to feedback. If something feels harder in the new design (e.g., distinguishing shared vs. local values), please share screenshots or details so we can investigate and improve.
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