# Manage your properties
Properties are used to store data on certain objects in HubSpot, such as contacts, companies, deals, tickets, and products. You can:
* [Create custom properties](https://knowledge.ostsdigital.com/hubspot-crm/contacts/pages/-M5d7unK8mevzRIi97bm#create-custom%20properties) to store data on your objects;
* [Edit existing properties](/hubspot-crm/contacts/manage-your-properties.md#edit-properties); and
* [Create and edit property groups](/hubspot-crm/contacts/manage-your-properties.md#create-and-edit-property-groups) to organize your properties.
## Create custom properties
When you need additional properties to gather information for your business processes, you can create new custom properties.
**Please note:** you must have [*edit property settings* permissions](https://knowledge.hubspot.com/settings/hubspot-user-permissions-guide#crm-settings-access) to create custom properties. Additionally, depending on your HubSpot subscription, there is a [limit to the number of custom properties](https://legal.hubspot.com/hubspot-product-and-services-catalog#TechnicalLimits) you can create.
* In your HubSpot account, click the **settings icon** settings in the main navigation bar.
* In the left sidebar menu, navigate to **Properties**.
* In the upper right, click **Create property**.
* In the right panel, set up your property:
* **Object type:** select the object type that the property will be for.
* **Group:** select the property group the property should belong to.
* **Label:** enter text to name the property.
* **Description:** enter text to describe the property.
* Click **Next**.
**Please note:** if the property you're creating is similar to an existing property, a message stating *We found similar existing properties for you* will appear. Click **existing properties** to view any similar existing properties.
* Click the **Field type** dropdown menu and select a [field type](https://knowledge.hubspot.com/articles/kcs_article/contacts/property-field-types-in-hubspot) for this property.
* If you have an *Enterprise* subscription, select the **Allow users to search for information entered to this field** checkbox for text-input field types and number field types to allow text or a numeric value in the property to be [searchable across objects in the global search bar](https://knowledge.hubspot.com/contacts/search-within-your-hubspot-account). Users must have [account access](https://knowledge.hubspot.com/settings/hubspot-user-permissions-guide#admin) to search by the field type you configure.
**Please note:** you can only create up to three searchable properties per object type in your HubSpot account.
* For field types with options (i.e., *Multiple checkboxes*, *Dropdown select*, and *Radio select* field types), enter the different options for the property.
* **Label:** enter the name of the option.
* **In forms:** click to toggle the switch on to include the option for forms.
* **Add an option:** click to add a new option.
* **Load options...:** click to load multiple options at once. You can select a default set of options, such as *Country* and *Timezone*, paste text to create options in bulk, or copy the options from an existing property.
* **Clear all:** click to remove all existing options.
* By default, the property will be included as an option for fields in your HubSpot forms, pop-up forms, and bots. If you don't want the property to be an option, clear the **Show in forms** checkbox.
**Please note:** product properties cannot be included in your forms, pop-up forms, and bots.
* Click **Create**.
## Edit properties
You can edit an existing property as long as no existing objects have a value for the property, and the property isn't actively being used by another tool in HubSpot, such as Lists or Workflows.
To edit an existing property:
* In your HubSpot account, click the **settings icon** settings in the main navigation bar.
* In the left sidebar menu, navigate to **Properties**.
* Locate the property you want to edit.
* In the upper left, click the filters:
* **\[Object] properties:** click and select an object type to filter only properties from that object type.
* **All groups:** click and select the group to filter only properties in that specific group.
* **All field types:** click and select to filter properties by a specific field type.
* **All users:** click and select to filter properties created by a specific user.
* In the upper right, search for your property by **name** in the search box.
* To sort your properties, click the **column header**.
* Click the property's **name**.
* In the right panel, edit your property.
* Update your property's **name**.
* Click the **Basic info** tab to update basic information about the property.
* View the number of contacts with a value for the property.
* Edit the **Internal description** for the property.
* Update the **Group** that the property is in.
* * Click the **Field type** tab to update settings relating to the property's [field type](/hubspot-crm/contacts/property-field-types-in-hubspot.md).
**Please note:**
* Changing an existing property to a different field type may make values currently stored in the property [invalid](https://knowledge.hubspot.com/articles/kcs_article/contacts/what-does-it-mean-for-a-contact-to-have-an-invalid-value-for-one-of-their-properties). It is recommended that you [export all information](https://knowledge.hubspot.com/contacts/export-contacts-companies-deals-or-tickets) prior to editing the property.
* A property's field type cannot be edited to *Score*, *Calculated*, or *Date*. A *Score*, *Calculated*, or *Date* property cannot be edited to another field type.
* For all field types, select the **Use in forms, and bots** checkbox to allow the property to be used in HubSpot forms, pop-up forms, and bots.
* If you have an *Enterprise* subscription, for text-input field types, select the **Allow users to search for information entered to this field** checkbox and number field types to allow text or a numeric value in the property to be [searchable across objects in the global search bar](https://knowledge.hubspot.com/contacts/search-within-your-hubspot-account). Users must have [admin access](https://knowledge.hubspot.com/settings/hubspot-user-permissions-guide#admin) to search by the field type you configure.
**Please note:** you can only create up to three searchable properties per object type in your HubSpot account. 
* For field types with options (i.e., *Multiple checkboxes*, *Dropdown select*, and *Radio select* field types), enter the different options for the property.
* **Label:** enter the name of the option.
* **Internal value:** displays the value used for syncing with integrations. This cannot be edited.
* **With value:** displays the number of objects with this specific value.
* **In forms:** click to toggle the switch on to include the option for forms.
* **Add an option:** click to add a new option.
* **Load options...:** click to load multiple options at once. You can select a default set of options, such as *Country* and *Timezone*, paste text to create options in bulk, or copy the options from an existing property.
* **Clear all:** click to remove all existing options.
* For field types with options (i.e., *Multiple checkboxes*, *Dropdown select*, and *Radio select* field types), you can select the **checkboxes** next to multiple options and at the top of the table, click the following options to perform bulk actions to these property values:
* **Hide in forms:** click to hide the selected property values from appearing your HubSpot forms as options.
* **Merge:** click to merge the selected property values. This will result in the merged values being removed from the property, leaving the one value. This may break integrations and tools that rely on a specific property value, such as [list](https://knowledge.hubspot.com/lists/create-active-or-static-lists#select-list-criteria) and [workflows](https://knowledge.hubspot.com/workflows/choose-your-workflow-actions) filters.
* **Delete:** click to delete the selected property values.
* * Click the **Used in** tab to view where the property is currently used.
* Click **Save** once you're done.
## Clone, move, or delete properties
If you have similar properties to create, you can clone an existing property to quicken the process. You can also move a property to another property group and delete a property. To perform these actions:
* In your HubSpot account, click the **settings icon** settings in the main navigation bar.
* In the left sidebar menu, navigate to **Properties**.
* Locate the property you want to edit.
* In the upper left, click the filters:
* **\[Object] properties:** click and select an object type to filter only properties from that object type.
* **All groups:** click and select the group to filter only properties in that specific group.
* **All field types:** click and select to filter properties by a specific field type.
* **All users:** click and select to filter properties created by a specific user.
* In the upper right, search for your property by **name** in the search box.
* To sort your properties, click the **column header**.
* Hover over the property and click the **Actions** dropdown menu:
* **Edit:** select this to [edit the property and if applicable, its options](/hubspot-crm/contacts/manage-your-properties.md#edit-properties).
* **Clone:** select this to create a new property with the same setup.
* **Move to group:** select this to move the property to another [property group](/hubspot-crm/contacts/manage-your-properties.md#create-and-edit-property-groups).
* **Export property history:** select this to [export the history of the property values across all records](https://knowledge.hubspot.com/crm-setup/view-property-history#export-a-property-s-history-across-all-records).
* **Delete:** select this to delete all information on the property and any values in that property. You can only delete the property if it is not used anywhere. Click the **number** in the *Used in* column to see where the property is being used.
## Restore deleted properties
* In your HubSpot account, click the **settings icon** settings in the main navigation bar.
* In the left sidebar menu, navigate to **Properties**.
* Click the **Deleted Properties** tab.
* Locate the property you want to restore.
* In the upper left, click the **Filter by** dropdown menu and select the **type** of property.
* In the upper right, use the **date fields** to filter the properties based on when they were deleted.
* Select the **checkboxes** next to the properties you want to restore.
* In the upper right, click **Restore**.
**Please note:** any properties deleted beyond 90 days ago cannot be restored.
## Create and edit property groups
Create and edit custom property groups to more easily identify your properties within an object type.
To create a new property group:
* In your HubSpot account, click the **settings icon** settings in the main navigation bar.
* In the left sidebar menu, navigate to **Properties**.
* Click the **Groups** tab.
* In the upper left, click the **\[Object] properties** filter and select the object type that you want your new property group to be related to.
* In the upper right, click **Create group** to create a new group.
* In the dialog box, enter the **name** of the group and click **Save**.
To edit an existing property group's name:
* In your HubSpot account, click the **settings icon** settings in the main navigation bar.
* In the left sidebar menu, navigate to **Properties**.
* Click the **Groups** tab.
* Locate the group you want to edit. In the upper left, click the **\[Object] properties** filter and select the object type that the group is related to.
* Hover over the group you want to edit and click **Edit**.
* In the dialog box, enter the group's new **name** and click **Save**.
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