# A way to change "\_source" but keep the original index?

**URL:** <https://discuss.elastic.co/t/a-way-to-change--source-but-keep-the-original-index/61054>\
**Category:** Elasticsearch\
**Created:** [September 20, 2016, 9:55pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/a-way-to-change--source-but-keep-the-original-index/61054 "2016-09-20T21:55:13Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![judy\_gao](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ab992/32.png) [@judy\_gao](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/judy_gao)\
**Post date:** [September 20, 2016, 9:55pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/a-way-to-change--source-but-keep-the-original-index/61054/1 "2016-09-20T21:55:13Z")

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Dear Elasticsearch expert ,

I am looking for a solution which it can keep the original index , but changed the "\_source" for saving some disk space. Right now I have a document which one field contains some duplicated words, I want to keep the index as usual , but I want to change "\_source" to something like "beach^3 sun^2" , which means there are three "beach" and two "sun" in original documentation.  
Here I want is to change "\_source" but keep the index as usual , I know that "transform" can do thing in different way, "transform" can store original source in "\_source" but index the transformed results. That's the different from what I want .  
Any idea or any clue how to make this ?

Thanks,  
-Judy

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**Author:** ![warkolm](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/warkolm/32/39224_2.png) [@warkolm](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/warkolm)\
**Post date:** [September 20, 2016, 10:11pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/a-way-to-change--source-but-keep-the-original-index/61054/2 "2016-09-20T22:11:19Z")

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You cannot, `_source` is an exact copy of the original doc.  
You would need to create a new field for this.

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**Author:** ![judy\_gao](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ab992/32.png) [@judy\_gao](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/judy_gao)\
**Post date:** [September 20, 2016, 10:44pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/a-way-to-change--source-but-keep-the-original-index/61054/3 "2016-09-20T22:44:57Z")

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Thanks for reply , I don't want to create a new field because I just want to save some disk space but still have "\_source" .

Thanks,  
-Judy

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**Author:** ![warkolm](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/warkolm/32/39224_2.png) [@warkolm](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/warkolm)\
**Post date:** [September 20, 2016, 10:45pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/a-way-to-change--source-but-keep-the-original-index/61054/4 "2016-09-20T22:45:32Z")

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Then you cannot do that.

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**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)\
**Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 10:18pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/a-way-to-change--source-but-keep-the-original-index/61054/5 "2017-07-05T22:18:40Z")

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Closed on July 5, 2017, 10:18pm UTC