# What is the difference between \_source and fields? When to use \_source vs fields in queries?
**URL:** https://discuss.elastic.co/t/what-is-the-difference-between--source-and-fields-when-to-use--source-vs-fields-in-queries/78647
**Category:** Elasticsearch
**Created:** [March 15, 2017, 6:16am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/what-is-the-difference-between--source-and-fields-when-to-use--source-vs-fields-in-queries/78647 "2017-03-15T06:16:12Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@sam99](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/sam99)
#### Post date: [March 15, 2017, 6:16am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/what-is-the-difference-between--source-and-fields-when-to-use--source-vs-fields-in-queries/78647/1 "2017-03-15T06:16:12Z")
I am reading the docs, but I am confused and do not think I understand what these mean. I need to get a specific set of key:value pairs that are an exact match in the specified query.
Do I use \_source or fields or something else?
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### Author:  [@warkolm](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/warkolm)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2017, 7:55am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/what-is-the-difference-between--source-and-fields-when-to-use--source-vs-fields-in-queries/78647/2 "2017-03-16T07:55:50Z")
Is this related to [Format Output of ElasticSearch](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/format-output-of-elasticsearch/78650)?
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### Author:  [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)
#### Post date: [April 13, 2017, 7:55am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/what-is-the-difference-between--source-and-fields-when-to-use--source-vs-fields-in-queries/78647/3 "2017-04-13T07:55:57Z")
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