[▲ Vercel Community](/) · [Categories](/categories) · [Latest](/latest) · [Top](/top) · [Live](/live) [Help](/c/help/9) # Can't check off Production Environment from Environment Variable Settings for Preview Project 87 views · 3 likes · 3 posts Thesuryapolina Gmailcom (@thesuryapolina-gmail) · 2024-08-13 I don't understand why for my preview environment that the environment is checked as production in the image below. What is the purpose of these. They were set by default. When I try to uncheck and save it is asking for an environment variable to be set. I set a new env VERCEL_ENV=preview. Yet when i enter save, the check mark doesn't change.  Amy Egan (@amyegan) · 2024-08-13 · ♥ 1 Hey @thesuryapolina-gmail. The `Environments` checkboxes indicate which environment should use the variable you're setting. It works sort of like `.env` versus `.env.preview`. A common scenario for this is when you need a different database or API connection in preview deployments than in production ones. You could add `MY_TOKEN_VAR` to `my_preview_value` with Preview and Development check and Production unchecked. Then, I could add *another* version of `MY_TOKEN_VAR` with the value `my_production_value` but *uncheck* Preview and Development check and *check* Production before saving this time. Now preview deployments will have the value `my_preview_value` anywhere `MY_TOKEN_VAR` is used, but production deployments. will have the value `my_production_value` in those same places. The `VERCEL_ENV` value is automatically set for each deployment because it is a [System Environment Variable](https://vercel.com/docs/projects/environment-variables/system-environment-variables#system-environment-variables). You don't actually need to add that one yourself. :smile: https://vercel.com/docs/projects/environment-variables#environment-variables Thesuryapolina Gmailcom (@thesuryapolina-gmail) · 2024-08-13 · ♥ 2 Thanks for the swift response ! Now I understand .
