# Live, thread and starter data

> This page is about FlutterFlow (the app builder you use by describing your app), not FlutterFlow Studio.

URL: https://docs.flutterflow.io/ffx/data-copies

How your app's live data, each thread's own data, and starter data differ, and how data moves between them.

FlutterFlow keeps three copies of its data: your app's live data, each thread's own data, and starter data. The copy you change decides who sees the change: everyone who uses your app, only one thread, or new threads and the open threads that take the update.

## The three copies {#three-copies}

Each copy of your app's data has its own place in FlutterFlow:

| Copy | Where you see it | What it is |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Live data | **Backend › Data** | Your app's real data. Saving a record updates your app for everyone. Owners and developers can change records. |
| This thread's data | A thread's **Data** tab | A thread's own copy of your starter data, for testing. Saving a record changes it in the thread, not in your app. Only the thread's creator can change it. |
| Starter data | **Backend › Starter data** | The accounts and records that every new thread starts with. You can't edit starter data in **Backend**; it updates when you push a thread. |

A record's sheet shows which copy you're viewing. On a thread's **Data** tab, the sheet starts with **This thread’s data.** In **Backend**, when you can change the record, it starts with **Live data.**

## How data moves {#how-data-moves}

Data moves between live data, this thread's data, and starter data in four ways:

- **From starter data to a new thread.** Each new thread starts with its own copy of your starter data. Changes you make in a thread's data stay in that thread unless you keep them for new threads. When you [push the thread](https://docs.flutterflow.io/ffx/push), FlutterFlow doesn't copy the rest of its data into your live data.
- **From starter data to an open thread.** When your starter data changes after you start a thread, the thread's creator sees **Your starter data changed since this thread started** on the thread's **Data** tab, with an **Update** button. Selecting **Update** brings the new starter data into the thread while keeping the edits you made in the thread.
- **From a thread to starter data.** To include a record or an account from a thread in new threads, turn on **Keep for new threads** for it, and then push the thread. See [Thread data](https://docs.flutterflow.io/ffx/thread-data).
- **From starter data to live data, once per table.** The first time a push brings starter rows for a table, including rows kept for new threads, FlutterFlow adds that table's shared rows to your live data. When your app has email sign-in, FlutterFlow also adds the rows that belong to you. It omits rows that belong to another starter account or rows that point at them. Once a table has rows in your live data, they behave as ordinary rows, and later changes to that table's starter data don't affect them.

## Which copy each one uses {#which-data}

Your app's share links, test builds, and **Overview** preview all use live data. Adding, editing, or deleting data in the **Overview** preview changes your live data directly.

Your live data can also hold the [builder account (**You**)](https://docs.flutterflow.io/ffx/launch-data#builder-account).

## Next steps {#what-you-can-do-next}

- [Records](https://docs.flutterflow.io/ffx/records)
- [Thread data](https://docs.flutterflow.io/ffx/thread-data)
- [Live data for launch](https://docs.flutterflow.io/ffx/launch-data)
- [How the backend works](https://docs.flutterflow.io/ffx/backend)