Clone and unclone an item

Current version: 9.0

A clone is an item that is not just a copy of the original item, but one that inherits the field values from the original item. If you update a field in the original item, the corresponding field in the clone is also updated.

In Sitecore, you can create clones of items and of entire branches of items. A branch is a parent item and all its descendants.

Clone an item

To create a clone of an item:

  1. In the content tree, select the item that you want to clone.

  2. On the Configure tab, in the Clones group, click Clone.

  3. In the Clone Item dialog box, select the location where you want to store the clone. You can navigate to the location in the content tree on the Browse tab or search for the location on the Search tab.

    The Clone Item dialog box
  4. Click Clone.

If you select the clone item in the Content Editor, you notice that the field titles have the [original value] text added. This means that these values match the corresponding values in the original item and are updated if you edit the field in the original item.

The original value tag on a field in the Content Editor
Important

If you clone an item that is in a workflow, the workflow and the Workflow state properties are copied to the clone item. After the workflow fields are copied, the workflow properties of the clone and the workflow properties of the original items are not connected anymore. If you change the workflow state of the original item, the workflow state of the clone does not change.

Unclone an item

If you no longer want to have a connection between the original item and the clone, you can unclone the clone item.

To unclone a clone item:

  1. Select the clone you want to unclone.

  2. On the Configure tab, in the Clones group, click Unclone.

    The Unclone button on the Configure tab

No field values in the clone item change. The connection between the clone and the original item is removed and the clone becomes a normal content item.

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