# How to stop importing flow from automatically adding dashboard controls to the current dashboard/tab/group?

**URL:** <https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-to-stop-importing-flow-from-automatically-adding-dashboard-controls-to-the-current-dashboard-tab-group/76997>\
**Category:** General\
**Created:** [27 March 2023 17:37 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-to-stop-importing-flow-from-automatically-adding-dashboard-controls-to-the-current-dashboard-tab-group/76997 "2023-03-27T17:37:07Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Nodi.Rubrum](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/nodi.rubrum/32/107482_2.png) [@Nodi.Rubrum](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Nodi.Rubrum)\
**Post date:** [27 March 2023 17:37 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-to-stop-importing-flow-from-automatically-adding-dashboard-controls-to-the-current-dashboard-tab-group/76997/1 "2023-03-27T17:37:07Z")

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How to stop importing flow from automatically adding dashboard controls to the current dashboard/tab/group?

When I select import, and then import copy, not merge, the dashboard gets screwed up regardless, I don't want to have the new flow merge into the existing dashboard but create a new dashboard. But that is not what happens, I end up with a separate new flow. sure, but the dashboard merge always happens.

How can I stop this behavior?

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**Author:** ![zenofmud](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/zenofmud/32/316_2.png) [@zenofmud](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/zenofmud)\
**Post date:** [28 March 2023 08:38 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-to-stop-importing-flow-from-automatically-adding-dashboard-controls-to-the-current-dashboard-tab-group/76997/2 "2023-03-28T08:38:48Z")

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Let's say you create a small flow with an `inject` connected to a `ui-text` node. You configure the text node to with a group named 'text-1' and use the default dashboard tab of 'Home'. You then export that flow and import it as a copy.

The action of adding a dashboard node and setting the group and tab creates a group and tab configuration node and there is a connection between the ui node and the 'group' configuration.

If you want the import to end up without the dashboard information, you would have to edit the exported flow and then remove the `"group"` property from each ui object the export.

You could probably write a flow to do this 🙂

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**Author:** ![Nodi.Rubrum](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/nodi.rubrum/32/107482_2.png) [@Nodi.Rubrum](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Nodi.Rubrum)\
**Post date:** [29 March 2023 16:32 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-to-stop-importing-flow-from-automatically-adding-dashboard-controls-to-the-current-dashboard-tab-group/76997/3 "2023-03-29T16:32:28Z")

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Yup, I suspected what you noted was the case, was hoping someone had a trick to avoid it. Looks like I am writing something to do as you suggest. Would be a nice feature some day to be able to select this as part of the import sequence.

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**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/uploads/nodered/original/1X/d073cd938eafa2e558d7c2cd59003b3ef4963033.png) [@system](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/system)\
**Post date:** [28 May 2023 16:32 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-to-stop-importing-flow-from-automatically-adding-dashboard-controls-to-the-current-dashboard-tab-group/76997/4 "2023-05-28T16:32:34Z")

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