# Adding Variables

### What is a variable?

Variables are placeholders that can change value for each document depending on the data that is given as input. For example, if you are merging multiple documents from a list of accounts in a table, the ‘name’ variable can serve as the placeholder for different account names in each generated document.

In addition to telling Documint where to place your data, there are also [functions](/legacy-documentation/data-and-variables/functions.md) that you can use to manipulate data in your template. 

{% hint style="warning" %}
**Variable names should be all lower-case, have no special symbols, and spaces should be replaced with underscores.**
{% endhint %}

1. Begin by dragging a text element into a column which appears by default when a section is added.

![](/files/geG0NFMX2RVcFUByrCZ5)

2\. Use the ‘New Variable button’ on the right-hand Data pane. In the window that appears, type the variable name and copy the generated variable name.

![](/files/c0UtV5E92epppLFvq1oS)

3\. Paste the variable into a text field.  Template variables will appear with curly braces `{{variable_name}}.`You can confirm the created variables by seeing them on the right-hand Data pane, under the Template Variables section.

![](/files/NqSC6b8pwnaT6F4QXihQ)


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