Copy someone else's circuit
Copying a public circuit gives you your own editable version, named after the original and counted against your plan.
Britt Espinosa
Last Update 15 days ago
Copying is how you get an editable version of a circuit you did not build. The copy belongs to you, opens in your editor, and has no further connection to the original.
Where the copy action lives
There are four entry points, and they all do the same thing.
- The public circuit page. The Copy & edit button on any public circuit you do not own. Signed out visitors are asked to sign in first.
- A circuit list. The overflow menu on a row or tile in My circuits or Public circuits offers Copy.
- The editor top bar. When you are viewing a circuit you cannot edit, the save button is replaced by a copy button with the tooltip Save a copy of this circuit.
- The Properties panel. Open Properties, then Advanced, then Circuit Actions, and use Save a copy. This works on your own circuits too, which is the easy way to branch a design before an experiment.
What you end up with
The new circuit is named after the original with a suffix, so a circuit called Sallen Key Filter becomes Sallen Key Filter (Copy). A source with no name at all produces one called Circuit Copy.
Beyond the name:
- You own the copy, and you can rename, edit, delete, and share it freely.
- The copy inherits the source circuit's visibility. Copying a public circuit gives you a public circuit. Change it under Properties, then Details, if you want something else. See public-and-private-circuits.
- The copy opens in the editor straight away, with Circuit copied successfully to confirm.
- Notes, tags, and the description come across with it.
Nothing you do to the copy reaches the original. The owner does not see your changes, and later changes they make do not flow into your version.
Copy counts
Copying a public circuit increments the Copies figure shown on its public page. Copies of private circuits are not counted, so the number reflects public interest rather than total duplicates.
When copying is blocked
A few messages can appear instead of a successful copy:
- Save the circuit before copying it. The source has never been saved. Save it, then copy.
- You do not have permission to copy this circuit. The circuit is private and has not been shared with you.
- Failed to copy circuit covers a write that did not complete. Try again.
Copying also counts against your plan, so an upgrade dialog can appear rather than a new circuit. The three limits that bite are the total number of circuits you may keep, whether you may keep private content, and how many components a single circuit may hold. Basic allows 5 circuits and 5 components per circuit, Standard allows 10 and 15, and Premium is unlimited on both.
That last limit catches people copying an elaborate public design onto Basic. The dialog is headed Component limit exceeded and offers View plans. Deleting circuits you no longer need frees room against the circuit count, but not against the per circuit component cap.
Copying instead of editing
If a circuit has been shared with you at view level through a group, copying is how you experiment with it without asking for edit rights. Your copy is yours, and the group's version stays as it was.