# Create an account-level field index policy
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Use the steps in this section to create a field index policy that applies to all log groups in the account, or to multiple log groups that have log group names that start with the same string.

**To create an account-level field index policy**

1. Open the CloudWatch console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/](https://console.aws.amazon.com/cloudwatch/).

1. In the left navigation pane, choose **Settings** and then choose the **Logs** tab.

1. In the **Account level index policies** section, choose **Manage**.

1. Choose **Create index policy**.

1. For **Policy name**, enter a name for your new policy.

1. For **Select scope of policy**, do one of the following:
   + Choose **All standard log groups** to have the index policy apply to all Standard Class log groups in the account.
   + Choose **Log groups by prefix match** to apply the policy to a subset of log groups that all have names that start with the same string. Then, enter the prefix for these log groups in **Enter a prefix name**.

     After you enter your prefix, you can choose **Preview prefix matched log groups** to confirm that your prefix matches the log groups that you expected.

     Choose **Logs Data by Data source** to apply the policy to a specific data source name and type combination. You can then select the **Data source** and **Data type** from the drop-down menu. 

     After you select the data source name and type you can select **Get fields** to populate the **Configure field indexes and facets** section with relevant information such as the fields available, included log groups, as well as default and custom field indexes.

1. For **Custom index field configuration**, choose **Add field path** to enter the first field to index.

   Then enter the string to use as the value of the field name or select a field from the drop-down menu. This must be an exact case match to what appears in the log events. For example, if your log events include `requestId`, you must enter `requestId` here. `RequestId`, `requestID`, and `request Id` wouldn't match.

   If you want to index a custom log field that starts with the `@` character, you must include an extra `@` character when you enter the index string. For example, if you have a custom log field `@emailname`, enter `@@emailname` in the **Add field path** box.

   You can also create indexes for the `@ingestionTime` and `@logStream` fields that CloudWatch Logs automatically generates. If you do, you don't need to add an extra `@` when specifying them.

1. (Optional)In addition to specifying the field path, you can select **Set as a facet** to create the field as a facet.

1. Repeat the previous step to add as many as 20 field indexes.

1. When you have finished, choose **Create**.