---
title: Manage or disable APM logs in context
source: https://docs.newrelic.com/docs/logs/logs-context/disable-automatic-logging
---

## Impact of automatic logging [#background]

By default, our APM agents automatically decorate your application logs with important New Relic metadata and forward those logs to New Relic. For more on how this feature works and what agent versions have it enabled, see [APM logs in context](https://docs.newrelic.com/docs/apm/new-relic-apm/getting-started/get-started-logs-context).

We give you the option to manage the forwarding of your logs to New Relic at an account level. This can be useful for these reasons:

-   To comply with your organization's policies.
-   For security and compliance reasons, you want to control which logs are forwarded.
-   You want to avoid unnecessary data ingest costs.
-   The design of system resources doesn't allow for the increased overhead of the logs transfer function.

Note that if an APM agent has [high-security mode](https://docs.newrelic.com/docs/apm/agents/manage-apm-agents/configuration/high-security-mode) enabled, this disables application log forwarding.

## Options to manage automatic logging settings [#solution]

You can disable (or re-enable) automatic log forwarding across your entire account via the APM log settings UI or the API. You can also enable or disable log collection for specific agents via agent configuration.

> #### ⚠️ IMPORTANT
>
> Server-side configuration for application log forwarding is currently **only supported by the Java agent (version 8.19.0 or later)**. For more information, see  [Server-side agent configuration](https://docs.newrelic.com/docs/apm/agents/manage-apm-agents/configuration/server-side-agent-configuration).
>
> For all other APM agents, you must manage log settings via [client-side configuration](#disable-config).

**Manage settings via UI**

In the **Data management** UI, the **Log settings** UI page is where you can enable or disable [APM logs](https://docs.newrelic.com/docs/apm/new-relic-apm/getting-started/get-started-logs-context) (both log decoration and log forwarding) for an account.

For organizations with a [parent/child account structure](https://docs.newrelic.com/docs/accounts/original-accounts-billing/original-users-roles/parent-child-account-structure/), how this works can vary. More details on parent/child account settings are below.

#### Parent account settings

At the parent account level, you can choose to enable or disable APM log forwarding. Any child accounts that have not made their own changes from the default setting (enabled) will automatically inherit any changes made from the parent account. Child accounts that have applied their own changes will **not** be affected by parent account changes.

Parent accounts can also choose to lock or unlock APM log forwarding settings. Locking forces all child accounts to inherit the parent account's enabled or disabled setting, regardless of whether they had previously updated their own enabled or disabled setting. Unlocking allows child accounts to override the parent account's enabled or disabled setting.

#### Child account settings

At the child account level, you can enable or disable APM log forwarding as long as the parent account has not locked this setting. When the parent account locks APM log forwarding, a child account will inherit the parent account's enabled or disabled setting and be unable to make any changes.

![Screenshot of log settings in data management hub UI](https://docs.newrelic.com/images/logs_screenshot-crop_disable-logs.webp "Manage automatic logging settings")

1.  From the [user menu](https://docs.newrelic.com/docs/accounts/accounts-billing/general-account-settings/intro-account-settings) in the New Relic UI, click **Manage your data > Log settings**.
2.  Click the ellipsis **...** menu at the right side of the account's row.
3.  Click the confirmation button to enable or disable and lock or unlock automatic logging (parent accounts) or enable or disable only (child accounts).

    After you disable via the New Relic UI, it may take several minutes for the agent to restart and stop automatic log forwarding.

**Manage via API**

Use the `dataManagementUpdateFeatureSettings` in NerdGraph API explorer: **[one.newrelic.com](https://one.newrelic.com) > All capabilities > Apps > NerdGraph API explorer**. Refer to the populated example and related documentation in the GraphiQL UI.

When you disable or enable via the NerdGraph API, changes should take effect immediately.

**Query example:**

````graphql
{
  actor {
    account(id: YOUR_ACCOUNT_ID_) {
      dataManagement {
        featureSettings {
          enabled
          key
          name
          locked
        }
      }
    }
  }
}
```

<DNT>
  **Mutation example:**
</DNT>

Use this mutation to update each account individually.

```graphql
mutation {
  dataManagementUpdateFeatureSettings(
    accountId: YOUR_ACCOUNT_ID
    setting: {
      enabled: false
      locked: true
      featureSetting: { 
        key: "apm_log_forwarding" 
      }
    }
  ) {
    enabled
    key
    name
    locked
  }
}
```

````

**Disable for APM agents**

If you want to disable automatic log forwarding for some agents and enable it for others, you can adjust each agent's client-side configuration settings. The agents will never instrument the log data in the first place; instead, they will completely remove the logs. You will need to use client-side configuration if you need to lower overhead.

Client-side configuration settings work completely independently of server-side configuration. The config setting to disable auto logging takes precedence even if the server-side configuration takes precedence for the agent (like Ruby) in other situations. Only the agents that read the changed config file will be impacted.

> #### ⚠️ IMPORTANT
>
> Note that disabling log forwarding doesn't affect logging metrics, which are displayed on the **Logs** chart on the APM **Summary** page. For more detail, see [Log metrics](https://docs.newrelic.com/docs/logs/logs-context/get-started-logs-context#apm-logs-defined).

For more on the log forwarding configuration options, see the procedures for a specific APM agent:

-   [Go](https://docs.newrelic.com/docs/logs/logs-context/configure-logs-context-go)
-   [Java](https://docs.newrelic.com/docs/logs/logs-context/java-configure-logs-context-all/#1-agent)
-   [.NET](https://docs.newrelic.com/docs/logs/logs-context/net-configure-logs-context-all/#1-agent)
-   [Node.js](https://docs.newrelic.com/docs/logs/logs-context/configure-logs-context-nodejs/#1-agent)
-   [PHP](https://docs.newrelic.com/docs/logs/logs-context/configure-logs-context-php/#1-agent)
-   [Python](https://docs.newrelic.com/docs/logs/logs-context/configure-logs-context-python/#1-agent)
-   [Ruby](https://docs.newrelic.com/docs/logs/logs-context/configure-logs-context-ruby/#1-agent)

If you need assistance with updating multiple accounts (for example, a parent account with multiple child accounts), contact your New Relic account representative. If you do not have an account rep, get support at [support.newrelic.com](https://support.newrelic.com).

## Frequently asked questions [#FAQs]

**Can I turn off logs from agents prior to installing any language agents?**

Yes. Use the [UI](#disable-ui) or [API](#manage-api) to accomplish this.

**What happens if more agents are added after making this change?**

When automatic log forwarding is disabled via API or UI, all APM language agents that can send logs by default will have logging turned off going forward for that account.

**What impact does this have on client overhead?**

Turning off APM logs means no log data will be forwarded; all other aspects of log inspection remain the same. To completely disable all logging related activity in the agent, change the agent's [client-side configuration](#disable-config) to disable logs.

**How does my billable ingested data change by disabling automatic log forwarding?**

There will be no change in APM data ingest, but log data ingest will drop. For more information about managing your data in New Relic, see our [data ingest documentation](https://docs.newrelic.com/docs/data-apis/manage-data/manage-data-coming-new-relic).