---
title: "Save, run and copy a strategy"
description: "One header button saves a strategy and runs its backtest; Duplicate and Copy to Mine make a copy. Why a run is refused, and what fixes each refusal."
canonical_url: "https://fincanva.com/docs/strategies/save-run-and-copy-a-strategy"
last_updated: "2026-10-07"
md_url: "https://fincanva.com/docs/strategies/save-run-and-copy-a-strategy.md"
---

# Save, run and copy a strategy

One button in a [strategy](/glossary/strategy)'s header saves and runs it — **Save** while you have unsaved changes, **Backtest** once they are saved — and **Duplicate** or **Copy to Mine** makes a copy.

A strategy's action row: the Backtest button beside the controls hub, which reads All clear when no check stands in the run's way, with a tick for each section.

## Steps

1. **Change a setting.** On the strategy's **Settings**, change a key or a card — see [Edit a strategy's settings](/docs/strategies/edit-a-strategy-s-settings). The header's primary button switches to **Save** as soon as there is an unsaved change.
2. **Save.** Select **Save**. A "Saved" toast confirms it; if the write fails you see "Couldn't save — try again." and the button reads **Retry save** — select it again.
3. **Run the backtest.** With nothing left to save, the same button reads **Backtest**: select it to run the strategy's saved version. While the run works the button reads "Backtesting…", with the percentage once progress is known. A refused run states why — see [Why was my run refused?](#why-was-my-run-refused)
4. **Duplicate a strategy you own.** Select **Duplicate** in the header's **⋯** menu, or in the strategy's row menu in your **Single** or **Combined** library list. The copy takes the original's name with "(copy)" appended and a "Strategy duplicated" toast confirms it; from the header, the copy opens.
5. **Copy a Public strategy to edit it.** A Public strategy's header has no **Save**: its only action is **Copy to Mine**, which adds an editable copy to your library — "Copied to your strategies" — instead of opening it. Change and save that copy.

**Done.** The header button reads **Backtest** again, **Settings** shows your change and the new result replaces the old one when the run ends. A duplicate or a copy is an independent strategy that starts from the last saved version: editing, saving or deleting it never touches the original — see [Duplicate and Copy to Mine](/glossary/duplicate-and-copy-to-mine).

## Why was my run refused?

Because a setup check failed, and the message names it and where to fix it. Every way of starting a run asks the same checks — the header's **Backtest**, **Run** in your library list, **Retry backtest** on a failed run, the re-run on an analysis or Positions page — and a control that would be refused is often unavailable already, carrying the same reason.

| What is missing | The message you see |
|---|---|
| Instruments | "Add at least 1 instrument before running this strategy." — the count your [strategy type](/glossary/strategy-type) requires. |
| A [screener](/glossary/screener) | "Add at least 1 screener before running this strategy." |
| A second [strategy in a Combined](/glossary/sub-strategy) | "Add one more sub-strategy to run this Combined." — the count is how many it is short of two; see [Incomplete Combined](/glossary/incomplete-combined). |
| Two strategies switched on in a [Combined](/glossary/combined) | "Running this needs 2 sub-strategies switched on." — a strategy kept aside does not count. |
| A [blocking alert](/glossary/strategy-alerts#which-alerts-can-appear-and-what-fixes-each-one) | The alert's own sentence — a [risk condition](/glossary/risk-condition) with no Risk-Off, [Fixed weights](/glossary/fixed-weights) under a screener, a [calculation window](/glossary/calculation-window) the method refuses (fixed by [equal weights](/glossary/equal-weights), say). The no-instruments one is left out when the checks above already refused. |

Each message ends with where to fix it — "Fix it in Sub-strategies.", for example: **Asset selection**, **Allocation**, **Risk conditions** or **Sub-strategies**. Open it, fix what it names, and run again. If Fincanva cannot name the cause, it says "This strategy can't run yet; fix the highlighted issue first".

## What if a strategy's saved settings can't be read?

The run is refused with "This strategy's saved settings can't be read, so it can't run. Create it again as a new strategy, or contact support." It names no place to fix it: the stored strategy is damaged, and no step in the editor can show what it held. The same sentence can answer **Save**, because a save that would replace those settings with nothing is refused rather than allowed to erase them.

## Why is Backtest disabled on a Combined?

A Combined needs at least two strategies switched on to run. With fewer, **Backtest** stays disabled: open the Combined's **Settings**, add a strategy on its **Sub-strategies** card with **Add sub-strategy** — or switch a kept-aside one back on — then run it.

## Can I see previous versions of a strategy?

Not today: Fincanva keeps no version history you can browse or restore. To keep a strategy's current state before a risky change, select **Duplicate** first — the copy is independent, so the original stays exactly as it was.

Fincanva is for education and illustration only. It is not personalised financial advice, and past or simulated results do not predict future ones. [Read the Terms Addendum](https://fincanva.com/terms/addendum#section-3)