- Defaults to: `0`

### COMPOSE\_PATH\_SEPARATOR

Specifies a different path separator for items listed in `COMPOSE_FILE`.

- Defaults to:
    - On macOS and Linux to `:`
    - On Windows to`;`

### COMPOSE\_IGNORE\_ORPHANS

When enabled, Compose doesn't try to detect orphaned containers for the project.

- Supported values: 
   - `true` or `1`, to enable
   - `false` or `0`, to disable
- Defaults to: `0`

### COMPOSE\_REMOVE\_ORPHANS

When enabled, Compose automatically removes orphaned containers when updating a service or stack. Orphaned containers are those that were created by a previous configuration but are no longer defined in the current `compose.yaml` file.

- Supported values:
   - `true` or `1`, to enable automatic removal of orphaned containers
   - `false` or `0`, to disable automatic removal. Compose displays a warning about orphaned containers instead.
- Defaults to: `0`

### COMPOSE\_PARALLEL\_LIMIT

Specifies the maximum level of parallelism for concurrent engine calls.

### COMPOSE\_ANSI

Specifies when to print ANSI control characters. 

- Supported values:
   - `auto`, Compose detects if TTY mode can be used. Otherwise, use plain text mode
   - `never`, use plain text mode
   - `always` or `0`, use TTY mode
- Defaults to: `auto`

### COMPOSE\_STATUS\_STDOUT

When enabled, Compose writes its internal status and progress messages to `stdout` instead of `stderr`. 
The default value is false to clearly separate the output streams between Compose messages and your container's logs.

- Supported values:
   - `true` or `1`, to enable
   - `false` or `0`, to disable
- Defaults to: `0`

### COMPOSE\_ENV\_FILES

Lets you specify which environment files Compose should use if `--env-file` isn't used.

When using multiple environment files, use a comma as a separator. For example: 

```console
COMPOSE_ENV_FILES=.env.envfile1, .env.envfile2
```

If `COMPOSE_ENV_FILES` is not set, and you don't provide `--env-file` in the CLI, Docker Compose uses the default behavior, which is to look for an `.env` file in the project directory.

### COMPOSE\_MENU

{{< summary-bar feature_name="Compose menu" >}}

When enabled, Compose displays a navigation menu where you can choose to open the Compose stack in Docker Desktop, switch on [`watch` mode](../file-watch.md), or use [Docker Debug](/reference/cli/docker/debug.md).

- Supported values:
   - `true` or `1`, to enable
   - `false` or `0`, to disable
- Defaults to: `1` if you obtained Docker Compose through Docker Desktop, otherwise the default is `0`

### COMPOSE\_EXPERIMENTAL

{{< summary-bar feature_name="Compose experimental" >}}

This is an opt-out variable. When turned off it deactivates the experimental features such as the navigation menu or [Synchronized file shares](/manuals/desktop/features/synchronized-file-sharing.md).

- Supported values:
   - `true` or `1`, to enable
   - `false` or `0`, to disable
- Defaults to: `1`

### COMPOSE\_PROGRESS

{{< summary-bar feature_name="Compose progress" >}}

Defines the type of progress output, if `--progress` isn't used. 

Supported values are `auto`, `tty`, `plain`, `json`, and `quiet`.
Default is `auto`. 

## Unsupported in Compose V2

The following environment variables have no effect in Compose V2.
For more information, see [Migrate to Compose V2](/manuals/compose/releases/migrate.md).

- `COMPOSE_API_VERSION`
    By default the API version is negotiated with the server. Use `DOCKER_API_VERSION`.  
    See the [Docker CLI environment variable reference](/reference/cli/docker/#environment-variables) page.
- `COMPOSE_HTTP_TIMEOUT`
- `COMPOSE_TLS_VERSION`
- `COMPOSE_FORCE_WINDOWS_HOST`
- `COMPOSE_INTERACTIVE_NO_CLI`
- `COMPOSE_DOCKER_CLI_BUILD`
    Use `DOCKER_BUILDKIT` to select between BuildKit and the classic builder. If `DOCKER_BUILDKIT=0` then `docker compose build` uses the classic builder to build images.