How to bulk update or schedule flow statuses

You will learn

Learn how to change the statuses of multiple actions in a flow simultaneously in the flow builder. For example, you can set a flow live, switch its actions to draft to pause them, or switch them to manual to review messages before they send.

There are 2 options when updating flow statuses:

1. Update flow statuses immediately.
2. Schedule flow statuses to update at a specific date and time.

There are several reasons to schedule flow statuses to update at a specific date and time instead of immediately. Examples include:

• Setting a flow live for a promotional event that should switch to draft after the event ends.
• Deprecating an old flow and replacing it with a new one at a specific time.
• Temporarily setting a flow to manual while your store undergoes maintenance.

You can also schedule multiple status changes across different dates and times if needed. Schedule changes at least 5 minutes apart; changes closer together cannot be saved.

Understand how bulk status changes affect a flow

Before changing the status of a flow’s existing actions, understand what each status means when applied in bulk.

• All statuses are Live
  The flow is fully live and messages will be sent immediately after any time delays.
• All statuses are Draft
  No one will enter the flow.
• All statuses are Manual
  All messages and other actions require approval before sending. Profiles will be scheduled in the action’s Needs Review queue before manual approval. They will move through the flow as normal with respect to time delays, but the messages won’t send until approved. Learn more about how to manually send flow messages to recipients.

For more information, learn more about the timeline of a flow.

Update flow statuses immediately

To update all flow action statuses immediately:

1. Open the flow you want to update in the flow builder.
2. Click Review and turn on or Update status in the top right corner. If the flow already has scheduled status changes, click Edit next to Current status in the panel that opens.

3. From the dropdown, choose the new status for all existing actions: Draft, Manual, or Live. If you opened Review and turn on, you can choose Manual or Live; Draft is not offered there.

4. If the Flow status options choices appear, select Update status now.
5. Click Save.

Schedule flow statuses to update

To schedule a bulk status update:

1. Open the flow you want to update in the flow builder.
2. Click Update status or Review and turn on in the top right corner. If the flow already has scheduled status changes, click Add status change in Status details.
3. From the dropdown, choose the status for the scheduled change: Draft, Manual, or Live. If you opened Review and turn on, you can choose Manual or Live; Draft is not offered there.
4. If the Flow status options choices appear, select Schedule. If you clicked Add status change, continue to the date and time fields.
5. Choose a date, time, and timezone.
   

6. Click Save.

The panel will display an overview of the scheduled status changes. From here you can edit, delete, or add more status changes.

Edit or delete a status change

To edit or delete an existing status change:

1. Click Update Status in the flow builder.
2. In the Update status panel, click the action button (3 dots) next to the status change.
   

3. Choose Edit to change the status, date, time, or timezone, then click Save. Or choose Delete and confirm by clicking Delete in the confirmation dialog.

Add another status change

To add another status change to the schedule:

1. In the flow builder, click Update status, then click Add status change in Status details.
2. Choose the status for the new change, then select its date, time, and timezone.
3. Click Save.

You can now view the updated status schedule in the Update status panel.

How to see upcoming status changes

Navigate back to the Flows tab to see any flows with upcoming status changes listed underneath the flow’s current status.

How to review past status changes

To review past status changes:

1. In the top bar, click the View flow history icon.

Learn more about reviewing a flow's history.

Outcome

You now understand how to change the statuses of flow actions in bulk, either immediately or by scheduling future changes. You can use these changes to pause actions, require manual review of messages, or turn on automatic sending.

Additional resources