Workflows | Frequently Asked Questions

Find answers and general information quickly about the workflows tool in HubSpot.

General

Can I set my workflow to automatically expire or turn off?

No, the workflow will need to be turned off manually to stop the automation.

When a workflow is turned off, objects that meet the enrollment triggerswon't be enrolled in the workflow. Objects that are still in the workflow will continue through the workflow, but any actions apart from delays will not be executed.

Learn more about how to turn off your workflow and how it impacts objects in the workflow.

Why was my action skipped because of an "infinite loop"?

When you view your workflow history, you may see that an action was skipped to prevent an infinite loop. 

This indicates that your workflow has an action to create a record that also meets the enrollment criteria of the same workflow. If this record was allowed to be created, it will be enrolled and lead to the same action that creates a new record, which also will meet the same enrollment criteria. This creates an "infinite loop" and the workflow will create records non-stop.

HubSpot prevents this action from occurring so that the workflow will not create records indefinitely. When you encounter such an error, review your workflow to ensure that new records created will not meet the enrollment criteria of the workflow.

Enrollment triggers

Why aren't existing objects that meet a workflow's enrollment triggers being enrolled in the workflow after turning it on?

Before activating your workflow, there is an option on the Review screen that asks if existing objects should be enrolled once the workflow is turned on.

If this option is set to No, only enroll objects which meet the trigger criteria after turning the workflow on, then any existing contacts, companies, deals, quotes, or tickets will not be enrolled automatically even if they currently meet the criteria. The only objects that will be enrolled are the ones that change to meet the enrollment triggers after the workflow is turned on. 

When you change the enrollment triggers in any active workflow, a dialog box will appear for you to choose to immediately enroll any existing objects that meet the updated enrollment triggers. If you have a Marketing Hub Starter, Professional, or Enterprise account, you can view a list of contacts that will be enrolled once the workflow is enabled by clicking Use lists to see these contacts. 

This will redirect you to a new static list based on the workflow enrollment criteria. The list will automatically be saved and can be accessed from your lists dashboard (Contacts > Lists).

Learn more about enrolling existing contacts who meet the enrollment triggers in contact-based workflows, and enrolling existing objects that meet the enrollment triggers in company-based, deal-based, ticket-based, or quote-based workflows.

Why aren't previously enrolled objects that meet a workflow's enrollment triggers again being re-enrolled in the workflow?

By default, objects are only enrolled in workflows the first time they meet the workflow enrollment triggers or are enrolled manually. Learn how to add re-enrollment triggers to allow objects to be re-enrolled in a workflow.

 

What happens when I edit an active list used in a workflow's enrollment triggers? (Marketing Hub Professional and Enterprise only)

When you edit the filters in an active list used in an active workflow's enrollment triggers, then attempt to save the list, a dialog box will appear for you to choose if existing contacts that meet the newly updated list criteria should be immediately enrolled in the workflow.

 

Actions

Why are my workflow actions not executing at the expected time?

When a large number of objects are being enrolled in a workflow or executing an action at the same time, the workflow may be throttled. When a workflow is throttled, actions will not execute immediately, but in a queue as objects are processed.

In Center on a date or Center on a date property contact-based workflows, this may cause contacts to miss the first action if it's scheduled shortly after they're enrolled in the workflow. To avoid this, you can enroll your contacts in advance, or schedule the first action at a later time relative to the date or date property.

 

What happens to objects in a workflow when I add more workflow actions?

The impact of a new workflow action on objects that are active in the workflow depends on where they are in the workflow relative to the new action.

If an object is active in a workflow at a step before the action is added, they will be scheduled for it when they reach that new action in the workflow. If an object is active in a workflow at a step after the action is added, they will not complete the new action.

For example, in a workflow with two actions, when a new action is added between the first action and second action:

• Object A was scheduled for the original first action. They will be scheduled for the new (now second) action after they execute the first action.
• Object B was scheduled for the original second action. They will not be scheduled for the new action after they execute the original second (now third) action, and will complete the workflow.

 

Why is the rotate leads action in my workflow delayed for 10 minutes for new contacts?

If the Assign company owner to contact by default setting is enabled, you'll see an alert when you add a Rotate leads action to a contact-based workflow: New contacts will take about 10 minutes to be processed because the contact and company owner sync is enabled.

When a new HubSpot contact is created, and ownership is synced between contacts and companies, it may take some time for the contact to be associated with a company, and then for the company's owner to sync to the contact. As a result, new contacts will be delayed for 10 minutes before executing the Rotate leads action, to allow sufficient time for the contact-company association to take place and ownership to sync.

 

Why are some of my marketing emails not available to be sent in workflows? (Marketing Hub Professional and Enterprise only)

Only marketing emails that have been saved for automation can be sent in workflows. If a marketing email is a draft or has been previously sent to a list of recipients, it will not appear for selection in the Send email action.

 

Delays

What happens to objects waiting in a workflow delay when the delay is deleted?

Please note: in contact-based workflows created after August 5, 2019, deleting a delay will immediately send all contacts in the delay to the next action. Learn more about the differences in new contact-based workflows.

Contact-based workflows

The impact on contacts waiting in a delay that is deleted in a contact-based workflow depends on whether the delay is the first action in the workflow, and if there are other delays further down in the workflow:

• Delay is the first action: contacts in the deleted delay will complete the delay as originally scheduled, then proceed through the rest of the workflow.
• Delay is not the first action:
  • If there are no other delays further down in the workflow, contacts in the deleted delay will complete the delay as originally scheduled, then be unenrolled from the workflow.
  • If there are other delays further down in the workflow, contacts in the deleted delay will complete the delay as originally scheduled, skip the action(s) following the deleted delay, and move to the next delay.

Company-based, deal-based, ticket-based, or quote-based workflows

When you delete a delay in a company-based, deal-based, ticket-based, or quote-based workflow, objects waiting in the delay will immediately skip the delay, and proceed through the rest of the workflow.

 

What happens to objects waiting in a workflow delay when the delay timing is changed?

Contact-based workflows

Please note: in contact-based workflows created after August 5, 2019, editing a delay will immediately reschedule all contacts in the delay. When you extend a delay, contacts in the delay will be rescheduled to wait longer. When a delay is edited to be an amount of time that contacts have already waited, contacts will exit the delay and skip the next action. Learn more about the differences in new contact-based workflows.

The impact on contacts waiting in a delay that is changed in a contact-based workflow depends on whether the new delay length is shorter or longer than the original delay:

• Longer delay: the contact will complete the delay as originally scheduled, then be rescheduled for the remainder of the new delay length. For example, if the original delay length is 1 hour, and the new delay length is 2 hours, the contact will first continue to complete the original delay of 1 hour. When the original delay length is complete, the delay will be rescheduled for another 1 hour, for a total of 2 hours.
• Shorter delay: the contact will complete the delay as originally scheduled. For example, if the original delay length is 2 hours, and the new delay length is 1 hour, the contact will continue to complete the original delay of 2 hours.