# Pause a flow or widget

You'll stop a flow from running without deleting its questions or forms, then turn it back on when you're ready.

Available on the Grow, Scale, and Pro plans.

You can stop a flow without losing the questions, forms, and settings you've built. For a widget-based flow, disable every widget that shows it and publish the change. A system flow runs without a widget, so you'll turn off its background execution instead.

You'll need permission to edit the project and publish. Draft changes won't stop what's already live until you publish them.

## Find every widget that uses the flow

Open **Flows** and find the flow. You can search by its name or an attached widget's name. Check the widgets listed beside it, then confirm what each one is assigned to show.

A flow can appear in more than one widget. Pausing its toaster doesn't pause an embedded version. A duplicated flow is separate and needs its own check too.

## Turn the widgets off

1. Open **Widgets**.
2. Open each widget assigned to the flow and turn **Enabled** off.
3. Review the project's pending changes.
4. Choose **Publish** and publish the change.
5. Visit the affected pages normally and check that each widget has stopped appearing.

![Widget name, rename pencil and Enabled toggle](https://rightmessage.com/help/screens/builders-widget-header.light.webp)

Disabling a widget keeps its display settings, stored visitor answers, and reusable form content. You can still edit the flow while it's paused.

## Stop a system flow

A published system flow doesn't have a widget enable switch. To stop it:

1. Open the flow's **Settings**.
2. Turn **System Flow** off.
3. Check that the flow has no enabled attached widget.
4. Review the pending project changes, then choose **Publish** and publish.
5. Open a fresh page view where the system flow previously ran and check that its background action no longer runs.

Turning off **System Flow** stops automatic execution without a widget after publication. It won't undo variables, segment assignments, contact updates, or webhooks that already ran. Check for new executions rather than expecting old data to disappear.

If you can't change the switch, its explanation tells you whether display nodes or widget attachments are blocking it. Attached widgets must be detached, not just disabled. The [system flows guide](https://rightmessage.com/help/system-flows) covers these rules.

## Stop only one path

If you want to exclude one audience rather than pause the whole flow, put **Exit Flow** on that audience's branch. Place it before every display or action step you want to stop. An exit at the beginning prevents a regular flow from reaching any later steps.

![Flow exit node in the Blog visitor journey](https://rightmessage.com/help/screens/builders-node-exit.light.webp)

Test both the excluded and allowed paths, then publish. An action before the exit can still run.

## Check that it's paused

Test the published configuration on a fresh, ordinary page visit. For a widget flow, check every attached widget on the relevant pages and devices. For a system flow, check a page that previously matched its condition and see whether a new action runs.

Don't force a widget open as part of this check. The debugger's test controls can override normal display rules.

When no attached widget appears and no new background action runs, the flow is paused. You don't need to delete it. If you're removing it permanently, the [flow deletion reference](https://rightmessage.com/help/flow-settings-reference) explains which widgets and shared resources each deletion choice keeps.

## Turn it back on

Enable only the widgets you want to resume, or restore **System Flow** for a background flow. Review the full project draft and publish. Publishing can include other edits, so keep unfinished flows' widgets disabled.

The widget's saved settings and remembered visitor answers still apply when it resumes. Next, check the live pages again to make sure the intended visitors see it.