Wait
Wait holds the items for a while, then lets them carry on: a reminder two days after the first email, a message held until 7 in the morning, a list sent the day a campaign starts. Everything before it runs and is sent first; the run then waits at the block and carries on by itself when the time comes. A test run does not wait.
In the editor: Holds the items for a while, then lets them carry on: a reminder two days after the first email, or nothing sent before 9 in the morning. Everything before this block runs and is sent first. A test run does not wait.
Settings
Wait
Pick oneHow the wait is set: a length of time, the next time the clock shows a time of day, or a date and time.
- For a length of time From the moment the run reaches the block: 2 hours, 3 days.
- Until a time of day The next time the clock shows this time, today or tomorrow.
- Until a date and time A fixed moment, such as the morning a campaign starts.
How long
A numberHow many minutes, hours or days. The longest wait is 30 days.
Needed before the flow can run.
Counted in
Pick oneWhat the number counts.
Up to 30 days. The run carries on within a minute or two of the time.
- minutes
- hours
- days
Date
A settingThe day to carry on.
If the date has passed when the run gets here, it does not wait.
Needed before the flow can run.
Time
A settingTime zone
A settingThe time zone of the time of day or the date and time. A length of time does not need one.
What comes out
Each item that leaves the block carries these fields, to use in the blocks after it as {{field}}.
The same items, later
The items go on unchanged when the time comes. The run’s step says what happened.
every field: As the items came in.the step says: Waited until 9 Oct, 07:00 (Asia/Singapore); Did not wait: the time had already come; or, in a test run, Would wait 2 days here (a test run does not wait).
How to use it
A reminder two days later
A sales team emails each new prospect’s details to the rep in the morning and wants a nudge on Slack two days later.
Before: Reps forgot half the follow ups.
With the flow: Every list comes back to the rep two days later, on its own.
Found overnight, sent at 07:00
A courier company checks road closures every night but does not want to wake the fleet team.
Until a time of day holds the email until the next 07:00 in the time zone you pick.
Held until launch day
An agency prepares a list of partner shops for a client’s campaign but may only share it the morning the campaign starts.
A list for a review, then the sheet
A retailer posts new competitor openings to managers right away and adds them to the planning sheet the following Monday.
A second visit a week later
Each webhook call starts its own run, and each run waits its own 7 days.
Spread messages out
A delivery app sends restaurant leads to two teams but does not want both to call in the same hour.
Good to know
- Only real runs wait. A test run goes straight through and says how long a real run would wait.
- Everything before the block runs and is sent first; what comes after waits. Other branches of the flow are not held.
- The time is fixed when the run first reaches the block. If it has already passed, or nothing reaches the block, it does not wait.
- The run carries on within a minute or two of the time. While it waits, it shows as waiting: Carry on now lets it go at once, Cancel stops it.
- Items a waiting run holds count as found for Only new, so the next run does not send them twice.
- The longest wait is 30 days. A flow run by Run another flow cannot contain a Wait.
- Wait is free.
Works well with
- Approval: Stops the run until someone says yes.
- Only new: Lets through only the items this flow has not found before, so a daily flow sends only what is new.
- Email: Sends one email per run with all the items, or one email per item.
- Slack: Channel-based messaging platform
- Schedule: Starts the flow on a timetable.
- Run another flow: Runs one of your other flows with the items that reach this block, once with all of them or once for each (a loop), and can carry on with what that flow found.
- Branch: Splits items in two.
- Traffic incidents: Road closures, roadworks and other incidents on online maps right now, with where they are.
Templates that use it
- Welcome offers for newly opened businesses: A welcome offer for every new business, into HubSpot, with a follow-up three days later.
- Installer partners, vetted, with a follow-up: Top-rated electricians and solar installers, vetted from their ratings, with a reminder to follow up.
- Offices near my gyms for corporate memberships: Offices closest to your gyms, their HR manager in HubSpot, and a reminder to follow up.
Stories with it
- A reading tutor down the street, for every new child (Education charity)
- Trucks that arrive when the boxes do (Container haulage)
Help articles
- Wait, and runs that carry on later: Pause a run for a time, until a time or a date.
Industries that use it
Marketing & agencies · Energy & EV · Fitness, beauty & wellness
Try it
Build a flow with Wait on the home page, no account needed, or book a call. Try it live