Survey lifecycle and status
3 min read
Manage Draft, Active and Archived Surveys without compromising response history.
Choose the action that matches your intention
A survey's setup selection, sending rules, status and history are different things. Before changing one, open the survey's Sending section and check its connected rules. Do not assume an inactive rule has never been used.
Remove from setup
In Step 4, use Remove from setup in the journey's column. Explicitly choose whether each connected rule should keep its current state or stop future sending. Removing the selection preserves the survey, reviews, translations, invitations and responses. A rule you keep active can continue independently; removal is not a hidden stop switch.
Stop future sending
Use the explicit stop action for the connected rule. This disables future automatic work while retaining schedules and delivery history. Repeating stop is safe. Queued initial and reminder work checks the current rule/survey state before delivery; a message already being delivered cannot be recalled.
Draft and Active
Draft is for preparation. Active allows valid guest invitations to use the survey, subject to access and readiness. Activation alone does not turn an inactive automation on. Moving an active survey back to Draft stops its connected automations and clears default status. Review Sending separately before enabling future delivery again.
Archive
Archive retains content and history and explicitly stops connected automatic sending. Remove a selected survey from setup first and resolve the sending choices. An archived survey is unavailable for new guest access; the current tenant interface does not provide an archive restore action.
Permanent delete
The Surveys card's Delete action opens a lifecycle review. It is not permission to erase used records. Permanent deletion is offered only when no protected references remain. Invitations/responses, configured automation rules, setup receipts, translations, preparation and related operational history can block deletion—even when there are no responses yet.
Read the reason and use the available safe alternative. Do not attempt to delete history to make the button available. When an unused survey is eligible, confirmation permanently removes it and cannot be undone.
Existing links and responses
Inactive/archived survey status prevents new public survey access even if an invitation token still exists. Expiry or revocation independently makes an invitation unusable. Completed responses preserve the content and metric meaning captured at submission; changing today's survey does not rewrite those snapshots.
To add another survey in setup, use ＋ Add survey in its journey and review it explicitly. See Seven-step setup, Automations and Survey responses.
With multiple surveys in a journey, Remove from setup removes only that survey’s assignment. Sibling surveys stay selected. Removal does not move a survey to Draft; a template clone starts Draft, review acceptance is separate, and Go live activates the selected surveys.