Delay is a tool that allows you to put your Zap on hold for a specified amount of time before your actions run. You can use delays to set up scheduled emails, get notified of incomplete tasks, send automatic follow-ups, and automate other tasks on your timeline.
Using this tool does not count towards your task usage.
Available on plans:
Free
Pro
Team
Enterprise
There are three types of Zap delays:
- Delay for: pause your Zap from continuing for X amount of time.
- Delay until: pause your Zap until X time.
- Delay after queue: add Zap runs to a queue. Runs are then processed one by one in the order they were added, with a delay for X amount of time between each Zap run in the queue.
Choose the right delay type
| Delay type | What it does | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| Delay For | Pauses the Zap for a set amount of time (for example, 1 hour). All runs that reach this step wait the same duration. | You need a fixed wait before the next action, like sending a follow-up email 1 week after a form submission. |
| Delay Until | Pauses the Zap until a specific date and time. | You need an action to run at a specific time, like sending a meeting reminder at 9 AM. |
| Delay After Queue | Adds runs to a queue and processes them one at a time with a delay between each run. | Multiple runs hit the same app at once, causing rate limit errors, blank rows, duplicates, or record conflicts. |
NoteIf your Zap fails because too many runs hit the same app at once, use Delay After Queue instead of Delay For. Delay For pauses all runs for the same duration, so they resume and hit the app at the same time. Delay After Queue spaces out runs so they process one at a time. Learn more about rate limits and throttling in Zaps.
Delay for
Use Delay for pause your Zap from continuing for X amount of time. This is helpful when you want a delay between when a Zap triggers and when subsequent actions run. For example, when someone submits an inquiry form on your website, you can delay sending them a follow-up email for 1 week.
- In the Zap outline, click the Action step or the plus sign + to add a new action. A dialog box will open.
- Search for and select Delay.
- In the App & event tab, click the Event dropdown menu and select Delay For.
- Click Continue.
- In the Time Delayed For (value) field, enter the amount of time (in numbers) the Zap should delay for before it moves on to the next step.
- You can enter a static number value or map a number field from a previous step.
- Click the Time Delayed For (unit) dropdown menu and select a unit of time.
- Click Continue.
Delay until
Use Delay until to pause your Zap until X time. This is helpful when you want to run actions at a specific time, like sending attendees of your 10 AM meeting a reminder notification at 9 AM.
- In the Zap outline, click the Action step or the plus sign + to add a new action.
- Search for and select Delay.
- In the App & event tab, click the Event dropdown menu and select Delay Until.
- Click Continue.
- In the Date/Time Delayed Until field, enter the date and time the Zap should delay until before it moves on to the next step.
- You can enter a static date and time or map a date/time field from a previous step.
- In the How Should We Handle Dates In The Past? field, select an option for how Zapier should handle instances where the date has already passed when the Delay Until step is reached:
- Continue if it’s up to 15 minutes.
- Continue if it’s up to one hour.
- Continue if it’s up to one day (default).
- Always continue.
- Click Continue.
Delay after queue
The Delay After Queue action allows you to create a queue of actions to run at a later time. When a Zap is triggered, it adds actions to the queue, which are then processed one by one in the order they were added. A delay is applied between each set of actions, and the entire Zap is further delayed after the last delay in the queue.
This option is useful for managing the rate imposed by apps or preventing conflicts when multiple Zaps try to update the same record simultaneously.
Add a Delay After Queue action to your Zap:
- In the Zap outline, click the Action step or the plus sign + to add a new action.
- In the search box, search for and select Delay. The right sidebar will open to the Setup tab.
- Click the Action event field to open the dropdown menu.
- Select the Delay After Queue.
- Click Continue.
- (Optional) In the Queue Title field, enter a title for your queue. Learn more about sharing queues across Zaps.
- In the Time Delayed For (value) field, enter the amount of time (in numbers) the Zap should hold a task for.
- You can enter a static number value or map a number field from a previous step.
- Click the Time Delayed For (unit) dropdown menu and select a unit of time.
- Click Continue.
Tasks can be held for a maximum of one month (30 days). The maximum number of tasks in a queue depends on the specified delay time.
For example, with a one-day delay, the queue can hold up to 30 tasks. If the 31st task is added within this period, it will error the delay step as its scheduled time exceeds the maximum hold time.
The Delay After Queue action can help avoid app throttles by spacing out the timing of tasks, but Zaps must still adhere to Zap rate limits. It cannot entirely prevent throttling. Learn more about rate limits and throttling in Zaps.
Sharing queues across Zaps
You can share queues across multiple Zaps by using the same queue name.
When Zaps share a queue, tasks that arrive at the same time are processed one at a time, in the order they are received.
This means Zapier cannot guarantee that steps using the Delay after Queue action will always run simultaneously. Slowdowns in Zapier’s infrastructure and auto or manual Zap run replays after errors may cause some steps to still run at the same time. Additionally, the time between tasks may not exactly match the delay set in your Zap (e.g. 1 minute).
Zapier recommends you share queues when you want tasks across Zaps to run one at a time.
Limitations
- Tasks can be held for a maximum time of one month (30 days).
- The shortest delay you can set for a Zap is 1 minute.
- Your Zap must be on for the Delay to run. Any actions scheduled to run while a Zap is off won’t run when you turn your Zap on again.
- Delay releases instantly when:
- The Date/Time Delay Until value is set in the past.
- The Time Delayed For value is 0 or a negative number.
- If you change any part of your Zap during a delay, your Zap will not continue once the Zap resumes. We define change as switching actions, replacing apps, add steps or delete steps.
- If you replay a Zap run, any Delay For steps that did not run yet will start when the Zap is replayed.
After setting up your delay, click Test step and check if the date matches the delay conditions you’ve set up.
TipIf you want your action(s) to run based on a recurring event that doesn't occur at fixed intervals, you can create a recurring event in Google Calendar and add a Google Calendar action to schedule your action(s).