Go Back to previous step in browser

Go Back adds a button to a step so the person completing a workflow can return to an earlier step in the same browser, fix a mistake, and continue without restarting. For example, a person who spots a mistake on a document at the signature step can return to the form, correct the entry, and sign again.

Important: Go Back returns the current person to a step they already completed. It does not send the workflow to a different person.

Key capabilities

• Return to the previous step: The person completing the workflow can go back to the nearest earlier step they completed. Steps in between that run in the background, such as a Document step, are not shown to the person.
• Saved answers: The earlier step reopens with the answers the person last submitted, so they can correct a value instead of retyping everything.
• Custom button label: Change the button text to match your process, for example "Edit my answers."
• No restart: The workflow session keeps running. The person does not start a new session.
• No new invitation email: When the earlier step reopens, the person continues in the same browser window and does not receive a new invitation email.

Turn on Go Back for a step

Turn on Go Back for the step where you want the button to appear. The button appears on the step the person is leaving, and it returns them to an earlier step.

The steps below use a Sign step.

1. Open the project in the workflow builder.
2. Open the step where you want the button to appear.
3. Select the Settings tab.
4. Select Allow returning to the previous step.
5. Optional: Under Customize the label your user sees, change the button text. The default is Go back.
6. Publish the project.

When the box is cleared, the button does not appear for the person completing the workflow.

When allowed, the user will see the button at the top of step and the button is editable

Note: If the toggle is greyed out. The setting is unavailable on the first step of a workflow because there is no earlier step to return to.

Go Back is available on every step the person completing the workflow sees: Sign, Forms, Data Capture, and Pages steps.

Use Go Back in a workflow

This example uses a workflow with a form, a Document step, and a Sign step.

1. The person completes the form and submits it.
2. The person opens the document on the Sign step. The document is filled in with the form answers.
3. The person sees a mistake and selects Go back at the top of the screen.
4. The form reopens with the answers the person submitted.
5. The person corrects the entry and submits the form again.
6. The workflow runs forward again. The Document step generates a new document, and the person returns to the Sign step to review and sign it.

How Go Back behaves

• Only completed steps count. Go Back returns to the nearest earlier step the person finished. A step that was opened but never submitted is skipped.
• One click goes back one step. Select Go back again on the reopened step to go back further.
• Repeat visits count once. If a person has completed the same step several times, Go Back goes to the most recent visit and then continues to the step before it. The answers shown are from the most recent time the step was submitted.
• The person only sees steps with a screen. Go Back returns to the nearest earlier step the person can see. Steps that run in the background, such as Document, Logic, Merge, Notification, or Deliver Data, are not shown to the person. Go Back does not undo them. After the person resubmits, they run again in the background. For example, data a Deliver Data step already sent stays sent, and the step sends again.
• The step you leave is not completed. When someone goes back, the step they were on is left unfinished, and the workflow session stays active.

Feature considerations

Who can go back

• Same person only: Go Back works only when the same person completed both the step they are on and the step they are returning to. If a different person completed the earlier step, the button does not appear.
• No going back as someone else: Go Back does not send a workflow to a different participant.

What runs again

• Steps after the corrected step run again. After the person resubmits, later steps run as they normally do. The system does not undo, update, or remove the results of earlier runs.
• Documents: A Document step creates another file.
• Notifications and outbound actions: Notification, email, SMS, chat, and webhook steps that come after the corrected step send again.
• File uploads and record writes: Steps that upload files or write rows, events, or records to another system, including Deliver Data steps, run again and create new results.
• Mapped values update: If the person changes a value that a later step uses, the later step shows the new value. Other answers the person entered on that later step stay filled in.

Sign steps

• Before the first signer signs: A person can leave a Sign step only while the first participant is active and has not signed. After a signature is collected, Go Back is not available on that step.
• New signing request after a correction: After the corrected step is resubmitted, the workflow creates a new signing request.

Troubleshooting

The Go Back button does not appear

Check each item:

• Setting turned off: Open the step you want the button on and confirm Allow returning to the previous step is selected.
• First step: The button does not appear on the first step of a workflow.
• Different person: The person on the current step must be the same person who completed the earlier step.
• Already signed: On a Sign step, the button is not available after the first participant signs.

The earlier step opened but my answers are missing

The step shows answers from the most recent time it was submitted. A step that was opened but never submitted has no saved answers.

I received two documents or two emails after going back

This is expected. Steps after the corrected step run again when the person resubmits, so a new document is generated and notifications send again.