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# Setting an Expiration for a Flow

When contacts are inactive in a flow, you may want to automatically remove them after a certain period. You can do this by setting an expiration. 

First, enter your flow's editor and click the ☰ menu icon and choose "Edit".  

![](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/-/7/a/9/f/7a9fc4558a9de000/screenshot-2026-07-27-at-12422_i2x3ab.png)
Next, choose an expiration time from the dropdown menu.  

![](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/7a9fc4558a9de000/screenshot-2024-12-12-at-12581_1a3kxcl.png)

You can expire inactive contacts after 5 minutes or up to 2 weeks after entering the flow. Note that if you do not set an expiration yourself, a flow will automatically expire after 3 days by default. 

###### Session Expirations

Session expiration is the overall time limit on flow sessions. After a contact initially enters a flow, the session begins. A flow can potentially contain infinite loops or child flows that return the contact back to the parent flow repeatedly. Without session expirations, a contact could infinitely stay in a flow. For this reason, TextIt will only allow a contact to be active in a session for up to 30 days.
 
**'Wait for Response' Timeouts**

What if a contact is unresponsive in a flow? You can [set timeouts for individual responses](/en/article/adding-timeouts-to-a-flow-1e2oodi/), allowing you to respond directly to inactive contacts.