---
title: "Re-entry, existing contacts, and editing a live flow"
description: Control who can enter a flow again, add existing contacts by hand, and change, pause, stop or delete a flow people are already in.
url: "https://hiveplugins.com/docs/hive-mail-re-entry-existing-contacts-and-editing-live-flows/"
updated: "2026-10-28"
category: Hive Mail
---

# Re-entry, existing contacts, and editing a live flow

## Who can enter again

Click an empty place on the canvas to open **This flow**. **Who can enter again** has three choices (default **Once**):

| Choice | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| **Once** | A person goes through this flow once, ever. |
| **Once per thing** | Once for each tag, list, order or email that starts it: the same one never twice. |
| **Every time** | Every time the trigger fires, but never while they are still in the flow. |

What counts as a "thing" depends on the trigger; see [Triggers](/docs/hive-mail-triggers/). For triggers whose events are always new (status changes, tag removed, leaves a list, a field changes, unsubscribes), "Once per thing" restarts at every event; pick **Every time** to avoid entering while still inside.

![The This flow panel with the three Who can enter again options](https://hiveplugins.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/hivemail-automation-reentry-01.webp)

Hive Mail remembers who entered by keeping each person's run, and finished runs are deleted 30 days after they end. So "Once" means once until 30 days after the run finished; after that the same person can enter again.

## Add existing contacts

Triggers react only to new events, so people who subscribed before the flow was switched on are not included. The flow must be **On**.

**From the Flows list**

1. Open the row menu of the flow and click **Add people…**.
2. In **Add people to "{flow}"**, choose **Lists**, **Tags** and/or **Segments**.
3. Wait for "{n} people can be added." (only subscribed people are counted), then click **Add them to the flow**.

![The Add people dialog with its Lists, Tags and Segments choices](https://hiveplugins.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/hivemail-automation-add-people-02.webp)

**From a contact's profile:** in the **Automations** card click **Add to a flow**, pick a flow (only flows that are On are listed) and click **Add**. The result reads "Added: the flow takes them from its first step within a minute." or "Not added: already in that flow, or it lets people in only once."

This runs as a background job, so people appear within a minute or so. People already inside, or blocked by the re-entry rule, are left out. See [The contact profile](/docs/hive-mail-contact-profile/).

## Edit a flow that is On

You can change an On flow at any time; changes save automatically.

- People already inside finish the version they started on. Your changes apply to people who enter from now on. The Flows list shows "version {n}" above 1 and the top bar shows "{n} on an earlier version". There is no screen to browse earlier versions.
- If a change leaves a red problem, Hive Mail pauses the flow: "The flow was paused: this change left it with problems. Fix them and switch it on again."

## Pause, stop, duplicate, delete

| Action | What it does | Where |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Pause** | Nobody new enters and nobody moves. Switch on again and everyone carries on. | The on/off switch |
| **Stop** | Everyone leaves where they are and the flow becomes a Draft. Switching on starts from scratch. | Row menu **Stop**, or **More > Stop the flow…** |
| **Duplicate** | Makes "Copy of {name}" as a Draft with the same steps and settings. Does not copy people or the incoming webhook address. | Row menu |
| **Delete** | Removes the flow, its runs and their logs for good. Emails already sent stay in the Sending log. | Row menu; disabled while people are in the flow, so stop it first |

To stop one person, open their run (Runs & Logs or the people drawer) and click **Stop this run**. That is final for that run.

Unsubscribing, bouncing or becoming suppressed does not end a run: marketing emails are skipped with a reason in the log. If a contact is deleted for good, their runs and logs are deleted too.

> **Warning:** **Stop** removes everyone at once and **Delete** cannot be undone. Pause if you only need to hold things for a while. Use **Duplicate** before a big change; it is the only way to keep an earlier shape.

Next: [Runs & Logs and flow reports](/docs/hive-mail-runs-and-logs-and-flow-reports/), [Segments](/docs/hive-mail-segments/).