Flow Forms emails people as a submission moves through your workflow. This page is about configuring that on the form: what goes out on its own, how to rewrite it, and how to quiet it when it's too much. For recipient types, the Notification Center, and SMS opt-out, see Notifications.
What Flow Forms Already Sends
You don't set these up. They follow from the flow steps you build: step assignment, approved, denied, sent back, info requested, escalated, notes, and export or print finished.
Every notification lands in the Notification Center. Email goes out when the user's Receive Email is on. Text messages go only to a number on the user profile — never a number typed into a form field — and only if Receive Text Messages is on and the step or trigger has SMS enabled.
Reminders and deadlines are their own scheduled notifications; they don't use these defaults.
Custom Emails
The Custom Emails section sits below Flow Steps on Edit Flow.
- Open the form from Admin → Forms and scroll to Custom Emails.
- Click Create Custom Email.
- Pick an Email Type, write the Subject and Content, and click Save Email.
An empty list reads: "There are no custom emails. Create one to get started." Once you have some, the table shows Subject, Type, and Content, with edit or view and delete. Delete cannot be undone.
The types:
- Submission Activity Email — optionally For a specific step or All Flow Steps. You can have one activity email per step.
- Submission Approved Email
- Submission Denied Email
- Information Requested Email
- Submission Sent Back Email
- Custom Email for a Trigger
You get one of each global type per form. Activity-per-step emails and trigger emails are the exceptions — you can have more of those.
Subject and body are rich text. Insert form-answer and submission chips from the editor; there's no code to learn. If a chip might not resolve on this form, you'll see Some tokens may not resolve.
Some emails use advanced features. Those are view-only — contact support to change them.
You can also open a step's menu and choose Custom Email.
Muting and Disabling
People mix up three controls. They do different jobs:
| Control | Where | What it stops |
|---|---|---|
| Mute Notifications | One step, under Advanced Flow Options | All notifications for that step (manual follow-up). Other steps still notify. |
| Do not email on step assignment or final approval | Form Advanced Settings | Only those two email/text events. They still appear in Notification Center. Help text: "Do not send emails or text messages when a submission reaches a step, or when it is finally approved. No other notification is affected by this switch." |
| Disable selected notifications on this form | Form Advanced Settings | Then check Final Approval (email/text when the process completes successfully) and/or Denied (email/text when the process is denied). |
Click Save on the form card after changing Advanced Settings. Step mute saves with the step dialog.
Per-Step Text Messages
There's no empty-state card for custom SMS. Open it from a step, or from a notification trigger:
- Edit the step and open Advanced Flow Options.
- Turn on Notify Via Text.
- Click Customize message.
The editor applies to All Flow Steps or one step — one SMS template per target. Flow Forms always appends the submission link and "Reply STOP to unsubscribe", and trims your text to leave room.
SMS still only goes to a profile number with Receive Text Messages on. See Notifications for opt-out.
Adding a Send Notifications Trigger
When the automatic emails aren't enough — a department inbox on every approval, a confirmation at the end — add a trigger:
- Go to Admin → Forms and open the form.
- Scroll to Flow Steps and click Add Step → Trigger.
- Choose Send Notifications.
- Pick when it should run, who to notify, and how.
When: Upon form submission, On approval of a specific flow, Upon final approval, Upon deny, or Upon Demand. Who and how — recipient types, a custom email template, Attach submission PDF, and SMS — are covered on Notifications. See PDF Attachments for Email Notifications for the PDF switch.
Tips
- If someone says they never got an email, check their Receive Email switch before checking the workflow.
- Mute one noisy step instead of silencing the whole form. Remember Save on the form card after Advanced Settings; the step dialog saves mute on its own.
- Rewrite wording with Custom Emails; add extra recipients with a Send Notifications trigger.
Related
- Notifications - who is told, Notification Center, and SMS opt-out
- Edit Flow - where these settings live
- Flow Steps - the steps that generate automatic notifications
- Triggers - all trigger types and when they run
- Reminders & Automations - scheduled notifications
- Deadlines - chase-ups when a step sits too long
- PDF Attachments for Email Notifications