# Emails and Muting

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](/submissions/notifications).

## What Flow Forms Already Sends

You don't set these up. They follow from the [flow steps](/workflows/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](/workflows/reminders) and [deadlines](/workflows/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.

1. Open the form from **Admin → Forms** and scroll to **Custom Emails**.
2. Click **Create Custom Email**.
3. 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 {{icon:ellipsis-vertical size-4 inline-block align-text-center}} 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:

1. Edit the step and open **Advanced Flow Options**.
2. Turn on **Notify Via Text**.
3. 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](/submissions/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:

1. Go to **Admin → Forms** and open the form.
2. Scroll to **Flow Steps** and click **Add Step → Trigger**.
3. Choose **Send Notifications**.
4. 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](/submissions/notifications). See [PDF Attachments for Email Notifications](/pdf-attachment-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](/submissions/notifications) - who is told, Notification Center, and SMS opt-out
- [Edit Flow](/forms/edit-flow) - where these settings live
- [Flow Steps](/workflows/flow-steps) - the steps that generate automatic notifications
- [Triggers](/workflows/triggers) - all trigger types and when they run
- [Reminders & Automations](/workflows/reminders) - scheduled notifications
- [Deadlines](/workflows/deadlines) - chase-ups when a step sits too long
- [PDF Attachments for Email Notifications](/pdf-attachment-notifications)