Save as you go flows
Save flows, subflows, and actions automatically as you work on them.
As of the Zurich release, Workflow Studio no longer displays a Save button in the header of the editor canvas while you edit a flow, subflow, or action. Rather than manually saving, Workflow Studio automatically saves your work as you make changes.
When Workflow Studio automatically saves flows
While editing a flow, your changes are automatically saved each time you perform one of these operations.
- Activate a flow.
- Add a flow step.
- Deactivate a flow.
- Delete a flow step.
- Move a flow step to a new position.
- Select a data pill from the Data pane or the data pill picker.
- Select the Done option to finish configuring a flow step.
- Select either the Undo last action or Redo last action options.
Manually saving a flow
You can manually save a flow at any time with the Force save option available from the More actions menu. This option provides a backup in case the automatic save isn’t working for some reason. The option to save a flow requires that you first have edit rights to the flow.
[Omitted image "force-save-option.png"] Alt text: More actions menu showing the Force save option highlighted.
Last saved indicator
Workflow Studio displays the last saved icon after saving a flow [Omitted image "icon-last-saved.png"] Alt text: Auto save icon. Select or point to the last saved icon to display the duration or date since the flow was last saved.
[Omitted image "example-last-saved.png"] Alt text: Pop-up displaying, "Last saved: 3 minutes ago."
Read-only flow interactions
You can't save a flow that you don't have edit rights to. Make sure to save your work while you’re editing a flow. To avoid losing changes to the editing time-out value, perform any of the operations that trigger automatically saving the flow. For more information about when flows are in a read-only state, see Default read-only flows.
- Restore save as you go functionality
Restore save as you go functionality that was disabled in the Washington DC release.
Parent Topic:Building flows
--- title: Save as you go flows description: Save flows, subflows, and actions automatically as you work on them. locale: en-US canonical_url: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/build-workflows/workflow-studio/save-as-you-go-flows.html release: australia product: Workflow Studio classification: workflow-studio topic_type: concept last_updated: "2026-09-10" reading_time_minutes: 1 breadcrumb: [Build flows, Flows, subflows, and actions, Workflow Studio, Build workflows] --- # Save as you go flows Save flows, subflows, and actions automatically as you work on them. As of the Zurich release, Workflow Studio no longer displays a Save button in the header of the editor canvas while you edit a flow, subflow, or action. Rather than manually saving, Workflow Studio automatically saves your work as you make changes. ## When Workflow Studio automatically saves flows While editing a flow, your changes are automatically saved each time you perform one of these operations. - Activate a flow. - Add a flow step. - Deactivate a flow. - Delete a flow step. - Move a flow step to a new position. - Select a data pill from the Data pane or the data pill picker. - Select the Done option to finish configuring a flow step. - Select either the Undo last action or Redo last action options. ## Manually saving a flow You can manually save a flow at any time with the Force save option available from the More actions menu. This option provides a backup in case the automatic save isn’t working for some reason. The option to save a flow requires that you first have edit rights to the flow. \[Omitted image "force-save-option.png"\] Alt text: More actions menu showing the Force save option highlighted. ## Last saved indicator Workflow Studio displays the last saved icon after saving a flow \[Omitted image "icon-last-saved.png"\] Alt text: Auto save icon. Select or point to the last saved icon to display the duration or date since the flow was last saved. \[Omitted image "example-last-saved.png"\] Alt text: Pop-up displaying, "Last saved: 3 minutes ago." ## Read-only flow interactions You can't save a flow that you don't have edit rights to. Make sure to save your work while you’re editing a flow. To avoid losing changes to the editing time-out value, perform any of the operations that trigger automatically saving the flow. For more information about when flows are in a read-only state, see [Default read-only flows](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/build-workflows/workflow-studio/default-read-only-flows.md). - **[Restore save as you go functionality](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/build-workflows/workflow-studio/restore-save-as-you-go-functionality.md)** Restore save as you go functionality that was disabled in the Washington DC release. **Parent Topic:**[Building flows](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/build-workflows/workflow-studio/flows.md)
| title | Save as you go flows |
| description | Save flows, subflows, and actions automatically as you work on them. |
| locale | en-US |
| canonical_url | https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/build-workflows/workflow-studio/save-as-you-go-flows.html |
| release | australia |
| product | Workflow Studio |
| classification | workflow-studio |
| topic_type | concept |
| last_updated | 2026-09-10 |
| reading_time_minutes | 1 |
| breadcrumb | Build flowsFlowssubflowsand actionsWorkflow StudioBuild workflows |