> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.hiredata.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Delay

> The Delay step in a HireData automation: presets, custom amounts, weekend skipping, and set times, and what the run shows while it waits.

**Delay** pauses the run for a set time before the next step.

## Settings

* **Preset**. A select of ready-made waits, default **1 day**. Durations: **None**, **5 minutes**, **15 minutes**, **30 minutes**, **1 hour**, **8 hours**, **12 hours**, **1 day**, **3 days**, **5 days**, **1 week**. Weekdays: **Next Monday** through **Next Sunday**, which wait until that day. **None** adds no wait.
* **Skip Weekends**. A checkbox. When the wait would end on a Saturday or Sunday, the run continues on the Monday instead. Disabled for the weekday presets, which already name a day.
* **Custom**. A switch that replaces the preset select with a number box, default 0, and a period select of **minute**, **hour**, **day**, or **week**.
* **Set time**. A button that appears for the weekday presets. It sets the time of day, and its timezone, at which the run continues on that weekday. Duration presets have no time setting; the run continues exactly the duration after it reached the step.

<Tip>
  Without **Set time**, a weekday preset continues at the time of day the run reached the Delay. A run that reached it at 16:20 on Thursday continues at 16:20 on the chosen day.
</Tip>

<img src="https://mintcdn.com/hiredata/mYCMki4Cx7M3RvFn/images/automations/12-delay-drawer.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=mYCMki4Cx7M3RvFn&q=85&s=ae316d333a0c150694f838e8842b3285" alt="The Delay drawer with the preset select reading 5 minutes, a Skip Weekends checkbox, and a Custom switch" width="384" data-path="images/automations/12-delay-drawer.png" />

### On the canvas

The card reads the wait in words.

<img src="https://mintcdn.com/hiredata/mYCMki4Cx7M3RvFn/images/automations/24-delay-card.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=mYCMki4Cx7M3RvFn&q=85&s=f836dcb91aae342efe7cf84783bf4b1b" alt="A Delay card on the canvas reading Delay for 5 minutes" width="314" data-path="images/automations/24-delay-card.png" />

## What it outputs

Nothing. The variables available after a Delay are the same as before it.

While the run waits, the run page shows the step as Waiting with the message "Run Delayed", and the timeline records "Run Scheduled" with the time it will continue. When the wait ends the timeline records "Run Moved" and the next step starts.

<Tip>
  A test run does not wait. Every Delay completes at once with "Run Moved", so a test shows the steps but not the timing.
</Tip>

## What stops the run

A Delay never stops a run by itself. A run that is waiting stops when the automation is paused or deleted, or when the step is deleted, before the wait ends. The run then shows as Cancelled and its reason names what changed. See [Run cancellation reasons](/knowledge-base/run-cancellation-reasons).

## Related

* [Setup](/reference/automations/steps/setup) holds the start delay, which waits before the run begins rather than between steps.
* [Filter](/reference/automations/steps/filter) after a Delay checks that the record still qualifies once the wait is over.
* [Automation steps overview](/reference/automations/overview) lists every step.


## Related topics

- [Create a Vincere automation in HireData](/apps/vincere/create-a-vincere-automation-in-hiredata.md)
- [Create an OTYS automation in HireData](/apps/otys/create-an-otys-automation-in-hiredata.md)
- [Create a Carerix automation in HireData](/apps/carerix/create-a-carerix-automation-in-hiredata.md)
- [Create a Recruitee automation in HireData](/apps/recruitee/create-a-recruitee-automation-in-hiredata.md)
- [Setup](/reference/automations/steps/setup.md)