# What happens to approval flows after a downgrade

> Your flows are kept. Flows up to your new plan's limit keep working. The rest turn read-only and stop blocking automation until you archive or upgrade.

- **URL**: https://orshot.com/help/approval-flows-after-a-downgrade

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Moving to a smaller plan is never blocked, and it never deletes a flow or a stage. Each plan includes a set number of approval flows, and of stages in each flow. If you have more flows than your new plan includes, the extra ones wait, read-only, until you make room or upgrade.

## Which flows keep working

Your default flow and the next ones in the Approvals list stay active, up to your plan's limit. They work as before.

Every other flow is over the limit. On the Approvals page its row says **Over your plan's limit**, the flow menu on the board marks it **Over plan limit**, and its board says:

> This approval flow is over your plan's limit of 3 approval flows. It can't be changed, and its templates don't need approval for automation.

## What an over-limit flow does

| On a flow over the limit                          | What happens                              |
| ------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------- |
| The board, its history and comments               | Still there, and people can still comment |
| Adding, moving, approving or taking out templates | Refused                                   |
| Settings, stages and access                       | Can't be changed                          |
| Automation                                        | Not blocked by this flow                  |
| Editing in the studio                             | Not locked by this flow                   |

A template that's also in an active flow still follows that flow's rules.

## Make a flow active again

Upgrading to a plan with room for all your flows makes every one active again. Archiving can't be undone, but the flow's history is kept. Owners, admins and people with **Manage** access archive flows, and the owner upgrades on **Billing & Usage**.

## Stages and approval rules

- A flow with more stages than your plan allows keeps them all working. Adding another is refused: "Your plan allows 5 stages in one approval flow. Archive one or upgrade to add more."
- A stage that needs **Every approver** or a set number of approvers, or that keeps rendering the approved version during edits, keeps working. Switching a stage to one of these is refused when your plan doesn't include it.

## History

History follows your new plan: activity older than the plan keeps is removed. Comments stay. [Plans and limits](https://orshot.com/docs/approval-flows/plans-and-limits) lists how long each plan keeps it.

## A plan without approval flows

**Approvals** leaves your team's sidebar, and approval flows block and lock nothing. Your flows are kept with a year of history, and come back when you move to a plan that includes them.

## Common problems

| You see | Why, and what to do |
| --- | --- |
| "This approval flow is over your plan's limit of 3. Archive a flow or upgrade to use it." | You tried to change a flow over the limit. Make it active again, or upgrade. |
| An automation renders a template that used to wait for approval | Its flow is over the limit, so it blocks nothing. Make the flow active again. |
| "Ask an owner or admin to archive a flow or upgrade." in the notice | You can't archive flows. Ask someone who can. |
| `403 flow_limit_reached` with the code `approval.flow.over_plan_limit` from the API | The same refusal, for a flow over the limit. See [Approval errors](https://orshot.com/docs/error-reference#approval-errors). |

## Related

- **[Plans and limits](https://orshot.com/docs/approval-flows/plans-and-limits)**: How many flows and stages each plan includes
- **[Require approval for automation](https://orshot.com/help/require-approval-for-automation)**: What gets blocked until a template is approved