Klaviyo flow not sending? 8 things to check

This is for Shopify founders who just noticed a flow's numbers dropped to zero, or who built a flow and never saw it send.

1. Are the flow's messages actually Live?

This is the first thing I'd check, because it's the most common and the easiest to fix. Per Klaviyo, every flow message has one of three statuses:

• Draft: the default for a new message. Nobody is scheduled to receive it. If you switch a message in a live flow to draft, it's skipped in the sequence.
• Manual: the message is active, but nothing sends automatically. Profiles queue up waiting for you.
• Live: the message sends automatically.

Two details that catch people. First, switching a message from Manual to Live doesn't send the people already waiting. Klaviyo says those messages "will not automatically send when the message's status switches to live." Second, when you bulk-update statuses, Klaviyo notes that selecting the status alone doesn't turn messages on. You have to save it.

2. Is anyone stuck in "Needs review"?

If a message was ever in Manual, there may be a queue. Open the message, go to Performance, then View details, then Recipient activity, and look at Needs Review. You can Send All, Cancel All, or handle profiles one at a time. Klaviyo says contacts who no longer meet the flow filters are skipped.

3. Is the trigger firing?

Click the trigger and confirm what it is. For a metric-triggered flow, click the metric name to open it in the Metrics tab and see the last time it fired.

Then check timing. Klaviyo says that if there's a delay of 6 hours or more between an event's timestamp and the time Klaviyo recorded it, the event won't trigger a metric-triggered flow. Transactional flows allow up to 7 days. You can compare the two timestamps on a profile's activity log: open the event's 3-dot menu, then Activity details.

A few trigger problems Klaviyo's troubleshooting guide calls out:

• Integration sync lag. Some integrations sync every 30 minutes to an hour.
• The wrong order event. Placed Order fires when an order is created. Fulfilled Order fires when it ships, or completes for digital goods. If you changed ecommerce integrations, the flow's trigger may need changing too.
• Shopify draft orders. They fire Started Checkout but not Placed Order, which can push the wrong people into an abandonment flow.

If the problem is an add-to-cart flow specifically, I wrote a separate guide on Klaviyo Added to Cart not working.

4. Are your filters blocking people?

Use the trigger's Preview to see who passes and fails the filters. Klaviyo's guide says this is the fastest way to see why profiles aren't getting in.

Things to look for:

• AND vs OR. For exclusions, use AND. With OR, a profile only has to match one condition.
• Contradictory conditions that no one can meet.
• Timing. Klaviyo says flow (profile) filters are rechecked before each step and at send time, but trigger filters aren't checked again at send time.

Abandonment flows are supposed to skip a lot of people, because anyone who buys should drop out. Klaviyo's default abandoned cart filters include "Placed Order zero times since starting this flow." Many skips there are normal. If you're fuzzy on which filter does what, read Klaviyo flow filters vs trigger filters.

5. Is Smart Sending skipping people?

Smart Sending skips anyone who got a message from the same channel too recently. Klaviyo says it's enabled on messages in many pre-built flows.

I turn it off on automations, so people don't miss critical reminders. At a haircare brand, Smart Sending was left on for the abandoned checkout emails, and a lot of people never got their reminders. The brand lost a lot of revenue to a setting nobody remembered was on. To turn it off, open the flow message's settings and clear "Skip recently emailed profiles." The full breakdown is in Klaviyo Smart Sending.

6. Are the profiles suppressed or unsubscribed?

Klaviyo skips email to profiles that are suppressed or unsubscribed, unless the message is marked as transactional. You'll see "Person Suppressed" in the skip reasons. For SMS, look for "Missing SMS Consent" or "Missing Phone Number."

If a big share of a flow is skipping for suppression, the flow isn't broken. Your list is telling you something about capture or deliverability.

7. For list or segment flows: are people being added the right way?

List and segment triggers have their own rules. From Klaviyo's guide:

• "Add to list" on a profile page doesn't trigger the flow. Adding a single profile with the "Add profile" button on the list page does.
• Merging profiles or lists, backdated consent from an integration, and manual segment definition changes don't trigger flows either.
• Segment-triggered flows only fire when someone joins the segment organically. People already in the segment when you built the flow have to be added manually.
• Re-entry is off by default. List and segment flows default to "No re-entry," so someone who already went through won't go through again.
• Shopify subscribers need the sync setting turned on under Integrations, Shopify, Sync settings so they're added to a list at all.
• Sign-up forms have to be published, not left in Draft.

8. What do the skip reasons and flow history say?

When the first seven checks don't explain it, go to the source. Open the flow message, click View details under Performance, open Recipient activity and click the Skipped tab. The Type dropdown shows every reason. Klaviyo's list includes:

• Smart Sending
• Person No Longer in List
• Fails Flow Filters (at send time)
• Person Suppressed
• Missing Email or Email Syntax Error
• Catalog Item Unavailable
• Coupon problems, like No More Uploaded Coupons Remain
• Over Email Limit

That last one is worth knowing: hitting your plan's send limit can stop flow emails. My Klaviyo pricing for Shopify post explains how the limits work.

Then open the flow's history with the "View flow history" icon. Klaviyo shows what changed, who changed it and when. If a flow stopped on a specific day, the changelog usually tells you why.

How do I catch a broken flow before it costs me?

Look at your flows every week. A flow that quietly stops looks exactly like a flow that's working, until you notice the revenue isn't there. I keep a short routine for this in my weekly Klaviyo check. If flow revenue looks flat across the board, not just one flow, start with why your Klaviyo revenue is flat.

And if you're setting things up fresh, getting the Shopify integration right up front prevents half of these problems. My Klaviyo setup for Shopify guide covers it.

FAQ

WRITTEN BY Jack White

Founder of Bardown Digital, a Chicago-based Klaviyo email and retention agency for Shopify brands. He's worked with brands doing $500K to $100M a year, with $100M+ in email-attributed revenue across them.

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