Deactivate a Checklist

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At a glance

Deactivating a checklist hides it from your team without deleting it. Past completion history is preserved, and you can reactivate the checklist later if you need it again. Use deactivation for seasonal checklists, checklists that are paused during remodels or slow seasons, or checklists you are phasing out but want to keep the record of.

Before you start

1. You need a role with the Manage Checklists permission.
2. Confirm the checklist actually needs to be deactivated rather than edited. If you just want to change the schedule or stop notifications, those are separate tasks that keep the checklist live.
3. Deactivation takes effect right away and removes the checklist from every team member's view on their next refresh. Confirm your team is ready for that before you deactivate.
4. Confirm no one else on your team is in the Checklist Manager, since concurrent edits can cause unexpected state.
5. Estimated time: one minute.

Steps

1. Select Checklists from the left navigation menu, then tap Manage Checklists at the top of the screen.
2. In the Active Definitions list, find the checklist you want to deactivate.
3. Click Deactivate on that checklist's row.
4. [VERIFY: confirm whether a confirmation dialog appears before the deactivation takes effect. Partially resolved 2026-05-04: deactivated checklists move to a separate Inactive Definitions section below the Active list. they do NOT remain in the Active list with a toggle. Kevin to confirm whether a confirmation dialog fires before deactivation commits.]
5. The checklist stops appearing for your team immediately. Team members who had the checklist open when you deactivated will lose access on their next refresh.
6. To bring the checklist back later, return to the Checklist Manager, scroll past the Active Definitions list to the Inactive Definitions section, find the checklist, and click Publish.
7. You should now see that the checklist no longer appears in the main Checklists view for your team. Confirm by switching to the main Checklists page and checking both FOH and BOH views.

Video

Video coming soon.

Common gotchas

I deactivated the wrong checklist by mistake.

Deactivation is fully reversible. Go back to the Checklist Manager, scroll to the Inactive Definitions section, find the checklist, and click Publish. Team members will see the checklist again on their next refresh. No data is lost.

My team says the checklist still shows up on their device.

Deactivation takes effect on the next device refresh, not instantly across every open session. Ask the team member to refresh the app or pull down to reload the Checklists page. If it still appears after a refresh, the deactivation may not have saved, so go back to the Checklist Manager and confirm the checklist now appears in the Inactive Definitions section with a Publish button on its row.

I want to delete the checklist entirely, not just deactivate it.

Deactivate the checklist first to preserve its completion history. Once deactivated, a Delete button appears on the checklist's row in the Inactive Definitions section. Use Delete only if you are certain you want the record removed permanently. this cannot be undone. If you are unsure, leave the checklist in the Inactive state. It will not appear to your team, and the history is preserved.

I accidentally clicked Deactivate while editing.

The Deactivate button sits close to the Save, View, and Duplicate buttons on each checklist row. Accidental clicks happen, especially on mobile. The fix is to scroll to the Inactive Definitions section and click Publish right away. Any edits you had unsaved may be lost, so check the checklist contents after publishing.

Related articles

1. Edit a Checklist (How-To Guides)
2. Duplicate an Existing Checklist (How-To Guides)
3. Why a Checklist Is Not Appearing (Troubleshooting). Accidental deactivation is one of the diagnostic steps in that article.

Still stuck

If the checklist is not deactivating or reactivating as expected, submit a support ticket and include:

1. Your store number.
2. The name of the checklist you are trying to deactivate or activate.
3. A screenshot of the Manage Checklists row showing the current button state.
4. What you expected to happen versus what happened.

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Pre-publish checklist status

45 4565b674-a6d6-42d5-81b9-9df1f412a1a5 complete All seven sections filled.

46 a1944ce4-a500-4ea9-ae5a-685352dddc8e complete Final step is a confirmation step.

47 35dd57a9-5b73-4820-9a0d-f30100638e7b complete No em dashes.

48 e4f068aa-89d3-43df-8f2e-a3982b38cd5a complete No hedge words.

49 b7c5c457-fbda-43a5-a81b-6f74f843f0a4 complete Role references are permission-based, not role-name-based.

50 df1edee0-e662-430c-a09a-c8d5266a81d8 complete Step count within the seven-step guidance.

51 e8b6fd1d-bd77-4f05-a03a-d9d8d2851f4e complete Navigation path verified against a real store on Alpha.

52 cf7e0c08-9b15-42c9-bdd8-4e260202e698 complete No real store numbers or names in body or metadata (April 24 privacy pass).

53 1ef9cf04-b75a-45e0-b5a7-3b05d5b2b9cb complete Button label corrected: Publish (not Activate) confirmed live on CFA Murray, UT 2026-05-04.

54 e6e61d92-7008-48e8-a3dd-5475ff72c38b complete Inactive Definitions section location confirmed live on CFA Murray, UT 2026-05-04.

55 9f511451-06fd-487e-be25-99a3846ebd7e complete Delete self-serve on Inactive rows confirmed live on CFA Murray, UT 2026-05-04.

56 c8f43e22-4328-4d46-8c91-29a5d020cb45 incomplete Step 4 VERIFY: confirmation dialog behavior still open. Kevin to confirm.

57 e4e8461a-4dc7-44a8-baa5-04c2c3b50790 incomplete UI verified against Production (full pass).

58 044ba694-1748-4e7b-877e-4c64fc2ee72f incomplete Screenshots to be inserted at decision points (Step 3: Deactivate button; Step 6: Publish button in Inactive Definitions section).

59 1f95841a-420b-4500-98b3-f7421b257ceb incomplete Related article links to be activated once those articles exist.

60 e0d2523a-39b6-4049-a982-127686be95c4 incomplete Primary search term tested in HubSpot KB search.

61 ccbc57d2-3781-4bec-8cac-6879578ebc30 incomplete Reviewed by Jared.

62 03e4813b-6185-46a5-9f8e-66f068d80c01 incomplete Reviewed by Kevin.