This guide explains how to cancel an active document workflow in Kivo — including collaborations, reviews, and approval steps — and what to expect when you do.
Important: Canceling a workflow permanently deletes any unsaved changes made during that session. This cannot be undone.
Who Can Cancel a Workflow
There are two ways to cancel, depending on your role:
From the document: You can cancel if you are the person who started the workflow (the creator), or if Democratic Workflows is enabled for your organization and you are a participant in the session.
From Active Workflows (Manager Mode): Any Workspace Manager or Product Manager can cancel any active workflow across all documents.
Cancel From the Document
Open the document that has the active workflow.
Find the active workflow card on the document page.
Click the three-dot menu (⋮) on the workflow card.
Select Cancel [Collaboration / Review / Editing Session / Approval / Training].
A confirmation dialog appears: "Are you sure you want to cancel this [mode] for version [version name] and delete any changes made?"
Click Discard Changes (for collaborations and editing sessions) or Cancel [mode] (for reviews and approvals) to confirm.
Note: The three-dot menu only appears if you have permission to cancel. If you do not see it, contact a workspace manager.
Cancel From Active Workflows (Manager Mode)
Managers can cancel workflows on any document without opening each document individually.
Switch to Manager Mode using the toggle in the top navigation bar.
Click Active Workflows in the manager navigation menu.
Find the workflow you want to cancel. Use the search or filters to narrow results.
Click the action menu (⋮) next to the workflow.
Select Cancel [mode] and confirm.
The Active Workflows page also lets managers Change Owner, Remove Users (from multi-user collaborations and reviews), and Change Due Date without canceling.
What Happens After Cancellation
The workflow step ends immediately and the document returns to its previous approved state.
Any changes made during the collaboration, review, or editing session are permanently deleted.
Participants are notified that the workflow was canceled.
You can start a new workflow on the document at any time.
Document Stuck in a Workflow After Reconfiguration
If a workflow template was changed after a document was already sent through it, the document may appear stuck — showing an active workflow step that cannot progress normally. To resolve this:
Cancel the current workflow using either method above.
Once canceled, start a new workflow on the document. Kivo will use the updated workflow configuration.
If you cannot cancel (the cancel option is grayed out or missing), contact Kivo Support. A support user can force-cancel workflows that are stuck due to external system errors.
Approval Workflows with DocuSign
When an approval step uses DocuSign e-signature, canceling from Kivo also voids the signature envelope in DocuSign. If the DocuSign cancellation fails (for example, the envelope is already in an error state), the cancel dialog shows an error. Kivo Support can perform a Force Cancel in these situations, which removes the workflow from Kivo even if DocuSign cannot be updated. The external DocuSign audit trail will not be retrieved for force-canceled envelopes.
Common Issues
I do not see the cancel option on the workflow card.
You are not the workflow creator and either Democratic Workflows is not enabled for your organization, or you are not a participant in the session. Ask a workspace manager to cancel from the Active Workflows page.
The document is still showing an active workflow after I canceled.
Refresh the page. If the workflow still appears, contact Kivo Support.
I canceled by mistake and need my changes back.
Changes made during a canceled workflow cannot be recovered. You will need to make the edits again in a new workflow session.