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Start an automation when a record is deleted

The trigger A record is deleted runs when a record is deleted from a unit, and reads the record as it was before it was deleted. It suits telling a manager or an external system.

4 min
Before you start · for owners and managers
Permission to edit workflows
  • You need: Permission to edit workflows

Steps

1
Choose the trigger A record is deleted, and the unit under Which records?.
2
Add actions that read the record: a notification, a message, a Webhook, or a search.
3
Press Turn on.

What works and what doesn’t

Works (reads the record)
Skipped (writes to the record)
Sending a message, a template or an email
Updating the record itself
Notifying a team member
Adding a note to it
Sending to another app
Creating a task for it
Finding a record
Distribution and generating records
—
Creating a record linked to it, and starting another workflow on it

A step that can’t run isn’t refused when you save. The run skips it and writes “Can’t run — the record was deleted”. The checklist also warns you about it.

A bulk delete triggers the automation for every deleted record. “Delete all” without selecting records doesn’t trigger it.

If the record is restored before the run starts, the run is skipped.

Moving a record to another unit doesn’t count as deleting it. See Move a record from one unit to another.

If something goes wrong

What you see
Why
What to do
A step shows “Can’t run — the record was deleted”
The step writes to the deleted record.
Delete it, or move it to another automation.
“Skipped — the record was restored before the run started.”
The record was restored before the run.
This is on purpose.

A real example

Shield Security Co.
The situation

Contract records were deleted by mistake without the manager knowing.

What they did
  1. The trigger A record is deleted on “Contracts”.
  2. A Notify a team member step for the manager: “The contract {{name}} was deleted.”
The result

The manager knows right away and restores the contract if needed.

A made-up company, to show the idea. The numbers are rounded.

Good to know

Bulk delete: up to 1,000 records for each automation.
Run each record only once and the goal aren’t available, because the record doesn’t come back.
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