Getting started
After a Trigger occurs, an Applet’s Action will usually run within a few seconds. If you’d prefer to have the Action run at a later time, you can add a Delay between your Trigger and Actions, giving you more flexibility in how your Applet runs.
Delays are useful for sending follow-up notifications, scheduling social media posts or emails, or anytime you want to wait before an Action runs.
How long can I delay an Action?
The Delay feature lets you choose a delay of 15 seconds to 3 hours between the Trigger and Action. You can add a Delay by including it in your prompt to IFTTT Chat when creating an Applet, or add one directly using the Classic Applet Composer on ifttt.com/create.
When does the delay occur?
The Delay occurs after the Applet's Trigger, Query, and filter code, and before the Action. To add a Delay between Actions, see our guide here.
Adding a delay using IFTTT Chat
When creating an Applet with IFTTT Chat, include the desired delay in your prompt. For example, you could ask:
Any time I post on my Facebook Page, cross post it to Twitter but include a 5 minute delay.
IFTTT Chat will add the Delay to your Applet based on your request.
You can also ask IFTTT Chat to add a Delay to an existing Applet. Just describe the Applet you want to modify and specify how long you want the delay to be.
Adding a delay using IFTTT the Classic Composer
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Navigate to the Applet composer via ifttt.com/create.
- Add a Trigger of your choice.
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Click the "plus (+) sign" the click Add to the right of 'Delay'.
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Set the length of time you want the delay to occur between the Trigger and the Action.
- Add at least one Action to your Applet
- Press Continue, then press Finish to save your Applet
Examples of using a delay
Smart Home Delays:
Delays can be very useful for automating your smart home devices to turn them on and then off after a set amount of time. For example, if you’d like to turn on a light, then turn it off five minutes later this can be done using Delays and the Webhooks service.
Set up an Applet with a Trigger of your choice paired with an Action to turn on your smart light bulb and another Action to Make a web request. Configure a second Applet with the Receive a web request Trigger, include a delay of five minutes, and an Action to turn off your bulb.
Email Automation:
If you are automating emails or text messages to potential customers with IFTTT, you may want to put a 30 second or 5 minute delay between when the customer fills out the lead form, and you follow up with an automated message. You can also build an entire email drip flow using a few delay steps and emails.