Why would you need this?
Sometimes, a form is only active for a certain period (e.g., registrations open until a specific date), or you may want to close it after receiving the number of submissions you intended.
However, people might still stumble upon the form link after it has been deactivated. By default, they will see a generic page saying the form is closed or is no longer accepting responses:
While there’s no direct way to edit this page, you can use a simple workaround to show your own custom message.
How to set it up for a deactivated form
Let's say you have a form that you want to deactivate, or it's past its "Active to" date:
Open your form in the editor, and set each existing field to Admin-only. This hides all fields from respondents while preserving the data and past submissions,
Add a new Content field that will be visible to visitors instead,
Customize this field with your own message. You can use plain text, or add any formatting, linkes, images, tables, etc.
In Form settings, hide the Form's own title/description, so only your custom message shows,
Hide the Submit button to make it a static message page,
Update the "Active to" date in the form to make sure it's back active.
💡 If you like, you can edit the Submit button's text (change it to a different CTA), and use Logic → On submit → Always → Redirect to – to send visitors to another form or a page on your website:
How to set it up for a deleted form
If you’ve deleted the form from your Formaloo account, the original link will return a different 404 page because the form no longer exists:
In this case, you can:
Reuse the deleted form's slug in a new active form
ℹ️️ Form's slug is the end part of the form URL after the slash, e.g., https://flowerslovers.formaloo.co/herbarium-workshop). It's unique for any form within the same workspace.
💡 If you know you’ll want to reuse the slug, update the old form’s slug before deleting the form (for example, add a prefix like old- before it) and save the changes. Then delete the form.
This way, the original slug becomes reusable immediately in a new form without waiting for it to free up.
If you deleted the form first, it might take a bit of time for its slug to become available again.
If you reuse the older form's slug in another active form, the old link will open the new form. Make sure the subdomain set for the form is the same:
Reuse the deleted form's slug in a fallback form
Same as with past due or deactivated forms, you can create a fallback form in this case, just for the sake of showing a personalized message to the visitors, or suggesting some relevant info or links:
Create a new form with a single Content field with your custom message,
Optionally, hide the form's title/description,
Optionally, hide the Submit button, or customize its CTA and use Logic → On submit → Always → Redirect to – to send visitors to another form or a page on your website,
Reuse the slug of the deleted form in this new fallback form.
Sample messages you could use
Example 1: General message
This form is no longer active
This form is no longer accepting submissions. If you’d like to learn more about our services, please visit our homepage or get in touch at [email protected].
Example 2: Form closed due to dates
Registrations are now closed
Thanks for your interest in the 2025 Spring Design Workshop! The registration period ended on May 20, 2025.
+ Submit button with custom CTA: Stay tuned for our upcoming events!
+ Redirect to the event calendar in On Submit logic
Example 3: Limited seats or applications filled
All spots have been taken
We’ve reached the maximum capacity for the Leadership Training Program. Subscribe to our newsletter or follow us on LinkedIn to hear when the next cohort opens.
Key takeaways
With these quick workarounds, you can:
Preserve your existing form data and submissions,
Replace the default "no longer active" or "not found" messages with a helpful, branded message,
Redirect visitors to other resources or forms if needed.
This way, even when a form is closed or deleted, you take care of the experience and keep communication seamless 🧡