How to choose an envelope expiry

Expiration is the day a signing link stops being a promise. Until that day, the signer can open the token and finish. After it, the desk shows expired status and the page says This signing link has expired. The envelope id stays put. You did not cancel the deal. The window ended.

Inkpacket defaults to 14 days on send, or whatever the workspace owner set in Settings. Set the field to 0 if the link should not expire. The mechanics live in reminders and expiry so envelopes don’t stall and Docs. This guide is the decision: which number to type, and when 0 is the honest choice.

What expiry actually closes

Expiration is enforced when someone opens or submits the signing link, and the hourly cron marks overdue SENT envelopes as expired so the document list stays accurate. Embed uses the same token — an iframe cannot complete an expired envelope. An access code does not add days. A reminder does not either. Those are extra locks and extra nudges, not extra time.

Expired is not voided. Void is you stopping an in-flight envelope so every signing and embed link dies now. Expiry is the clock you set at send. The audit log records both. If the agreement is off, void it — do not wait for the date to act like a cancel. Envelope admin is that toolkit.

Zero means the link stays open

Set expiration to 0 when the work has no real deadline and you would rather keep the token alive than mint a second envelope later. Handbook acknowledgments that trickle in. A vendor envelope that legal will sit on for a month. A board envelope already on a call. You can still set reminders, or set the reminder interval to 0 so nobody is nagged. The two controls are independent.

Do not set 0 because you forgot to pick a number. An open-ended link is a policy choice: anyone who still has the URL can finish next quarter unless you void it. If that makes you uneasy, keep a window.

How to pick a number

Start from when the signature still means something, then work backward. A start date, a close date, a policy effective date — those are better anchors than “two weeks feels right,” even though 14 days is a fine default when you have no anchor.

• Same-day or in-room: 1 day, reminder interval 0, copy the link. The person is in front of you.
• Offer letters with a near start date: 7 days, remind every 2 or 3. The 14-day default can outlive the start date.
• Ordinary vendor or sales envelopes: keep 14. Remind every 3 unless you have a reason not to.
• Policy or handbook acknowledgments: 30 days, or 0 if you truly do not care when they finish. A weekly reminder is enough.
• Envelopes that stall in legal: 14 days, then void or send a new envelope if the PDF changed. Do not stretch a dead link.

You cannot edit the window after send in this pass. If you typed 7 and meant 21, you live with 7 or you send a new envelope from the PDF or template after expiry — or you void and start over if the deal is still on and the first window was a mistake. Correct updates the recipient, not the clock. The five-minute send sets these fields in minute 4.

Bulk send and Web Forms inherit one window

A bulk job applies the expiration you set on the job — or the workspace default — to every row. You do not pick a different window per email. If one cohort needs 7 days and another needs 30, run two jobs. Bulk send for HR and sales envelopes and bulk send versus Web Forms are the list and form guides.

A Web Form stores reminder days and expiration on the published form. Every fill that becomes an envelope inherits that window. Change the form before the next stranger arrives; envelopes already created keep the days they were born with. Free allows 5 packets a month and 1 published Web Form. Each fill counts. Starter is 20 envelopes — more than Free — plus 3 published Web Forms. Seat counts on Pricing are planning numbers; invite does not refuse when a workspace is full.

Workspace defaults versus this envelope

Owners set reminder and expiration defaults in Settings so the send form starts honest. Override on a single envelope when this agreement is different. Override on a bulk job when the whole list is different. Do not change the workspace default to 1 day because one offer letter is urgent — you will expire every later envelope you forgot to edit.

What to do after the window ends

Ask for a new envelope if the work still needs a signature. Start from the same template so you are not placing fields again — templates that reuse field layouts. You cannot stretch an already-expired link. You cannot void a completed envelope; expiry never reaches that state because completed envelopes already filed.

If Resend is not configured, expiry still marks the envelope. Reminders are logged instead of emailed. Copy the signing URL while the window is open. After expiry, copying the dead URL does not help. Billing is unrelated: checkout is not open, Free at 5 packets a month is the live send cap, and cadence does not wait on a card.

Pick a window that matches the work. Let the hourly job mark what is overdue. Void when you decide the deal is off. Then file the completed PDF or start the next envelope. Open a workspace on Free, or read published pricing if you are picking a lane for later.