Sending Windows
Follow-Ups That Wait for Business Hours.An email sending window for each sequence, so follow-ups land in working hours.
Set the hours each sequence may send in, and choose whether weekends count. A follow-up that would come due at night or on a Saturday waits for the window to open instead, so your emails arrive during the workday, not at 3 a.m.
- 9 to 5 by default
- Weekends on or off
- Set per sequence
How it works
- A wait endsSay, at 11 p.m. on a Friday
- Outside your hoursToo late, and weekends are off
- Moved forwardTo Monday at your opening hour
- The follow-up goes outInside your window, never earlier
Emails That Arrive During the Workday.
A step due outside your hours waits for the window to open, then goes out.
Exclude Saturday and Sunday, and anything due then rolls to Monday.
Hours belong to each sequence, so one aimed at another market can keep its own.
Steps are only moved later. Nobody misses a follow-up because of the window or the daily limit.
Set Your Sending Window in Three Steps.
Turn the Window on
Open the sequence settings and switch on sending hours. They stay off until you do.
Pick Your Hours
Set the opening and closing hour, choose whether weekends count, and enter your time zone offset.
Let It Hold Steps
Any wait that would end outside the window moves to the next opening hour, automatically.
What Is an Email Sending Window, and How Does It Work?
An email sending window is the set of hours a sequence may send in. Follow-ups that come due outside it wait until it opens, so you send emails during business hours only, not at 3 a.m.
In Adoptiv the window belongs to each sequence, not the whole workspace: an on switch, an opening hour, a closing hour, whether weekends count, and a time zone offset from UTC. When a wait step ends too early, it moves to that day’s opening hour. At or after closing, it rolls to the next day. With weekends off, Saturday and Sunday roll on to Monday, which is how you skip weekends.
These quiet hours only ever push a step later, never earlier, and only when a wait ends. Someone added to a sequence late at night gets the first step right away, so begin with a short wait if that should hold too. Public holidays and a recipient’s own quiet hours are not covered.
The email sending time zone is one offset per sequence, not read from where each recipient lives, so a team selling across the country can run a sequence per region. A daily sending limit also applies to each workspace: a step that meets it waits about an hour and goes later, never skipped. Your suppression list and email sequences do the rest.
Polite Timing, Set Once per Sequence.
Set an opening and a closing hour for each sequence.
Exclude Saturday and Sunday, and due steps roll to Monday.
One offset from UTC per sequence, so each market keeps its hours.
Steps over the workspace’s daily limit wait about an hour, and are never skipped.
9 to 5 with weekends included, once you switch the window on.
For Teams That Respect Their Buyers’ Evenings.
A Sending Window vs Sending Whenever It’s Due.
| What | No sending hours | With Adoptiv |
|---|---|---|
| A wait ending at 2 a.m. | No sending hours: The email goes out at 2 a.m. | With Adoptiv: It waits for your opening hour |
| Saturday and Sunday | No sending hours: Treated like any other day | With Adoptiv: Rolled to Monday when weekends are off |
| Different markets | No sending hours: One schedule for everyone | With Adoptiv: Hours and time zone set per sequence |
| The very first step | No sending hours: Sent as soon as someone is added | With Adoptiv: Also sent at once; start with a wait to hold it |
Sending Windows Questions, Answered.
What is an email sending window?
The hours a sequence is allowed to send in. Steps that come due outside those hours wait until the window opens.
Can I stop emails going out on weekends?
Yes. Exclude weekends on the sequence, and anything due on Saturday or Sunday moves to Monday’s opening hour.
Does the window use each recipient’s time zone?
No. Each sequence has one time zone, entered as an offset from UTC in minutes. To sell into several time zones, use a sequence for each.
Does the window apply to the first step?
It applies when a wait ends. Someone added at night gets an opening email right away, so start the sequence with a short wait if the first step should also wait for business hours.
What are the default hours?
9 a.m. to 5 p.m., weekends included, at an offset of zero. The window stays off until you turn it on.
Are public holidays skipped?
No. The window knows weekdays and weekends, not holidays. Set a longer wait, or pause the sequence, around a holiday.
Is 5 p.m. inside a 9 to 5 window?
No. The closing hour is the first hour outside, so a window ending at 5 includes 4:59 p.m. but not 5:00.
Is there a daily sending limit?
Yes, a daily limit per workspace. It isn’t a setting on the sequence. A step that meets it waits about an hour and goes out later, so nobody is skipped.
What is the difference between a sending window and a wait step?
A wait step sets how long to hold a lead. The sending window sets which hours that hold may end in.
Still have a question? A real person replies in under 60 seconds in US business hours. Talk to our team →
14-day free trial
Send Follow-Ups at the Right Hour.
Set sending hours on your first sequence in the free trial. Free for 14 days, no credit card.
14-day trial · no card · migration included