Schedule a campaign (sending window, days and timezone)

Two settings in the campaign composer decide when emails go out. Schedule send sets when the campaign may start. Autopilot sets the days and hours emails may be sent, the timezone, the daily limit and the spacing between emails. Both live in the Settings panel on the right of the Email campaign composer.

Defaults on a new campaign

Start later with Schedule send

1. In Settings, click the calendar icon next to Schedule send.
2. Pick a day and a time. Past days are disabled; the time must be later than now.
3. Click Apply. The row shows "Starts" plus the date, and the main button changes to Schedule emails.
4. To go back to starting immediately, open the calendar again and click Send right away.

The start date and time use your browser's timezone. Autopilot hours still apply: if you schedule a start for 07:00 and your window opens at 09:00, the first email goes out at 09:00.

After you click Schedule emails and confirm, the campaign shows as Active straight away. Nothing is sent before the start time; the Overview shows the time of the next email.

Set sending days, hours and timezone with Autopilot

1. In Settings, click the sliders icon next to Autopilot. The row summarises your current choice, for example "Mon–Fri · 09:00–17:00 · 50/day".
2. Under Send only on, tick the days emails may go out.
3. Set the window with the two time fields (start, then end). The start must be before the end.
4. Choose the Timezone. Sending days and hours are read in this timezone, wherever you or your recipients are.
5. Set the Sending rate (see below) and click Apply.

The Summary box estimates how many days it will take to send the first email to everyone, based on your settings. Follow-ups add their own waits on top.

Sending rate

• Max emails per day: the most emails this campaign sends per day (1 to 2,000), counting first emails and follow-ups together. Leave it empty for no campaign limit. See Choose your daily sending volume.
• Delay between emails: at least this many minutes between two emails of this campaign (0 to 240).
• Randomize the gap: adds up to 30% to each gap so sends don't arrive at perfectly regular intervals.

How Distro decides when each email goes out

For every email, Distro takes the earliest moment that satisfies all of these:

1. The step is due (start time, or the follow-up's wait has passed)
2. It's an allowed sending day in the campaign's timezone
3. It's inside the sending hours
4. The delay since this campaign's previous email has passed
5. Today's daily limit isn't used up (otherwise the next sending day)

If the window is closed or the daily limit is reached, the email waits for the next allowed moment. Nothing is skipped or lost.

Changing the schedule after launch

A launched campaign's schedule can't be edited. The campaign Overview shows the schedule as launched, under Sending schedule and Settings. Use Pause if you need to stop sending for a while. For future sends with different hours, duplicate the campaign as a new draft and select only people who haven't had it yet. See Pause, resume or end a campaign.