Pause, resume or delete a recurring import

A recurring import keeps adding people to one list on its own. Here's how to check when it runs, pause it, or stop it for good.

Find your recurring imports

Open Lists. A list fed by a recurring import has a small circular-arrows icon next to its name, and its status reads Recurring while the import is active.

Check when it runs

Click the icon. The panel shows:

• the type of import: Post Engagement, Profile Visitors, Competitor Engagement, Profile Engagement or Suggested Contacts
• Active or Paused
• Next: the next planned run, or ASAP when it is due
• Last: the last run

Pause or resume

1. Click the icon next to the list name.
2. Click Pause. No more runs happen; the list and its contacts stay as they are.
3. To restart, click the icon again, then Resume. The next run is planned at the next opening of your virtual office hours.

Delete a recurring import

1. Click the icon, then the bin button.
2. In Delete recurring import, click Delete permanently.

The list and its contacts are kept: only the schedule is removed. A deleted recurring import can't be restored on the same list. To start again, create a new recurring import from New Import, which creates a new list.

Deleting the list itself also stops the recurring import attached to it.

How often imports run

• Profile Visitors: every 2 to 3 hours.
• Post Engagement, Competitor Engagement and Profile Engagement: every 2 to 4 hours.
• Suggested Contacts: every 12 to 24 hours.

The exact interval is drawn at random before each run, because a fixed rhythm looks automated to LinkedIn. Runs only happen during your virtual office hours, and there's no setting to choose the frequency.

If a run fails, Swimlane tries again: the list may show Error for a moment, and the recurring import runs again 15 minutes later.

Good to know

• The post or profile a recurring import watches can't be changed after creation. To follow another post, create a new recurring import.
• Each run brings in only people who aren't in the list yet.
• New contacts count towards Daily imports. When the allowance is used up, the list shows Paused (limit) and the run tries again an hour later. This is not the same as pausing the import yourself.
• Runs appear in the Queue panel like any other import.
• If the list is the source of an active campaign, new people are enrolled as they arrive. Before pausing a campaign or an import, decide which one you actually want to stop (see Best practices: build a list worth automating).