A flow step times out when Userflow is waiting for an element to appear on the page and it doesn't show up in time. This page explains why that happens, how to give slow elements more time, and other ways to avoid timeouts.
What happens when a step times out?
Userflow keeps looking for the step's element for a set time after your app loads. This is the Missing tooltip target tolerance, set in your theme. The default is 3 seconds.
If the element still isn't there, what happens next depends on your theme's missing tooltip target behavior: the flow can end, show a warning, or show the step as a speech bubble. See Missing tooltip target behavior.
Why do steps time out?
The element loads slowly, because of large data queries, API calls, or rendering in the browser.
Single-page app navigation: the new "page" hasn't finished drawing the element in time.
The element appears after the user does something, and that takes longer than expected.
If the element never appears at all, see Element not found.
How do I give a slow element more time?
Raise the Missing tooltip target tolerance:
Select Settings > Themes from the sidebar.
Select the theme your flow uses.
Expand Tooltip and raise Missing tooltip target tolerance.
This applies to every flow that uses the theme.
Other ways to avoid timeouts
Wait for a reliable sign that the page is ready. Add an Element is present trigger on the step before, pointing at something that only appears once the page is ready. For example, if a loading spinner disappears when the content is ready, trigger on the spinner no longer being present instead of on the slow element.
Use the page URL instead of an element. If the slow element is on a specific page, move the flow on with a Current page condition. URL matching doesn't depend on the page finishing loading. See URL pattern matching.
Split the step. If one step waits on several slow elements, split it into smaller steps with simpler triggers.
For how triggers work, see Step triggers in Flow builder basics.
When should I contact support about timeouts?
If none of these fix it, email support@userflow.com with:
The flow ID
The step where the timeout happens
What element the step points at, and how long it usually takes to load