Canceling or deleting an event

How you remove an event depends on whether you've sent it. A draft you never sent can be deleted permanently. A live event with guests is canceled instead — it stays as a record so your guests aren't left confused, and responses close. Both actions are yours alone as the owner; co-hosts can't cancel or delete an event.

Canceling a live event

Once you've sent invitations, canceling is the right way to call an event off. Open the event and choose Cancel event from the bar at the top, or go to Settings → Cancel event — it appears for events that haven't happened yet. It isn't on the event rows in My events, so it can't be tapped by accident from the list.

Telling your guests. The confirmation has a box, ticked by default: Email my guests that it's canceled, with room for a short note. Leave it ticked and every guest who was sent the invitation and has an email on file gets one kind email (guests who unsubscribed are skipped). Untick it to cancel quietly. Guests with only a phone number don't get an automatic notice — InviteBird tells you how many, so you can message them yourself. If you cancel an event you never sent, nobody is emailed: they never had an invitation to hear about.

Here's what canceling does:

• The event is marked as canceled and moves out of your active events.
• The invitation link keeps working — guests can still open it to see the details — but responses are closed. Anyone who tries to RSVP or change a response sees "This event has been canceled — responses are closed."
• Everything still to send stops — a scheduled invitation, automatic reminders and a scheduled thank-you.
• Nothing is deleted. Your guest list, their existing RSVPs, your photos, and your messages are all kept, so you keep the full record.
• Any co-hosts are notified that you canceled.

One important caveat: canceling can't be undone from the app — there's no "reactivate" button. So cancel only when you're sure the event is truly off. If you might just be postponing, consider editing the date instead of canceling. Pressing it twice is harmless: the second press finds the event already canceled and sends nothing more. An event that has already happened can't be canceled — it's a keepsake by then.

Deleting a draft

If you built an event but never sent it, you can remove it completely. On the draft's row in My events, choose Delete draft. You'll confirm on a dialog that reads "Delete this draft? … This cannot be undone," and choose Delete permanently — the draft, along with anything you'd added to it, is removed for good.

A draft you've already paid for can't be deleted from the app, so its row has no Delete draft. One you've paid for and scheduled to send later reads Scheduled · sends and the time, with Open my event, Edit invitation and Preview invitation. One you've paid for but not sent yet reads Draft · paid, not sent yet, with Keep going and Preview invitation. If you want a paid invitation removed, email support@invitebird.com and we'll sort it out with you.

Deleting is careful about order behind the scenes: it clears the event's messages first, then removes the event and everything attached to it (guests, any responses, photos, and uploaded files), so nothing is left dangling. Because a draft was never sent, no guest is affected.

Permanent deletion is offered only for drafts. Once an event has been sent, InviteBird keeps it as a record rather than letting it be hard-deleted, which protects your guests' responses from vanishing unexpectedly.

Removing a sent event's data for good

Because sent events are kept as records, there's no one-click "delete forever" for them in the app. If you genuinely need a sent event's data erased:

• Delete your account, which permanently removes all of your events and their data — see Your privacy and your data. This is all-or-nothing.
• Or contact us at support@invitebird.com to have a single sent event removed, and we'll help.

What happens when an event simply passes

You don't need to do anything to an event after it happens. Once the date passes, it moves into keepsake mode on its own — a read-only recap with your photo album, thank-you tools, and highlights. You can't delete a past event from the app, but you also don't have to; see After your event: keepsake mode.

Common questions

Will my guests know I canceled? If you leave Email my guests that it's canceled ticked, yes — each guest who was sent the invitation and has an email gets one notice, with your note if you wrote one. Guests with only a phone number need a message from you. Anyone who opens the invitation afterward sees that responses are closed.

I canceled by mistake — can I undo it? There's no self-service reactivate. Contact us at support@invitebird.com as soon as you can and we'll see what's possible. This is why the confirmation asks you to be sure.

Can a co-host cancel or delete our event? No. Canceling and deleting are owner-only. A co-host who tries is told only the owner can do it. See What co-hosts can and can't do.

If I cancel, do I get a refund? Canceling an event is separate from billing — the plan fee covers sending the invitations, which already happened. See Payments, receipts, and refunds for how refunds work.

Can I delete an event that's already been sent, without deleting my whole account? Not from the app on your own — sent events are preserved as records. Email support@invitebird.com and we'll remove a specific one for you.

Related articles

• After your event: keepsake mode
• What co-hosts can and can't do
• Your privacy and your data