Remove recipients from agreements that are already in progress without canceling or recreating the agreement, saving time and preventing duplicate transactions.
Agreements that are already "in-flight" can have one or more of the recipients removed from the signature cycle entirely.
- Any recipient that has not yet participated in the agreement can be removed.
- Individual recipients in recipient groups can be removed, leaving the other members of the group intact.
- If the recipient is one of several that have not yet completed their action, they are silently removed, and their assigned fields (if any) are removed.
- If the removed recipient is the last party the agreement is waiting for, the agreement is updated to a Completed status, and any post-completion automation triggers normally.
The option to allow senders to remove a user is part of the Modify Agreements controls, and is enabled discretely from the option to modify the agreement's files.
Benefits
- Avoid canceling and recreating agreements to make recipient changes.
- Maintain audit integrity while removing recipients who are no longer needed.
- Improve sender efficiency and reduce transaction usage.
- Keep recipient information and form-field assignments consistent across revisions.
Configuration
Availability:
- Acrobat Standard and Acrobat Pro: Not Supported
- Acrobat Sign Solutions: Supported
- Acrobat Sign for Government: Not Supported
Configuration scope:
This feature can be configured at the account and group level. Learn more about admin access controls.
Access this feature by navigating the administrator's configuration menu to Send Settings > Modify agreements
How it works
When you select Modify Agreement on the Manage page, the agreement moves into an In Revision state.
While in this state:
- The sender can delete recipients on the Compose page by selecting the delete icon.
- Recipients who have already signed remain locked and can’t be removed.
- Recipients who haven’t signed can be deleted, as long as the change doesn’t alter the core workflow (sequential, parallel, or hybrid).
- Removed recipients lose access to the agreement immediately.
- All fields assigned to the removed recipient are removed from the agreement.
- Updated recipients see the agreement resume once the revision is complete.
The agreement returns to its In Progress state after the revision is saved.
Agreement behavior
- In Revision status: Indicates that the sender is actively modifying an in-progress agreement.
- Core workflow constraints: Changes that alter the workflow type (for example, sequential to parallel) are blocked for legal and technical reasons.
- Notifications:
- Recipients who have already signed don’t receive new notifications.
- Recipients who have received their "Please Sign" email and subsequently removed receive an email notification that their access to the agreement has ended.
- Recipients receive notifications if the signing order changes and they are "next to sign".
- If the final recipient is removed and the agreement transitions to a completed state, a completion notification is sent to the sender.
Audit trail and notifications
To ensure transparency and compliance, every recipient management action is captured in the agreement's Audit Report and visible in the Activity list.
Audit trail entries
When recipients are removed, the audit log records who made the change, when it occurred, and which recipients were affected (e.g., Recipient John Doe (john.doe@example.com) was removed by Jane Smith.)
The audit log preserves the whole history of all participants, including those removed, to maintain a complete record of agreement activity.
Activity list visibility
The Activity section in the agreement details shows the same recipient management events in real time, providing both senders and admins with immediate confirmation that changes were successfully applied.
Limitations
Recipient management for active agreements applies only to Request Signature workflows. The following are not supported:
- Agreements using Notary Signers.
- Agreements created through Send in Bulk and Custom Workflow processes.
- Fill & Sign, Structured Self Sign, Web forms, and Written Signature workflows.
- Agreements with Limited Document Visibility.
- Salesforce client versions older than v25.5 are not compatible. Integrations using versions of Salesforce older than 25.5 won't break, but they won't be able to use the feature.
Known issues and troubleshooting
Core workflow change error
When removing recipients, Acrobat Sign checks whether the change would alter the agreement’s workflow (for example, reducing a sequential flow to a single recipient). If so, the operation is blocked and an informational message appears. To proceed, cancel the agreement and create a new one with the correct routing.
In Revision visibility
While an agreement is being revised:
- Senders and previous recipients see it under the In Progress filter on the Manage page with the status Under revision.
- Recipients waiting to sign see it under Waiting for Me with the same status.
- Removed recipients can no longer access or download the agreement.
Document visibility conflicts
Agreements with Limited Document Visibility (LDV) or per-recipient restrictions may fail when recipients are removed. If removal fails, review document visibility settings or disable LDV before retrying.
Stuck in the In Revision state
If the browser closes during modification, the agreement may remain in In Revision. To resume, locate the agreement under Drafts or In Progress and select Modify Agreement to continue editing or finalize the update.
