How to edit an existing SMS campaign

Sometimes you need to tweak an SMS campaign after saving it as a draft or scheduling it for a future send — fix a typo, change the recipient list, adjust the send time, or swap in a new offer. This article covers how to find drafts and scheduled SMS campaigns in Connect, how to edit them, and what to do when a campaign has already been sent.

Before you start

Drafts can be edited directly — just click the campaign name to open it
Scheduled campaigns cannot be edited in place. To make changes, click Cancel first to return the campaign to Draft status, then edit it, then schedule it again
Sent campaigns cannot be edited — use Duplicate from the three-dot menu to create a new draft based on the sent campaign
Cancelling a scheduled campaign automatically returns the SMS credits that were reserved for it. They'll be re-deducted when you reschedule the send

Where to find your campaigns

In Connect, go to Campaigns in the top navigation. The page is organised into four tabs so you can quickly find what you're looking for:

Sent — campaigns that have already been delivered. Read-only — you can view performance but cannot edit
Scheduled — campaigns set to send at a future date and time. Editable, and you can cancel the scheduled send
Draft — campaigns you've started but not yet scheduled or sent. Pick up where you left off
Folders — your campaign folders, grouping related campaigns together so you can compare performance

💡 Tip — Use Sort by last sent at the top of any tab to reorder the list, and use the search icon on the right to find a specific campaign by name.

Edit a draft SMS campaign

In Connect, go to Campaigns
Click the Draft tab
Find your campaign in the list — use the search icon if you have a long list
Click the campaign name to open it for editing
Walk through the Set up your SMS campaign, Who are you sending to?, and Schedule your SMS campaign steps using Next and Back as needed
Click Save and close to save your changes as a draft, or continue to Confirm your new SMS campaign and click Schedule (or Send) to commit the updated version

Edit a scheduled SMS campaign

Scheduled campaigns can't be edited in place — you need to cancel them first to return them to Draft status, then make your changes and reschedule.

In Connect, go to Campaigns
Click the Scheduled tab
Find the campaign you want to edit — each row shows the scheduled send date, time, recipient count, and folder
Click Cancel on the right of the campaign row
Confirm the cancellation when prompted and refresh your page
The campaign moves to the Draft tab and any SMS credits reserved for the send are returned to your balance
Click the Draft tab and find the same campaign
Click the campaign name to open it for editing
Make your changes across the Set up your SMS campaign, Who are you sending to?, and Schedule your SMS campaign steps using Next and Back as needed
Walk through to Confirm your new SMS campaign and click Schedule (or Send) to commit the updated version — credits will be re-deducted at this point

⚠️ Warning — Cancel is the only way to edit a scheduled campaign. If you cancel and don't reschedule, the campaign will sit in Draft and won't send. Always walk through to Schedule at the end if you want the campaign to go out.

💡 Tip — If you only need to change the send time, you'll still need to cancel first. Once the campaign is back in Draft, you can move quickly through the Set up and Recipients steps using Next, then change the time on the Schedule your SMS campaign screen.

Other actions from the three-dot menu

Each campaign row has a three-dot menu on the right with extra actions. On a Scheduled SMS campaign you'll see:

Statistics — view performance metrics for the campaign (delivery, opens, clicks, unsubscribes). Most numbers stay at zero until the send actually happens
Delete — permanently remove the campaign from your account. Use this when you're sure you don't need it
Duplicate — create a copy of the campaign as a new Draft. Useful when you want to repeat a campaign with small tweaks (for example, a Mother's Day promo you want to reuse next year)
Preview — see exactly how the SMS will appear on a recipient's phone, without sending

What you can change

You can update any part of a Draft or Scheduled SMS campaign, including:

Campaign name and folder
Sender ID and replies settings
Message content, mail merge tags, opt-out wording, and shortened links
Recipients (segment or contact selection)
Schedule (Now or a future date and time)

What you cannot change

Sent campaigns are read-only. To reuse the content, open the three-dot menu on the campaign and select Duplicate to create a new draft, then schedule it as a new campaign
Unsubscribes that happened between drafts — these always take effect on the next send, regardless of when the campaign was created
The original send timestamp on a sent campaign — you can only adjust schedules on campaigns still in Scheduled status

Troubleshooting

I can't find my campaign in the list

Cause: You may be looking in the wrong tab — for example, looking in Sent for a campaign that's still in Draft.
Fix: Check all four tabs (Sent, Scheduled, Draft, Folders). Use the search icon on the right of the list to search by campaign name.

I can't edit my scheduled campaign

Cause: Scheduled campaigns can't be edited in place — this is by design. The campaign first needs to be returned to Draft before any changes can be made.
Fix: In the Scheduled tab, click Cancel on the campaign row. Once it moves to Draft, click the campaign name to open it for editing, then walk through to Schedule again.

There's no edit option on my campaign

Cause: The campaign is already in Sent status, or your user permissions don't allow editing. The three-dot menu does not include an Edit option for any campaign status — editing is done by clicking the campaign name (drafts only) or by cancelling first (scheduled).
Fix: For drafts, click the campaign name. For scheduled campaigns, click Cancel to move it to Draft first. For sent campaigns, use the three-dot menu and select Duplicate to create a new draft. If it's a permissions issue, ask your admin to update your access.

My edits aren't saving

Cause: You navigated away without clicking Save and close or completing the Confirm your new SMS campaign step.
Fix: Always finish the flow with Save and close (to keep as a draft) or Schedule/Send (to commit the campaign).

The recipient count changed after I edited the campaign

Cause: This is expected behaviour — the recipient list is recalculated at send time to exclude any contacts who unsubscribed or whose mobile numbers became invalid since you first created the campaign.
Fix: No action needed. The count on the Confirm your new SMS campaign screen reflects who will actually receive the message.

I cancelled a scheduled campaign by mistake

Cause: Cancelling moves the campaign back to Draft status — it doesn't disappear.
Fix: Click the Draft tab to find the campaign. Click the campaign name, walk through the steps, and reschedule from the Schedule your SMS campaign screen.

My SMS credits didn't come back after I cancelled a scheduled campaign

Cause: Credits should auto-return to your balance when you cancel a scheduled send, but occasionally a system retry is needed.
Fix: Wait a few minutes, then refresh Connect and check your Credits balance in the top-right. If credits still haven't returned, contact Support with the campaign name and time of cancellation — we can manually restore them.

I cancelled one channel in my A/B test and the whole test cancelled

Cause: This is by design — A/B tests are sent as a group, so cancelling one channel cancels every channel in the same test.
Fix: Open the test from Draft, edit any channel that needs to change, then reschedule. The whole test will schedule together.

I edited a scheduled campaign and now it's not sending at the right time

Cause: Changing the schedule step resets the send time if you clicked Now instead of the original future date.
Fix: Open the campaign again, go to the Schedule your SMS campaign step, select In the future, and re-enter the intended date and time.

Related articles

You can now find any SMS campaign across the Sent, Scheduled, Draft, and Folders tabs, edit drafts and scheduled sends, and cancel a scheduled campaign before it goes out.

Any questions? Reach out to us via email at support@meandu.com

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