Overview
Auto-renewal lets you set a renewal policy on any contract that has an expiry date. When the contract approaches expiry, DottSign notifies all parties and either creates the new version automatically or prompts you to do it manually, depending on which mode you choose.
Before you start
| Requirement | Details |
|---|---|
| Plan | Pro or Enterprise |
| Role | Contract owner only |
| Timing | Must be configured before any signer has signed the contract |
| Expiry date | The contract must have an expiry date set |
Important: Once any signer has signed the contract, renewal settings are locked. Configure auto-renewal when you create the contract, or at least before sending it for signatures.
Step-by-step
- Open the contract from your dashboard.
- Scroll to the Auto-Renewal panel in the right sidebar.
- Toggle Enable auto-renewal on.
- Choose your renewal behavior:
- Auto-renew after notice — DottSign notifies all parties and schedules a renewal. The new version is created automatically on that date unless you cancel it first.
- Alert only — renew manually — DottSign sends reminder emails at set intervals, but takes no automatic action. Use the Renew now button when you are ready.
- Set the renewal period — how many days the new version will be valid (default: 365, range: 7–3,650).
- Review the next renewal window shown below the fields. It displays the exact start and end dates of the renewed contract based on your settings.
- Optionally, enter a max renewals number to automatically disable auto-renewal after a fixed number of cycles. Leave blank for unlimited.
- Click Save.
Renewal period vs notice window
| Setting | What it controls |
|---|---|
| Renewal period | How many days the renewed contract will be valid. Calculated from the current expiry date, not from today. |
| Notice window | How many days before expiry DottSign sends the first notification and, for auto-renew mode, schedules the renewal date. Default: 30 days. |
Example: A contract expires on 31 December. Renewal period = 365 days, notice = 30 days. On 1 December, all parties are emailed and the renewal is scheduled. If nobody cancels, the new version is created on 1 December and will be valid until 31 December of the following year.
Setting workspace defaults
If most of your contracts follow the same renewal pattern, save defaults at Settings → Contracts → Renewal defaults. New contracts will be pre-filled automatically. Changing defaults never affects contracts that already exist.