How to chase unsigned documents (automatic reminders and expiration dates)
The document is sent — now it's just sitting there. Here's how to chase an unsigned document without the awkward follow-up emails, using automatic reminders and expiration.
You sent the contract two days ago. Nothing. Now you're stuck deciding whether to send the "just checking in" email again, and how many times you can before it gets weird. The unsigned document is one of the quiet time-sinks of running a business — the deal is basically done, but it's held up on a signature nobody's chasing. The good news: chasing is exactly the kind of dull, repetitive task software should do for you. Here's how to get a stalled document signed without writing another follow-up by hand.
First, see where it's actually stuck
Before you chase, know what you're chasing. A live status dashboard tells you which of four states a document is in, and each one calls for a different response:
- Sent — the email went out but hasn't been opened. The link may be buried in an inbox, or in spam.
- Viewed — the signer opened it but didn't finish. They're aware; they got distracted or hesitated.
- Signed — one signer is done but others in the signing order haven't acted yet.
- Completed — everyone's signed; nothing to chase.
On Signed, you watch every document move through sent → viewed → signed → completed in real time, with email notifications at each step. A document stuck at "sent" is a deliverability problem; one stuck at "viewed" is a hesitation problem — and they don't get the same nudge.
Turn on automatic reminders and stop chasing by hand
The single biggest fix is to stop being the reminder. Automatic reminders send a polite, scheduled nudge to anyone who hasn't finished — on a cadence you set, without you lifting a finger. The signer gets the same secure link again; you get your afternoon back. A few things make automated reminders work better than a manual follow-up:
- They're consistent. The nudge goes out on schedule whether or not you remembered, so nothing slips through the cracks on a busy week.
- They're neutral. A system reminder reads as routine, not as you personally pestering a client — which keeps the relationship comfortable.
- They only go to who's holding things up. In a multi-signer document, only the person whose turn it is gets reminded; the people who already signed aren't bothered.
Reminders are a per-document setting you flip on before sending — the full reference is in Sending & signing.
Put a deadline on it with an expiration date
Some documents shouldn't stay open forever. A quote priced for this month, an offer letter with an accept-by date, a time-sensitive agreement — these benefit from an expiration date that voids the request if it isn't completed in time. Two things happen when you set one:
- It creates urgency honestly. "This expires Friday" is a real deadline, not a fake-scarcity tactic — the document genuinely closes, which nudges a hesitating signer to act.
- It cleans up after itself. You're not left with a stack of half-open documents from three months ago cluttering your dashboard and your memory.
Expiration pairs naturally with reminders: the reminders chase during the window, and the expiration closes the loop if the window runs out.
Prevent the chase before it starts
The easiest document to chase is the one that never stalls. A few upstream habits cut the number of unsigned documents in the first place:
- Remove every hoop. The biggest reason documents sit unsigned is friction on the signer's end. Signed's signers sign from an emailed link in any browser with no account and nothing to install — there's no sign-up wall to abandon at.
- Send to the right order. If a document needs several signatures, a signing order means each person is only emailed when it's their turn, so nobody's waiting on an email they can't act on yet.
- Template the repeat sends. When your standard proposal or NDA goes out clean and correct every time — via a reusable template — there's less back-and-forth that stalls a signature.
These matter most for anyone sending on a deadline, like a freelancer waiting on a signed contract to start work or an agent racing an offer deadline.
The chase still leaves a clean record
However many reminders it took, a completed document on Signed carries the same tamper-evident Certificate of Completion — every signer's email, the timestamps, and the IP for each action, sealed against later edits (the audit trail explainer covers what's in it). Chasing a signature never costs you the evidence that makes it defensible.
Chasing is free — and so is unlimited sending
Reminders, expiration, the status dashboard, and the audit trail are all included in Signed's single plan — $20 per seat per month, unlimited documents, month-to-month, no annual contract. There's no premium tier for reminders and no cap on how many documents you can have in flight, which is a deliberate contrast with the incumbent's metered month-to-month plan — the full breakdown is in the DocuSign alternative post, with prices on pricing and the side-by-side on the DocuSign comparison page.