## What's in this article?

## What Is the Waiting Status?

The Waiting status indicates that no action can be taken on a case because you are waiting on something outside of your control. This could be a response from a customer, an update from an internal team, or simply waiting for a set amount of time to pass or a specific date and time to arrive.

## Why Is the Waiting Status Helpful?

Setting a case to Waiting signals that there is no immediate action to be taken. It works similarly to snoozing an email in your inbox. It removes the case from your active views so you can focus on the most important tasks, while the case automatically returns to your view when it is ready for action.

## How Does It Work?

While a case is in the Waiting status, certain events will automatically return it to Ready. These include an inbound email from the customer, the expiry of a set duration or the arrival of a specified date and time, or someone manually returning the case to Ready. You can manually move a case from Waiting to Ready by clicking on the same Waiting button when the current status is Waiting. The button will be highlighted yellow and will show 'Set to Ready' on hover.

## How to Set a Case to Waiting

1. Click the **Set to Waiting** button in the top-right header toolbar of the Case screen. The button is represented by a clock icon.
2. 
3. In the **Set to Waiting** modal, complete the following fields:
   - **Waiting Reason** — Select a reason for waiting. These are tags that can be created in **Settings > Fields > Tags tab > Waiting For**.
   - **Return To** — Choose who the case will be assigned to when it returns from Waiting to Ready. Selecting **Me** will keep or set you as the Owner User. Selecting **Team** will remove you as the Owner User and return the case to your team's Unassigned View — useful if you are going on vacation or if your team prefers a shared inbox over continuous case ownership.
   - **Notes** — Add any additional notes relevant to the waiting period.
   - **Return at set time if no activity**— Optionally configure the case to return automatically after a set duration or at a specific date and time.