Understand autosave and Save changes
When the builder opens, it records the exact live version that tab started from before autosave can create a recovery draft. After you edit and pause, the builder protects the work as an unpublished recovery draft. Watch the status beside the Save controls: Unsaved changes, Saving, or a warning means the newest work may still need attention. Autosave does not change the buyer-facing form.
Choose Save changes, or press Ctrl+S on Windows or Cmd+S on Mac, when the current version is ready to publish. One successful Save applies the form settings, blocks and layout, products and variants including deletions, stock settings, shared-inventory links, shipping, Coupons and Sales, payment instructions, and related builder-owned configuration together. The buyer-facing form continues showing its last published version until validation and publication succeed.
If Builder cannot verify the Save request, the form or saved draft is no longer available, your access changed, or the form cannot be prepared safely, it keeps the unpublished draft and changes nothing live. Follow the plain next action shown in Builder—review the named area, reload Builder, or try Save again. The message does not expose internal permission or database details.
Understand changes from another place
Connected apps, API clients, collaborators, other tabs, Orders, Inventory, and Profit and Loss tools can change data while a builder is open.
- A clean tab that is only reviewing the form refreshes to a newer live version and keeps Save changes disabled.
- A tab with edits keeps its work. When EZFormz can prove that an ordinary live change is independent, Save combines it with the newer live state.
- When both places changed the same ordinary setting, the current Save wins; there is no general merge screen to manage.
- If another Builder tab changed the saved draft, EZFormz protects this tab's work in the browser and asks you to Reload Builder before saving again. Reloading through that action does not clear the protected browser copy.
- Product, variant, Coupon, Sale, P&L cost, and Inventory writers receive stricter protection. An older tab cannot silently restore a deletion, replace live operational counters, or overwrite an order-driven stock change.
- If an order changes stock while the builder is open, EZFormz keeps the order adjustment and applies the seller's intended stock adjustment over the newer quantity. A final guarded check stops the save if that result cannot be proven safely.
If that final stock check finds another change, the draft stays protected and Save offers three choices. Keep live stock and save keeps the current live amount and saves the other changes. Review this product opens the exact product or variant that needs attention. Use my stock amount retries the amount in the draft against the newly loaded live amount; it does not force an overwrite. If stock changes again before that retry finishes, Save pauses again instead of guessing.
If a Coupon was deleted or recreated while an older tab remained open, EZFormz uses that tab's protected starting version to decide whether an untouched deletion should stay deleted or an edited replacement should keep the current identity. Coupon use and budget counters continue updating independently of an open builder.
Recover interrupted work
If the browser reloads, EZFormz first tries to recover the current tab's protected work. When the builder reports unpublished work from another session, the live form is unchanged.
- Resume unpublished work moves one protected draft into the current tab so you can continue it.
- Continue with the live form keeps reviewing live state and leaves every protected draft untouched.
- Discard my unpublished changes archives and removes your unpublished drafts for this form. It does not remove a collaborator's work or change the live form.
If the status says local recovery is unavailable or asks you to keep the tab open, do so and retry Save changes. Browser recovery is best effort; a successful status message or the reloaded public form is stronger proof than simply closing the tab.
Do not clear browser storage, disconnect an integration, or move to a private window just to resolve an ordinary recovery notice. Those actions can remove useful local evidence without changing the protected server draft.
Use Undo and published versions
Use Undo or Ctrl+Z for a recent editor mistake. Undo creates a new unpublished change, so wait for protection and then save when the result is correct.
For an older state, open Publish, find Published versions, and choose Restore version. Discarded readable drafts remain available there. You must still have current Builder editing access, and the older version is checked against your current Fields, Products, Shipping, and Payment permissions before EZFormz creates or updates recovery work. If a protected setting is not allowed, Restore changes nothing and asks you to review access with the form owner. Otherwise, the selected version opens as a draft: review it in Preview, then choose Save changes to make it live. Restoring a draft also preserves its protected Coupon history for review. This is different from Restore from Backup, which replaces live form data immediately.
Handle an old or unreadable recovery draft
If a very old draft no longer has the protected starting version needed for a safe merge, EZFormz pauses instead of guessing or changing the live form. Choose Save changes to review the warning. You can keep the draft paused, or confirm that EZFormz should archive a readable copy in Version history and reload the current live form. Unreadable recovery data is kept privately for support review rather than being published.
If support performs a fresh start for a form, the version live at that moment becomes the only starting point. Older drafts and Version history for that form are removed, older browser recovery is cleared, and already-open old tabs cannot save over the fresh starting point. A fresh start is a support recovery action, not an ordinary troubleshooting step.
Keep sensitive data out of drafts and previews
Draft and preview data may persist in browser storage and on EZFormz, and permitted collaborators may be able to work on the same form. They are recovery and testing features, not secret storage. Never place passwords, API keys, payment credentials, private access links, authentication tokens, or unnecessary personal data in field defaults, hidden fields, instructions, images, drafts, or previews.
Replacement form passwords are intentionally not kept in recovery drafts. If Save asks for the password again, open Settings → Security, enter the new password again, and choose Save changes. Until that succeeds, the draft remains protected and the buyer-facing password does not change.
Avoid editing the same form in several tabs unless needed. If EZFormz reports that another Builder tab changed the saved draft, use Reload Builder and review the protected work before saving again. For a stock conflict, use one of the three displayed choices. If the conflict returns, leave the work protected and review or reload the newer state instead of repeatedly saving or trying to overwrite it.