Unlocking a locked channel in Buffer

If you downgrade to the Free plan, any channels above the limits of the Free plan will become locked. This article will discuss the two options for unlocking locked channels.

:::info Going through the cancellation flow now? You can pick which channels stay active on the Free plan directly inside the cancellation modal — no need to unlock afterwards. The steps below are for adjusting which channels are locked after you've already downgraded. :::

Unlocking channels by removing locked channels

If you no longer need certain social channels, you can remove the channels from Buffer, which will then unlock the channels you're looking to keep.

Note: removing channels will also permanently remove any queued posts, analytics, and post history. This cannot be undone.

Unlocking channels by selecting which channels to lock

If you'd rather not delete any channels (for example, if you would like to keep them connected in case you upgrade again in the future or would like to keep the post history), you can choose which channels to unlock using the steps below:

1. Click on your profile avatar at the top right of your dashboard and then click Channels from the drop down menu.
2. Find the channel you wish to unlock and then click Unlock next to the channel:

3. You will now see a window showing all of your social channels. Tick the checkboxes to the left of the channels you’d like to keep active. Channels not ticked will remain (or become) locked. If you attempt to keep more channels active than your plan limits allow, you’ll see an error message.

Unlocking channels by upgrading your subscription or adding additional channel slots

If you have connected more channels than your subscription allows for, your extra channels will lock. If you prefer to unlock all of your connected channels, you would need to adjust your subscription. For example:

• If you connected 4 channels while on a trial, but downgraded to the Free plan, the 4th channel would lock. To use all 4 channels again, you would need to upgrade to one of our paid subscriptions from the Billing page of your account.
• On paid plans, if you have more channels than your subscription currently includes (e.g. you have 3 channels connected, but you pay for 2 channels), any additional channels would lock. To make more of your channels available to use, you would need to increase the number of channel slots in your subscription using these steps.

FAQ

What will happen to my scheduled posts if my channel is locked?

If a social channel is locked with posts still scheduled in its queue, the posts will remain in the queue, but won't publish until the channel is unlocked. Once unlocked, you might need to reschedule some of your posts if the posting time has passed.