# Shortcuts Automation Not Running When Locked? The Fix > A Message automation that only runs once you unlock the iPhone. The switches that let it run locked, the actions that stop it, and the restart catch. Last updated: 2026-11-04 Canonical HTML page: https://www.fwrdsms.com/blog/shortcuts-automation-not-running-when-locked Published: 2026-11-04 If a Shortcuts automation only runs once you unlock your iPhone, it’s either set to ask first, or one of its actions needs the screen. On iOS 27, tap the arrow beside the trigger and turn Confirm Before Run off, then under ⓘ, then Privacy, turn Allow Running When Locked on. On iOS 26, choose Run Immediately, and on either version remove anything that opens a screen or asks a question. **What you need:** the iPhone with the automation, the Shortcuts app, and a minute to open the automation and its actions. The steps are for a Message automation, the kind that runs when a text arrives, and most apply to other triggers too. ## Why does my automation wait until I unlock the iPhone? Three reasons cover almost every case: - **It’s set to ask first.** With Confirm Before Run on (iOS 27) or Run After Confirmation (iOS 26), each run is a notification you have to tap, and tapping it on a locked iPhone asks for Face ID or your passcode. - **An action needs the screen.** A compose sheet, a “Which one?” list, Ask for Input, Show Result or an action that opens an app can’t finish on the Lock Screen, so the run stops there until you unlock. - **The iPhone restarted and hasn’t been unlocked since.** Until you unlock it once after a restart, iPhone keeps saved passwords and logins locked, so actions that need them can’t send yet. ## How to make an automation run while locked on iOS 27 1. **Open the automation.** Open Shortcuts, tap Library, then Automation, and tap the automation. If it opens on a description, tap Edit. 2. **Open the trigger.** Tap the arrow beside “When I receive a message where…”. Check that Automation is on and Confirm Before Run is off. ![The trigger opened with its arrow: Automation on, Confirm Before Run off](https://www.fwrdsms.com/guides/steps/sc-confirm-off-af785d18.jpg) 3. **Allow it on the Lock Screen.** Tap ⓘ at the bottom, then Privacy, and check that Allow Running When Locked is on. It’s on to begin with, so if it’s off, someone turned it off. 4. **Check each action.** On Send Message and Send Email, tap the arrow and turn Show Compose Sheet off. Replace any action that asks a question with a fixed value, such as one saved recipient instead of a choice. 5. **Save it.** Tap back. The automation stays listed under Automation, switched on. ## How to make it run while locked on iOS 26 1. **Open the Automation tab** in Shortcuts and tap the automation. 2. **Choose Run Immediately.** Run After Confirmation sends a notification each time, and Don’t Run pauses it. 3. **Check each action** for a compose sheet or a prompt, as on iOS 27, then tap Done. The [automation guide](https://www.fwrdsms.com/guides/automation) shows both versions step by step. ## Check it with the screen locked Send a text that matches the automation’s rule from another phone, lock your iPhone, and wait a minute. If the result arrives (a forwarded message, an email, an entry in an app), it runs locked. If it only arrives once you unlock, one of the three reasons above is still in the way, most often an action with a prompt. ## Why did it stop after a restart? After any restart, iPhone keeps saved passwords locked until you unlock it once. Apps that keep their logins the same way, Fwrd included, can’t send until then. Unlock it once and the automation carries on with the next text. Three things restart an iPhone without you: an iOS update, a flat battery, and three days without an unlock, after which iPhone restarts itself. A phone left on a charger, such as [an office iPhone that forwards a shared number’s texts](https://www.fwrdsms.com/blog/shared-phone-number-for-2fa), needs someone to unlock it at least every three days. ## If your automation forwards texts with Fwrd [Fwrd](https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id6759069713?pt=128544281&ct=blog-auto-locked&mt=8)’s action doesn’t open the app or ask anything, so it runs on a locked iPhone once the automation is set to run without asking. It posts each matching text straight to Slack, Discord, Telegram, Microsoft Teams or your own webhook, and hands it to Apple’s or WhatsApp’s own send action for email, another phone or WhatsApp. Those send actions follow the same rule: turn off their compose sheet. To see whether a run happened while the phone was locked, open Activity in Fwrd. A text that isn’t listed means the automation didn’t run. One listed as Failed ran, and tapping it says why. ## What a locked automation can’t do - **It can’t run after a restart until you unlock it once.** Unlock it once and it carries on. - **It can’t answer a question.** Any prompt waits for you to unlock. - **It can’t run while the iPhone is off.** It reacts to texts as they arrive on that iPhone. - **It can’t change these switches remotely.** They live on the iPhone with the automation. ## Questions about automations on a locked iPhone ### Do Shortcuts automations run when the iPhone is locked? Yes, a Message automation runs on a locked iPhone when it’s set to run without asking, Allow Running When Locked is on (iOS 27), and none of its actions needs the screen. The one exception is after a restart, until you unlock it once. ### Why does my automation only run when I open my phone? It’s set to confirm first, or an action in it opens a screen or asks a question. Turn off Confirm Before Run (iOS 27) or choose Run Immediately (iOS 26), and turn off Show Compose Sheet on Send Message and Send Email. ### Where is Allow Running When Locked? On iOS 27, open the automation, tap ⓘ at the bottom, then Privacy. On iOS 26, Run Immediately is the setting that lets a Message automation run on its own. ## Keep reading - [Shortcuts automation not running? Fixes for iOS 26 and 27](https://www.fwrdsms.com/blog/shortcuts-automation-not-running) - [Run Immediately vs Run After Confirmation](https://www.fwrdsms.com/blog/run-immediately-vs-run-after-confirmation)