> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.trypillow.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# End a study

> Close a live study to new participants, yourself or automatically at a completed interview limit, and get its Summary and Overview.

Ending a study closes its live link to new participants, and Pillow writes the study's **Summary** and **Overview** from every interview. End a study yourself, or set a completed interview limit so it ends on its own.

**Before you start**

* The study is live.
* Ending is final: an ended study can't go live again. To collect more interviews with the same setup, [duplicate the study](/guides/manage-studies) and launch the copy.

While the study is live, read the interviews as they come in and use [Ask Pillow](/guides/ask-pillow) to judge when you've heard enough.

## What happens when a study ends

A live study ends when:

* you click **End study**,
* it reaches its completed interview limit, and the study shows **Target reached**,
* your organization uses its last free-trial interview, which ends every live study in the organization (see [Usage](/account/usage)),
* your organization's subscription ends.

However the study ends, it becomes **Ended**. Pillow writes the Summary and Overview, participants already in an interview can finish, and the interviews stay available. New visitors to the live link see that the study is closed. **Settings** > **Brief** becomes read-only, and the **Reward** tab still downloads collected identifiers and draws winners.

## End a study yourself

On the study page, switch to **Insights**, click **End study** on the **Summary** or **Overview** tab, and confirm in the **End your study?** dialog. You can also click **End Study** in the **Study settings** header.

When the Summary is ready, Pillow emails you and the study's creator.

## End automatically at a completed interview limit

The **Completed interview limit** ends the study once enough participants finish their interview. Only completed interviews from the live link count; test interviews don't. See [Interviews](/concepts/interviews) for when an interview counts as complete.

Set **Completed interview limit** on the study page in the Study Builder, or in **Study settings** > **Brief** on a live study. Leave it empty for no limit, the default. The limit saves automatically and, on a live study, applies at once: it doesn't wait for **Save and publish**.

When the count reaches the limit, the study ends. Participants who had already opened the study can finish, so the final count can end up higher than the limit. If you set a limit at or below the number of interviews already completed, the study ends immediately.

## Troubleshooting

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="I ended a study by mistake">
    An ended study can't go live again. Duplicate it and launch the copy; the copy starts with no interviews.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Related

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Read your insights" icon="lightbulb" href="/guides/read-insights">
    Read the Summary and Overview once the study ends.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Studies" icon="layers" href="/concepts/studies">
    Draft, Live, and Ended, and what each allows.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>