How to Pause, Resume, or Stop a Test

Nelio A/B Testing lets you control the lifecycle of your tests. Depending on what you need, you can temporarily pause a test, resume it later, stop it permanently, or start a new copy of an existing test.

Pausing a Test

Pausing a test temporarily stops it without losing any of the data collected so far.

While a test is paused:

• no new visitors enter the test;
• all visitors see the original (control) version;
• the data collected so far is preserved; and
• you can modify existing variants, goals, and segmentation rules before continuing the test.

⚠️ Note: You can’t add or remove variants, goals, or segments while the test is paused. If you need to change the test’s structure, duplicate the test and start a new one.

To pause a test

1. Go to Nelio A/B Testing → Tests.
2. Locate the running test.
3. Click Pause.

When should I pause a test?

Pausing is useful when you need to:

• temporarily stop collecting data;
• fix or update a variant;
• adjust goals or segmentation; or
• investigate an issue before continuing the test.

Resuming a Test

Resuming continues a paused test from exactly where it left off.

When you resume a test:

• visitors begin participating again;
• tracking resumes normally; and
• the existing statistics continue to accumulate.

To resume a test

1. Go to Nelio A/B Testing → Tests.
2. Locate the paused test.
3. Click Resume.

Stopping a Test

Stopping permanently ends a test.

After a test has been stopped:

• visitors no longer participate in the test;
• variants are no longer displayed;
• no additional data is collected; and
• the final results remain available for analysis.

To stop a test

1. Go to Nelio A/B Testing → Tests.
2. Open the test.
3. Click Stop.

Can I Restart a Stopped Test?

If you’ve just stopped a test, you’ll be able to Restart it for a short period of time.

This is useful if you stopped the test accidentally.

If too much time has passed, the Restart option is no longer available. In that case, the recommended approach is to duplicate the test and start the copy instead.

Duplicating a Test

Duplicating creates a new test using the same configuration as the original.

The duplicated test includes:

• variants;
• goals;
• segmentation rules; and
• most test settings.

The new test starts with no collected data, allowing you to perform a completely new analysis.

To duplicate a test

1. Go to Nelio A/B Testing → Tests.
2. Hover over the test.
3. Click Duplicate.
4. Start the new test when you’re ready.

When should I duplicate a test?

Duplicating is recommended when:

• you want to collect a new, independent dataset;
• you need to change the test’s structure (for example, adding or removing variants);
• you want to repeat a successful test; or
• the original test can no longer be restarted.