Using the Offline Form

The instructions below are for desktops and laptops only.

The Offline Form lets visitors leave a message when your chat widget is unavailable. This ensures you never miss an inquiry, even when your team is offline.

You can customize the form to collect the information your team needs and streamline follow-ups.

Steps to edit the Offline Form

1. Log in to your tawk.to account, and select the correct property.

2. Click Administration on the left navigation bar.

3. Click Chat Widget on the left submenu.

4. Click Edit Content under Widget Content.

5. This opens the Widget Content editor. Click Offline under Widget State.

6. The Form is automatically added under Body Cards. Click the pencil icon to edit the form.

7. The Name, Email, and Message fields are added to the form by default. The Name and Email fields are mandatory and cannot be removed from the form. Click the buttons under Form to add more fields to the form. When you’re done customizing the form, click Update. Your widget updates automatically — no code changes needed.

Customizing the form

You can tailor the form by adding fields that collect the most relevant information for your team. 

Click the buttons under Add field to add up to 10 fields to your form.
Available field options include:

Phone – Collect a contact number for follow-up or verification.

Department – Let visitors choose a department so their chat reaches the right team.

Note: You must create departments before including a department selection in your form. Learn more with these guides:
Creating and managing departments
Set up a Pre-Chat Form with the option to select a Department

Text and Text Area — Add short or long text responses, depending on the field type you choose.

Options Choice — Provide visitors with a dropdown or radio button list to select a single option.

Multiple choice — Offer a list of options where visitors can select one or more answers.

Number — Collect a numeric answer such as quantity, a reference number, or an ID stored as a number.

Date — Let visitors pick a calendar date. When you link this field to a Custom Attribute, use a Date attribute on the contact so the answer is stored correctly.
Required fields
Click the star icon to make any field required.
Reorder fields
To reorder the fields, click the drag handle (6 dots) next to the field name and move it up or down.
Remove fields
Click the bin icon to remove a field from the form.

Save visitors’ answers to their contact profiles with Custom Attributes

You can connect some fields in your Offline Form to custom Contact Attributes. When a visitor submits the form, their responses are saved to the contact record — not only shown at the start of the chat.

Note: Built-in fields such as Name, Email, Phone, and Department cannot be linked to custom attributes.
Connecting custom attributes
Click the Custom Attribute dropdown in a field in your form and select the relevant attribute from the list. You can also select New Custom Attribute to create a new attribute.
Only attributes that match the field type will appear in the dropdown. Supported attribute types include Long Text, Number, Date, and list-based fields (single or multiple selection).

Note: When using a Long Text attribute, visitors can enter up to 250 characters in the form. After the chat ends, agents can extend this up to the full 2048-character limit in the contact profile.

After selecting an attribute:
  • A label appears next to the field name, indicating the attribute it’s connected to.
  • The Field Label and format may automatically adjust to the most suitable input type (for example, Number, Date, or list options) to match the attribute. 
To remove the custom attribute, click Clear next to the dropdown. This removes the link while keeping your field label and setup. You can also revert the field back to its original setup before the attribute was linked.
If a connected attribute is deleted from Contacts, you’ll see a message prompting you to update or remove the link.
To learn more about connecting custom attributes to your Offline form, see this guide:
Saving Pre-Chat and Offline form responses to Custom Attributes in Contacts

What visitors see

When your widget is offline, visitors will see the Offline Form. They can fill in the fields you’ve created, and click Submit to send their message.
The widget automatically displays the correct input type for each field:
  • Number fields for numeric input
  • Date pickers for date fields
  • Radio buttons for single-choice options
  • Checkboxes for multiple selections
  • Larger text boxes for long responses

What agents see

Offline messages appear in the Inbox, just like chats and tickets.
Offline messages include a Submitted from section that contains the widget URL.
Agents can click Create Ticket to convert the message into a support ticket and reply to the visitor directly.

To learn more about responding to offline messages, see this guide:
Responding to offline messages via Ticketing

Additional considerations

Choose required fields
Required fields can improve data quality, but too many mandatory questions may discourage visitors. Use only the fields you truly need.

Related guides

Responding to offline messages via Ticketing
Using the Pre-Chat Form
Saving Pre-Chat and Offline form responses to Custom Attributes in Contacts
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