Triggers: instant and polling

A trigger is the "when" of a Zap. Zapier notices new events in one of two ways.

Polling triggers work like checking your mailbox on a timer. Every few minutes Zapier asks the app, "anything new since last time?". If yes, the Zap runs once for each new item. How often Zapier checks depends on your plan, so a polling Zap can start a few minutes after the event.

Instant triggers work like a doorbell. The app itself tells Zapier the moment something happens, so the Zap starts within seconds. In the editor these are marked "Instant".

Most triggers are about something new: "New Row", "New Email Matching Search", "New Deal". Some are about changes: "Updated Row". Read the trigger description carefully, because "new" usually means created after the Zap was published, and "updated" may fire more often than you expect.

Zapier keeps track of which items it has already seen, so the same item normally does not start the Zap twice.

When you test a trigger, Zapier pulls a few recent sample items from the app. These samples are only for setting up later steps; picking one does not run your Zap for real.

For polling Zaps you can also click a button in the editor to check for new data right away instead of waiting. And if no app trigger fits, built-in triggers such as Schedule by Zapier (run every day at 9:00) or Webhooks by Zapier (run when another system calls a special web address) can start a Zap. Those come later in the course.