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Can I restart an archived goal?
The short answer is: definitely!
OK, but how?
To do so, go to your archived gallery (linked at the foot of your gallery and dashboard) and select the goal, or go straight to the goal's page. You'll see a restart button there, and if you click that, you'll go into the options for getting the goal working again. You can choose the rate, the starting pledge (which will vary based on the goal's previous pledges), the pledge cap, and the starting buffer. Hit restart, and it's as simple as that!
![Screenshot showing the restart page, which says "Restarting [goalname]", then has a set of steppers and an entry box for choosing your rate, including a dropdown for choosing whether you're setting it per day, per week, etc. Below that you can choose your pledge using radio buttons, and set the pledge cap using the stepper. The final section allows you to restart the goal with safety buffer, like in goal creation. Finally there's a restart button, to lock in those buttons and get started.](https://s3.amazonaws.com/helpscout.net/docs/assets/593eda072c7d3a0747cdd5b2/images/6634bdde5027f87fcc6be1f7/file-Twijm9AQjd.png "Screenshot showing the restart page, which says \"Restarting [goalname]\", then has a set of steppers and an entry box for choosing your rate, including a dropdown for choosing whether you're setting it per day, per week, etc. Below that you can choose your pledge using radio buttons, and set the pledge cap using the stepper. The final section allows you to restart the goal with safety buffer, like in goal creation. Finally there's a restart button, to lock in those buttons and get started.")
Your goal will get restarted with the x-axis set to today's date, the rate and amount of buffer you specified, with data due once your buffer (if any) runs out!
Where'd my data go?
When you restart a goal, the old data isn't lost, but we give you a fresh start on the graph by moving the x-min to the current date. This is because if there's a long time since you last entered data on the goal, it'll look pretty weird -- a long blank spot and a way zoomed-out graph -- and won't be representative of your current efforts.
But, if you want to see your historical progress as well, that's possible! Just go to the goal's settings and change the x-min. Setting the field to "none" will set it to the date you originally created the goal, while other options include setting it to a specific date, or setting it to always start the x-axis a certain amount of time ago, e.g. one week, one month or one year.
Why can't I start at $0/$5 like usual?
The options for restarting a goal depend on what pledge you had before. We let you start either at that same pledge again, or one step higher. We wouldn't want to make you step through the levels all over again just to get back to the point you already know from previous experience was at or below your motivation point, after all!
But if you think things have changed, you're not stuck with a higher pledge. You can lower it with a 7-day wait, like any other goal. You can also start off with some leeway if you want to be sure you don't derail before the stepdown can take effect.
Keywords: goal restarts, resuming a frozen goal, unfreezing a goal