Admins and cycle collaborators can lock an ended review cycle to prevent further submissions and setting changes, then unlock it if edits are needed later. A locked cycle displays a lock icon on the Reviews overview page; an unlocked cycle does not.
Before You Begin
- You must be a Review Admin or Cycle Collaborator to lock or unlock a cycle.
- To edit cycle settings or participants after unlocking, the cycle's end date must also be in the future. See Extend a review cycle if the end date has passed.
Lock an ended review cycle
- Go to Reviews in the left-hand navigation.
- Click the name of the review cycle you want to lock.
- Click the orange Lock cycle button at the top of the page.
- In the popup, select whether to share all results for submitted reviews that have not been shared yet.
> Note: Selecting this option shares and finalizes all submitted peer, manager, and upward reviews for participants whose results have not yet been shared — but only if the manager review was submitted. Reviews hidden from participants are not shared, even if this option is selected.
- Click Lock review cycle.
- Go back to Reviews and confirm a lock icon appears to the right of the cycle name.
Unlock a review cycle
- Go to Reviews in the left-hand navigation.
- Click the name of the review cycle you want to unlock.
- Click the Unlock cycle button.
- Review the confirmation popup, then click Unlock review cycle.
- Confirm the lock icon no longer appears next to the cycle name on the Reviews overview page.
If Something Goes Wrong
| Issue | Check | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Lock cycle button is not visible | Confirm the review cycle has ended — the button only appears after the cycle end date has passed | Wait until the cycle ends, or go to Edit settings and set the end date to a past date |
| Unlock cycle button is not visible | Confirm your role — only Review Admins and Cycle Collaborators can unlock a cycle | Ask a Review Admin to grant you the correct role, or have them unlock the cycle |
| Lock icon does not appear after locking | Refresh the page and check the Reviews overview again | If the icon still does not appear, reload the cycle and repeat step 3 |
| Cycle remains locked after unlocking | Confirm you clicked Unlock review cycle in the confirmation popup — dismissing the popup without confirming does not unlock the cycle | Repeat steps 3–4 |
Not Covered Here
This article does not cover deleting a cycle, editing active cycle settings, or extending a cycle end date. See Delete a performance review cycle, Edit settings in an active performance review cycle, or Extend a review cycle.