Once a participant starts an unmoderated task, they have 120 minutes to finish it in one sitting. The timer is completely separate from your study's due date: invited participants can begin anytime before the completion date, but once they hit start, the 120 minute clock runs.
Why the limit exists
It keeps responses focused (one sitting, no half-done tasks resumed days later) and stops abandoned attempts from holding one of your quota spots indefinitely.
What happens when a participant runs out of time
Their status changes to Time expired and the spot frees up for someone else. They aren't paid automatically and their attempt isn't counted toward your quota.
A participant ran out of time for a genuine reason. What can I do?
You have two options from the dropdown next to their name in the participant list:
Re-invite them to start the task again with a fresh 120 minutes. You may need to clear the expired status first; if the option you need isn't showing, message us on live chat and we'll sort it.
Mark them as complete if they actually finished the work (for example the task ran long in your third-party tool). This pays them and counts them toward your quota.
If a participant ran out of time because your task genuinely takes longer than its set duration, talk to us on live chat about the task duration and incentive before reinviting more people. See Can I update my study's incentive?