If your Kahoot is only saving as a draft, it’s almost always because the quiz is incomplete or because you’re using a premium feature that isn’t included in your current plan. A draft can’t be played, assigned, or shared, so resolving these two issues is the only way to get your finished quiz published.
Why is my Kahoot only saving as a draft?
Kahoot! saves your work as a draft automatically while you edit, but it won’t let you publish until every required element is in place and all features match your subscription. The most common culprits are a missing title, an unanswered correct-answer field, or a star-icon feature that your free or basic plan doesn’t support. Fix those, and the draft will become a playable game.
Reason 1: Your Kahoot is incomplete
Kahoot! requires certain elements before a quiz can leave draft status. The most obvious is a title, if you leave the title field blank, the game will stay stuck as a draft. Less obvious, but just as critical, is marking the correct answer in every “Test knowledge” question. If even one question lacks a designated correct answer, Kahoot! treats the entire quiz as unfinished and saves it as a draft instead of publishing it.
You might also have exited the editor without manually saving. Kahoot! auto-saves as you type, but if you close the tab or click away without choosing “Save” or “Done,” the system may default to a draft. Always check that every question has a correct answer and that your title is filled in before you try to publish.
Reason 2: You’re using a premium feature on a free plan
Features marked with a star icon in the Kahoot! creator are not part of your current plan. If you add a question type like “open-ended” or “puzzle,” or apply an advanced theme, slide layout, or image library item that requires a paid subscription, Kahoot! will not let you publish. Instead, it saves the whole game as a draft and shows a pop-up explaining that premium features are present.
To get out of this situation, you have two choices: upgrade your plan to include those features, or delete the star-icon elements from your quiz. Free accounts support basic quiz types like multiple-choice and true/false, so sticking to those will let your Kahoot publish without an upgrade. If you’re unsure which feature is causing the problem, look for the star icon next to any element you added, that’s your signal to remove it or pay for it.
How to publish a Kahoot stuck in drafts
Once you know what’s wrong, fixing it takes less than a minute. Follow these steps to move your draft to the published list:
- Go to your Library and open the “Drafts” section.
- Find the Kahoot that’s stuck and click the “Edit” button under its title.
- Check the title field, make sure it’s not blank.
- Review every question and confirm that each one has a correct answer marked.
- Look for any star-icon features and either remove them or upgrade your plan if you want to keep them.
- Click “Save” or “Done” in the top right corner of the editor.
After that, your Kahoot should appear in your Library as a published game, ready to play, assign, or share. If the pop-up about premium features appears again, you’ll need to delete the starred items before the save will go through.
Still stuck? Try these extra troubleshooting tips
If your Kahoot is still only saving as a draft after fixing the title, correct answers, and premium features, a few less common issues might be at play. First, try removing the currently selected theme. Kahoot! themes can sometimes interfere with the save process, especially if a theme is tied to a premium account. Change the theme to a basic one, then attempt to save again.
Next, clear your browser cache. Cached data from older sessions can conflict with the editor’s save function, causing everything to default to draft status. Refresh the page or open Kahoot! in a different browser to rule out a local issue. Kahoot!’s system status is generally operational, so widespread technical problems are unlikely to be the cause.
If none of these steps work, contact Kahoot! support directly. They can investigate account-specific restrictions or bugs that aren’t visible from your side. Provide them with the draft’s title and a description of what you’ve already tried, they’ll usually respond with a fix or a workaround within a day or two.
