# Suspend process instance sub-processes

**URL:** <https://forum.flowable.org/t/suspend-process-instance-sub-processes/11917>\
**Category:** Flowable Engine\
**Created:** [December 5, 2024, 10:07am UTC](https://forum.flowable.org/t/suspend-process-instance-sub-processes/11917 "2024-12-05T10:07:24Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![desp.kaz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8491ac/32.png) [@desp.kaz](https://forum.flowable.org/u/desp.kaz)\
**Post date:** [December 5, 2024, 10:07am UTC](https://forum.flowable.org/t/suspend-process-instance-sub-processes/11917/1 "2024-12-05T10:07:24Z")

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Hello,  
we have a use case in which we want to cancel a running process instance in order to clean up obsolete tasks.  
I read at the documentation ([RuntimeService (Flowable - Engine 7.1.0 API)](https://www.flowable.com/open-source/docs/javadocs/org/flowable/engine/RuntimeService.html)) the following:

> If you have a process instance hierarchy, suspending one process instance form the hierarchy will not suspend other process instances form that hierarchy.

So, I was wondering why the default behavior doesn’t suspend the children processes. These processes aren’t embedded sub-processes? Is there any case that we want to keep them? Or am I missing something about the hierarchy? Unless if this is like that because of the call activities which can be reusable at other processes.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![desp.kaz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8491ac/32.png) [@desp.kaz](https://forum.flowable.org/u/desp.kaz)\
**Post date:** [December 6, 2024, 1:10pm UTC](https://forum.flowable.org/t/suspend-process-instance-sub-processes/11917/2 "2024-12-06T13:10:27Z")

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Solved it using deleteProcessInstance instead which just keeps the info at historic tables