# Configure transaction freeze controls

Transaction freeze controls let you hold funds in place for compliance review, risk management, or regulatory purposes. As an owner or administrator, you can freeze individual transactions or enable automatic freeze on a wallet so that Palisade freezes all incoming deposits by default.

## How freeze controls work

When you freeze a transaction, the funds remain in the wallet but move from the **available balance** to the **frozen balance**. Users can't spend, transfer, or include frozen funds in outgoing transactions until you unfreeze them.

The wallet's balance view shows:

| Balance type | Description |
|  --- | --- |
| **Available balance** | Funds available for outgoing transactions |
| **Frozen balance** | Funds held in a frozen state — visible but not spendable |
| **Pending balance** | Funds from transactions that haven't yet confirmed on-chain |


## Enable automatic freeze on a wallet

Automatic freeze places every incoming deposit into a frozen state as soon as it arrives. Use this for compliance-sensitive wallets where you must review each deposit before making it available.

1. Open the wallet, select the **Settings** gear icon, and go to the **Transactions** section.
2. Toggle **Freeze transactions by default** to enabled.
3. Confirm the action.


After you enable automatic freeze:

- Palisade freezes all new incoming deposits immediately on arrival.
- The setting doesn't affect existing unfrozen funds.
- You must manually unfreeze each deposit after review.


To disable automatic freeze, toggle **Freeze transactions by default** off. New deposits arrive as available funds. Previously frozen deposits remain frozen until you manually unfreeze them.

## Freeze an individual transaction

You can freeze any incoming transaction, regardless of whether the wallet uses automatic freeze.

1. Open the wallet and go to the transaction you want to freeze.
2. Select **Freeze**.
3. Enter a **reason** for freezing (required). Palisade records the reason in the audit trail.
4. Select **Freeze** to confirm.


The transaction's funds move from the available balance to the frozen balance immediately.

## Unfreeze a transaction

1. Open the wallet and go to the frozen transaction.
2. Select **Unfreeze**.
3. Enter a **reason** for unfreezing (required). Palisade records the reason in the audit trail.
4. Select **Unfreeze** to confirm.


The funds move from the frozen balance back to the available balance.

## Monitor frozen balances

To check a wallet's frozen balance:

1. Open the wallet.
2. Review the balance breakdown, which shows available, frozen, and pending amounts for each asset.


You can also filter the transaction list to show only frozen transactions.

## Compliance use cases

Freeze controls support a range of compliance and risk management scenarios:

- **AML/sanctions screening** — freeze incoming deposits until your compliance team completes screening checks.
- **Suspicious activity investigation** — freeze a transaction while you investigate unusual activity on a wallet.
- **Regulatory holds** — place a hold on funds in response to a regulatory request or legal order.
- **Audit trail** — Palisade records every freeze and unfreeze action with the user, timestamp, and reason. Use [audit logging](/products/wallet/admin-guide/configure-audit-logging) to export this data for compliance reporting.


Pair with approval groups
For additional governance, set up a transaction approval group so that outgoing transactions require human approval. Freeze controls govern incoming funds; approval groups govern outgoing funds. Together, they provide end-to-end oversight. See [Configure approval flows](/products/wallet/admin-guide/configure-approval-flows).

## Related guides

- [Manage transactions](/products/wallet/user-interface/transactions/manage-transactions) — Reference documentation including freeze/unfreeze steps
- [Configure wallets and vaults](/products/wallet/admin-guide/configure-wallets-and-vaults) — Enable automatic freeze in wallet settings
- [Configure audit logging](/products/wallet/admin-guide/configure-audit-logging) — Track freeze and unfreeze activity