---
title: Demote a major incident
description: When an incident is incorrectly evaluated to be a major incident, you can demote the major incident even after it is accepted so that the incident can be handled as a regular incident.
locale: en-US
canonical_url: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/it-service-management/incident-management/demote-major-incident.html
release: australia
product: Incident Management
classification: incident-management
topic_type: task
last_updated: "2026-03-12"
reading_time_minutes: 1
breadcrumb: [Working on major incident management, Managing major incidents, Incident Management, IT Service Management]
---

# Demote a major incident

When an incident is incorrectly evaluated to be a major incident, you can demote the major incident even after it is accepted so that the incident can be handled as a regular incident.

## Before you begin

Role required: major\_incident\_manager

## Procedure

1.  Navigate to **All** > **Major Incidents** > **Open**.

    **Note:** If the UI16 module link redirection feature is enabled in Service Operations Workspace \(SOW\) and the UI16 module supports the redirect configuration, navigating through UI16 paths automatically redirects you to the equivalent list or record pages in SOW instead of displaying the UI16 forms or lists. For more information, see [Redirect UI16 module links to Service Operations Workspace](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/it-service-management/service-operations-workspace/redirect-ui16-module-links-sow.md).

2.  Open the major incident that you want to demote.

3.  Click the additional actions icon \[Omitted image "context-menu.png"\] Alt text: Additional actions icon and select **Demote Major Incident**.

4.  Enter the reason for the demotion.

    The major incident state is set to **Canceled** but the incident state remains the same.


**Parent Topic:**[Working on major incident management](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/it-service-management/incident-management/work-on-mim.md)