Unsubscribes and bounces
The two lists that stop email going out, what each one means, and when it is safe to remove someone from them.
Two lists keep email from going to people who should not get it. They look similar and mean different things, which is why they are separate tabs.
- Unsubscribes are consent. The person asked not to be emailed.
- Bounces & complaints are deliverability. The address rejected mail, or the person reported it as spam, and the delivery provider recorded it.
Both are applied at send time to every broadcast, sequence, and automated email. Neither applies to transactional email, which is sent regardless.
Before you start: a role with Send broadcasts.
Unsubscribes
Email → Unsubscribes lists every opted-out address with its Source: Website, Unsubscribe link, One-click, API, Import, or Added here for ones your team recorded by hand.
- Add unsubscribe records an opt-out that came another way, such as a phone call. It asks for the address and an optional reason. The dialog says what it does: "This address will be skipped by every broadcast, sequence and automated email until it's resubscribed."
- Resubscribe on a row reverses it, after a confirmation that ends "Only do this if they've asked to be resubscribed." Do not resubscribe someone because they went quiet; do it because they asked.
Bounces and complaints
The second tab lists addresses the delivery provider has suppressed, with the reason as Bounce or Complaint and where the event came from. These are added automatically; there is no button to add one.
Lift suppression on a row removes the block. The confirmation is specific about the risk: sending again to an address that bounced or reported spam can damage your sending reputation, and you should only lift it if you know the address has been fixed. A mailbox that was full and has been emptied is a fair reason. A complaint almost never is.
What the counts mean elsewhere
The broadcast editor's audience count is approximate because both lists are applied when the broadcast sends, not when you pick the list. The report afterwards shows Suppressed as its own outcome, and new bounces and complaints from that send are added to the second list for next time.
When it goes wrong
- Someone says they unsubscribed but still got email. Check whether it was transactional; those are sent regardless. Otherwise search both tabs for the address; an unsubscribe recorded after the broadcast started does not recall it.
- A good address is on the bounce list. Lift the suppression once, then watch the next send's report. If it bounces again, the address is not good.
- An address is on both lists. Both apply independently. Lifting a suppression does not resubscribe, and resubscribing does not lift a suppression.