How can I remove inactive subscribers from my list?

It's a good idea to remove inactive subscribers from your list from time to time. People who aren't opening your messages are not valuable to you as subscribers, and if they stop reading your messages, they may forget why you are sending them and mark your messages as spam.

How Long Is Too Long?

The amount of time that passes for a given subscriber to stop being an asset and start becoming a problem will vary depending on your list. In most cases, a good cut off point is six months.

If your list deals with seasonal products or if six months just isn't appropriate for your business, we strongly recommend 12 months as a hard cap. After a year of no opens, it is very likely that either the email address was abandoned or the subscriber now groups your messages with their unread spam.

Luckily, you can easily search your list for subscribers who have not opened a message from you recently, allowing you to delete people who aren't active members of your list.

Step By Step Instructions

1. Click the "Subscribers" tab and select "Subscribers."
   
   
   
   
2. Click the "Search Option" drop-down menu.
   
   
   
   Click "No Opens" from the "Search Option" options.
   
   
   
   
3. Now, click the blank field to the right of No Opens and choose the date or timeframe you'd like to search by. This will allow you to find all your subscribers who have not opened a message since that date. For example, if you want to see who hasn't opened your messages in the last 30 days, choose a date 30 days ago. You can also type "30 days ago" in the search bar.
   
   
   
   Be sure to include another search term by clicking the + button. This field would be Date Added > date is on or before > the same date--this will ensure that newer subscribers who may just not have gotten to your messages yet won't be lumped together with the rest of the inactives.
   
   
   
   Note: For time frames beyond "3 months" or "90 days" you will be able to either select your intended date from the popup calendar, type in a specific date in mm/dd/yyyy or type in the number of days. 
   
   
   
   or:
   
   
4. Click the Search button, then scroll down to see the list of subscribers who haven't opened your messages since the date you chose.
   
   
5. To delete these subscribers, check the box to the left of "Name" at the top of your list of subscribers. This will mark all subscribers that are currently displayed. Select "Actions," followed by "Delete" in the drop-down menu that appears. Your subscribers will be deleted shortly after.
   
   
   
   Note: You'll then be asked to confirm your decision to delete these subscribers. Click "Delete" to confirm this action. Deleting subscribers will completely remove them from your list. They will no longer receive emails from you, and all past activity will be gone.
   
   
6. If you have multiple pages of subscribers, you can repeat this process to remove them all.