Unsubscribes & suppression

Suppression is the list of addresses ColdMerge refuses to send to. It is account-wide. It does not matter which campaign, which list, or which mailbox the address turns up in. If the address is on the suppression list, no message goes out.

The list fills two ways. Someone opts out of a message you sent, and ColdMerge adds them. Or you add them yourself, by pasting addresses or by uploading an opt-out export from a tool you used before.

Why this exists

Cold email only works if the people who want out can get out. That is the law in the US (CAN-SPAM), and the expectation in the EU and UK (GDPR). It is also the practical difference between someone opting out and someone pressing Report Spam, which damages every future message you send from that mailbox.

So ColdMerge treats an opt-out as the system working, not as a failure. A suppressed row is shown in plain, neutral text. It is never red, and there is no warning icon on it. Somebody told you to stop, and ColdMerge stopped.

Pages in this section

• How unsubscribes work explains the two opt-out layers on every message, the page a recipient lands on, and why a link scanner cannot unsubscribe somebody by accident.
• Set up the unsubscribe footer walks you through turning on the visible footer, and the postal address it cannot go out without.
• Manage the suppression list covers looking up an address, adding addresses by paste or by file, reading the reason and source columns, and removing a row where the rules allow it.
• Delete versus erase a contact explains the two ways to remove a person, which one applies when, and what each leaves behind.

Where it lives in the app

The suppression list is a tab under Contacts, beside All contacts, Lists, and Imports. The unsubscribe footer is a setting, under Settings, then Sending defaults.

If you are new to contacts and lists in general, start with Contacts, lists & imports.