How do I handle bounces and unsubscribes?
Short answer
Remove hard bounces immediately so you never retry a dead address, and honor unsubscribes the moment they happen. Review soft bounces after repeated failures, and treat both as required list hygiene rather than optional cleanup you get to later. A clean list protects delivery for everyone still reading you.
Before you start
- A list currently receiving regular email sends.
- Bounce and unsubscribe tracking turned on.
- A defined suppression process for dead addresses.
- Someone responsible for reviewing bounce reports.
Step by step
- 1
Separate hard and soft bounces
Hard bounces mean the address does not exist; soft bounces mean a temporary issue.
Treating them the same either removes good contacts or keeps dead ones on the list.
- 2
Suppress hard bounces immediately
Remove permanently invalid addresses from future sends right away.
Repeated sends to dead addresses damage your sending reputation.
- 3
Watch repeat soft bounces
Suppress an address after it soft bounces on several sends in a row.
A full inbox for months is effectively the same as a dead one.
- 4
Process unsubscribes instantly
Remove opted-out contacts from all future sends the moment they ask.
Delays lead to complaints, and complaints hurt everyone else's delivery too.
- 5
Keep the unsubscribe link visible
Never hide or bury the opt-out option in your emails.
People who cannot easily unsubscribe report your mail as spam instead.
- 6
Review your list monthly
Pull a report of recent bounces and unsubscribes and confirm they were suppressed.
A monthly check catches anything the automatic process missed.
- 7
Log the reason where possible
Note whether a contact unsubscribed, bounced, or complained.
The pattern tells you if a specific campaign or list source is the problem.
What good looks like
- The list only contains addresses that can actually receive mail.
- Unsubscribe requests are honored without delay.
- Sending reputation stays protected from repeat bounces.
- The team can see why contacts left the list.
Common mistakes
The ways this goes wrong in communication, and what to do instead.
Retrying hard bounces›
Sending again to a permanently invalid address just repeats the damage.
Do this instead: Suppress hard bounces automatically the first time they occur.
Slow unsubscribe processing›
A contact who unsubscribes but keeps receiving mail will complain instead.
Do this instead: Set unsubscribes to take effect immediately across every list and campaign.
Ignoring soft bounce patterns›
An address that soft bounces every time for months is effectively dead weight.
Do this instead: Suppress addresses after a set number of consecutive soft bounces.
Frequently asked
5 questions about handle bounces and unsubscribesRelated guides
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