Use this process to remove opted-out contacts, bounces, and spam complaints from a Marketing List. Scrubbing a list helps reduce suppressed sends, improves reporting accuracy, and supports healthy deliverability.
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- This removes suppressed contacts from a Marketing List only.
- It does not resubscribe contacts or change global suppression status.
- Use after imports or before large sends.
Scrubbing removes contacts from a Marketing List if they fall into one or more of these categories:
- Opted out
- Hard bounced
- Soft bounced
- Spam complaints
The contacts remain suppressed globally. This action only updates list membership.
Scrub a Marketing List
- Go to Lists > Marketing Lists.
- Locate the Marketing List you want to clean.
- Click the drop-down arrow next to the list name.
- Select Maintenance > Remove Opt-Outs, Bounces, and Spam Complaints.
- In the confirmation dialog, review the types of records that will be removed.
- Click Submit to run the scrub.
What happens after scrubbing
- Removed contacts are no longer members of the Marketing List.
- Suppression status (opt-out, bounce, spam complaint) is unchanged.
- Future sends to this list will not include those contacts unless they are added again and no longer suppressed.
Note: This process applies only to Marketing Lists. If you are using Audience Center and All Contacts, use the contact-based workflows described elsewhere in this section.