Learning Objective
By the end of this guide, you'll understand the new Unsubscription System in lemlist, how to unsubscribe a contact from all channels or only specific contact details, where to review unsubscribe records, and what happens when unsubscribed contacts are used in campaigns.
What Is It?
The new Unsubscription System lets you block a contact from being reached on all channels with Do not contact, or only on specific contact details such as email addresses, phone numbers, or LinkedIn URLs.
Unsubscriptions are now managed at both:
Contact level – to fully block a contact from all outreach channels
Individual data level – to block only a specific email, phone number, or LinkedIn URL
This gives you more control and clearer traceability for every unsubscribe action.
Why This Matters
Managing unsubscribes correctly is essential to remain a trusted and compliant outreach partner. This new system helps prevent prospects from being contacted again after they unsubscribe, even across multiple campaigns and channels.
Benefits of the new system:
Gives you precise control over unsubscriptions at both the contact and contact-detail level
Eliminates inconsistent behavior between channels
Improves visibility and traceability with centralized activity tracking on the contact panel
Supports future improvements for automatic opt-outs and stop-message handling on LinkedIn, SMS, and WhatsApp
Prevents bouncing an email from unsubscribing the whole contact unnecessarily
Reduces compliance risks, data inconsistencies, and manual workarounds for teams
How It Works
You can now unsubscribe a contact in two different ways:
Do not contact – blocks the contact across all channels
Channel-level unsubscribe – blocks only selected email addresses, phone numbers, or LinkedIn URLs
These unsubscriptions are reflected across contact records, campaign behavior, and team-level unsubscribe reporting.
Core Lesson: Using the New Unsubscription System
Phase 1: Open the Unsubscribe Settings
Step 1: Open Settings
Click your profile name or avatar in the bottom-left corner, then select Settings.
Step 2: Open the Unsubscribe section and review the page
In the left sidebar, click Unsubscribe. From there, you can review all unsubscribe records and use the available search and filter tools to analyze them.
Phase 2: Manually Unsubscribe Variables
Step 3: Add variables to the unsubscribe list
Click Unsubscribe variables, then enter one value per line. You can add:
Email addresses
Email domains that must start with
@Phone numbers
LinkedIn URLs
Example values:
@domain.com
0612345678
Step 4: Confirm the unsubscribe
After entering the variable or variables you want to block, click Unsubscribe variables.
Step 5: Verify the new unsubscribe record
Once saved, the unsubscribed variable appears in the list with its details and timestamp.
Phase 3: Restore Manually Unsubscribed Variables
Step 6: Select the variable and remove it
To restore a manually unsubscribed variable, select the checkbox next to it, then click Remove variables.
Phase 4: Filter and Audit Unsubscribed Variables
Step 7: Filter records by date
Use Filter by date to narrow the list to a specific time period.
Step 8: Filter records by unsubscribe type
Use Unsubscribes types... to review the source of the unsubscribe, such as:
API
Not delivered (Bounced)
Lead
User
Abuse
Step 9: Filter records by variable kind
Use Filter by variable kind... to display only unsubscribed:
Email addresses
Email domains
Phone numbers
LinkedIn URLs
Step 10: Filter records by user
Use Filter by user to identify which teammate performed a manual unsubscribe action.
Phase 5: Unsubscribe a Contact from the Contact Panel
Step 11: Open the unsubscribe action from a contact
From the Contacts page, open the contact record, click the actions menu in the top-right corner, and select Unsubscribe. This action is also accessible from the contact panel in other places such as tasks, inbox, and the Chrome extension.
Step 12: Choose what to unsubscribe
In the Unsubscribe contact modal, choose the type of restriction you want to apply:
Do not contact (from all emails & numbers) – blocks the contact across all lemlist channels
Unsubscribe email address(es) – blocks only selected email addresses
Unsubscribe phone number(s) – blocks only selected phone numbers
Unsubscribe from LinkedIn – blocks only selected LinkedIn URLs
If a contact has multiple emails or phone numbers, you can select exactly which values to unsubscribe.
Step 13: Use Do not contact when you want to block all outreach
Select Do not contact when the contact should no longer be reached through any channel. When this option is enabled, the relevant fields are blocked for the whole contact.
Step 14: Review the result on the contact panel
After a full unsubscribe, the contact panel shows a banner confirming that the contact has been unsubscribed from all variables.
Step 15: Check the activity log for traceability
Open the Activities tab on the contact panel to see unsubscribe events and their source. This helps you track who unsubscribed the contact, when it happened, and whether it came from a user action, API, bounce, or another source.
Phase 6: Campaign Behavior for Unsubscribed Contacts
Step 16: Understand what happens in campaigns
If a contact is unsubscribed, lemlist prevents them from being contacted in the restricted channels.
If a contact is marked Do not contact, they should not be contacted across channels
If only some variables are unsubscribed, the contact can still appear in a campaign, but the affected channels or values are blocked
If a contact becomes unsubscribed while a campaign is running, future restricted steps are skipped automatically
In the campaign lead list, unsubscribed contacts or values are clearly labeled.
The lead status also appears as Unsubscribed in the campaign lead table.
What Problem Does It Solve?
This system prevents prospects from being contacted again after they unsubscribe, even if they appear in multiple campaigns, channels, or records.
It helps solve common issues such as:
A prospect being unsubscribed in one place but still reachable in another
Shared emails or phone numbers creating inconsistent contact behavior
Manual workarounds to stop outreach across channels
Missing traceability for compliance reviews
Important Notes and Edge Cases
If two contacts share the same email address or phone number, unsubscribing that value also affects the other contact using the same value
If an email bounces, only that email address is marked as unsubscribed rather than unsubscribing the whole contact
A contact on a privacy or global unsubscribe list cannot be contacted through lemlist channels
If a contact is manually imported or added from the People Database and lemlist detects that they are Do not contact, campaign launch will still be blocked for that contact
When only some variables are unsubscribed, unrestricted steps in the sequence can still continue
Plans and Availability
Available on all plans
FAQs and Troubleshooting
What’s the difference between “Do not contact” and channel-level unsubscription?
Do not contact blocks the contact from being reached on all channels across all campaigns. Channel-level unsubscription blocks only the selected channel or contact detail, while leaving the others active.
Can I unsubscribe only one email address or phone number if a contact has several?
Yes. In the Unsubscribe contact modal, you can select only the specific email address, phone number, or LinkedIn URL you want to block.
If I unsubscribe a contact from one campaign, will it affect other campaigns?
Yes. Unsubscriptions apply globally across all campaigns, not only the campaign where the action was triggered.
What happens if a contact unsubscribes during a running campaign?
All future restricted automated steps are immediately skipped across campaigns. The lead can appear with an Unsubscribed status.
How can I see who unsubscribed, when, and why?
You can review unsubscribe actions in:
The contact’s Activities panel
Settings → Unsubscribe, where you can filter by date, type, variable kind, and user
Can I manage unsubscribes through the API?
Yes. Unsubscribe management is available through the API for both variable-level and contact-level unsubscriptions.

















