# Subscribers

> The Subscribers menu shows everyone who receives your emails. This is where you search and filter, add new addresses, import lists, and handle unsubscribes and data deletion.

The **Subscribers** menu shows everyone who receives your emails. This is where you search and filter, add new addresses, import lists, and handle unsubscribes and data deletion.

## The subscriber list

Open **Subscribers** in the left menu. The **All subscribers** tab shows the list. Next to it are the other tabs: **Segments**, **Groups**, **Fields**, **Stats**, **Clean up inactive** and **History**. Groups and segments are covered in the [Groups and segments](https://docs.uptools.io/echo/user-guide/groups-segments/) chapter.

![The Subscribers page on the All subscribers tab](https://docs.uptools.io/_astro/02-subscribers-list.CUMhzOsO_1Kbd0T.webp)

Each row of the table is one subscriber: the email address with the name below it, then the number of emails sent to them, their opens and clicks, when they subscribed and where they are. Click an email address to open the subscriber's profile.

> **Good to know**
>
> - The list starts with the newest subscribers. Click the **Subscribed** column header to reverse the order.
> - Use **Set columns** to choose which columns to show and drag them (or use the arrows) into order. Your custom fields can be columns too. Your browser remembers the choice, and exports contain the same columns.
>
> ![The Set columns window](https://docs.uptools.io/_astro/02-subscribers-columns.BW9iKGGi_pxzYp.webp)

## Subscriber statuses

Every subscriber has one status. Campaigns go only to **Active** subscribers.

| Status | What it means | How someone gets there |
|---|---|---|
| **Active** | Receives your emails. | Added by hand, imported, signed up through a form or the API, or confirmed through the confirmation email. |
| **Unconfirmed** | Signed up but hasn't clicked the link in the confirmation email yet. Gets no campaigns until they confirm. | Sign-ups with double opt-in. After confirming they become **Active**. |
| **Unsubscribed** | Doesn't want any more emails. | Unsubscribed through the link at the bottom of an email or in the preference center, or you moved them there. |
| **Bounced** | Emails to this address can't be delivered. | After a permanent bounce, or after three emails in a row bounced temporarily with no delivery in between. |
| **Spam complaints** | Marked your email as spam in their mail app. | Automatically, based on the report from their email provider. |

> **Good to know**
>
> - Addresses that bounced permanently or made a spam complaint go on the suppression list. You can't add them again later, neither by import nor by hand.
> - You can't set an unsubscribed subscriber back to active in the app, and a new import doesn't resubscribe them either.

## How to search and filter the list

![The list toolbar: status selector, search, Actions and Set columns](https://docs.uptools.io/_astro/02-subscribers-status.DuVMwTIY_ZwD0Xt.webp)

1. In the list next to **Showing**, choose which status you want to see. **Active** subscribers are shown by default, and each status shows its count. **All** shows everyone.
2. Type part of an address, a name or a company name into **Search by email, name, or company**. The list updates as you type.
3. For a more detailed filter, click **Choose a filter** and set the condition (for example a group, a field value or an opened campaign). Combine conditions with **+ And** and **+ Or**.
4. To reuse the filter later, click **Save segment**. **Clear** removes the filters.

> **Good to know**
>
> - Filters and the search are part of the address in your browser's address bar, so you can bookmark a filtered list or send it to a colleague.
> - The full list of filter conditions is in the [Groups and segments](https://docs.uptools.io/echo/user-guide/groups-segments/) chapter.

## How to act on many subscribers at once

1. Tick the checkbox at the start of each row you want to work with. The checkbox in the header selects every row on the page.
2. When the whole page is selected and the filter has more matches, the link **Select all … subscribers** appears above the table. Click it to apply the action to every match, not only to the rows on screen.
3. Click **Actions** and choose what to do.

![The Actions menu with three subscribers selected](https://docs.uptools.io/_astro/02-subscribers-bulk-actions.CWkKTya-_2ckROA.webp)

| Action | What it does |
|---|---|
| **Add to group** | Adds the selected subscribers to the group you choose. |
| **Remove from group** | Takes the selected subscribers out of the group you choose. The subscribers themselves stay. |
| **Send preference email** | Sends the link to the preference center, where subscribers choose which emails they want. Available only when the preference center is on. |
| **Move to unsubscribed** | Sets the selected subscribers to unsubscribed. They get no more emails. |
| **Delete** | Removes the selected subscribers from your account. Campaign statistics stay. |
| **Export CSV** / **Export CSV for Excel** | Downloads the selected subscribers as a CSV file. With nothing selected, every match is exported. Excel opens the Excel version with correct accented letters on a double click. |

> **Good to know**
>
> - Large selections run in the background. You then see **Started. Large selections take a few minutes; refresh to see the result.**
> - You can export at most 200 selected subscribers at once. For more, clear the selection and the export contains every match. You can send the preference email to at most 500 selected subscribers at once.
> - Only users with the Administrator role can export. If something is missing from the **Actions** menu, ask your workspace administrator.
> - The three dots at the end of a row open that subscriber's own menu, with **Manage groups**, **Unsubscribe**, **Forget** and **Delete**.

## How to add a single subscriber

1. Click **Add subscribers** in the top right corner.
2. Choose the **Add single subscriber** tab.
3. Enter the **Email** address and, if you know it, the **Name**. Click **Show more fields** to fill in the other fields (last name, city, your custom fields).
4. In **Add to a group**, choose the group the subscriber should join.
5. Click **Add subscriber**.

![Add single subscriber with an email address and name filled in](https://docs.uptools.io/_astro/02-subscribers-add-single.DON5MZ0Q_1SIGIt.webp)

> **Good to know**
>
> - If the address is already on your list, it isn't created twice: the existing subscriber is updated, and the message **This subscriber already existed and was updated:** tells you so.
> - Empty fields don't erase existing data. A subscriber who unsubscribed stays unsubscribed even if you add them again.
> - Only add addresses whose owners agreed to receive your emails.

## How to view and edit a subscriber profile

1. In the list, click the subscriber's email address.
2. The top of the **Subscriber profile** tab shows how many emails they got (**Emails sent**), what share of them they opened (**Opened**) and in what share they clicked (**Clicked**).
3. Below that are the signup details: when and how they subscribed, the signup and opt-in IP address, the location, the opt-in date and the last detected timezone.

![A subscriber profile](https://docs.uptools.io/_astro/02-subscribers-profile.ChPsdyrh_1cgE3y.webp)

**Editing the details**

1. In the **Subscriber details** box, click **Edit**.
2. Change the email address, the fields, the timezone or the location.
3. Click **Save changes**.

**Managing groups**

1. At the bottom of the **Subscriber details** box, click **Manage groups**.
2. Tick or untick groups. Each change applies at once, there's nothing else to save.
3. Click **Close**.

![The Subscriber details box with the groups and the Manage groups button](https://docs.uptools.io/_astro/02-subscribers-details.CyhXmKqk_LqwL6.webp)

**Activity**

At the bottom of the profile, the **Activity** section shows day by day what happened with the subscriber: which emails they got, when they opened them, what they clicked, and whether they unsubscribed or an email bounced. Use the list on the right to narrow the view, for example to **Clicks** or **Unsubscribes** only. **Load more** brings in older events.

![The Activity section, grouped by day](https://docs.uptools.io/_astro/02-subscribers-activity.X10C5RCh_1PBXlY.webp)

**Notes**

On the **Notes** tab your team can keep internal notes about the subscriber, for example about a phone call or a request. Type into **New note** and click **Add note**. The subscriber never sees notes.

> **Good to know**
>
> - The **Actions** menu in the top right corner of the profile has **Print**, **Export JSON**, **Unsubscribe**, **Send preference email**, **Forget** and **Delete**.
> - **Export JSON** saves all of the subscriber's data in one file. This helps when someone asks, under GDPR, what data you hold about them.
>
> ![The Actions menu of a profile](https://docs.uptools.io/_astro/02-subscribers-profile-actions.Bf6NN95S_1VK26q.webp)

## Unsubscribe, delete or forget: which one to use

There are three ways to stop dealing with a subscriber, and each does something different. You find all three in the three-dot menu of a list row and in the **Actions** menu of the profile.

| | **Unsubscribe** | **Delete** | **Forget** |
|---|---|---|---|
| Do they get more emails? | No | No | No |
| Do they stay on your list? | Yes, as unsubscribed | No | No |
| Do their data and activity stay? | Yes | The subscriber is deleted; their past events stay in the campaign statistics | No, all personal data is deleted for good |
| What if you import the address again later? | Stays unsubscribed | Comes back as a new, active subscriber | Comes back as a new, active subscriber |
| Can it be undone? | Not in the app | No | No |
| Available for many at once? | Yes (**Move to unsubscribed**) | Yes | No, one at a time |

**When to use which**

- **Unsubscribe:** when someone doesn't want more emails but hasn't asked you to delete their data. This is the safest choice: Echo remembers that the address unsubscribed, so a later import won't email them again.
- **Delete:** to remove wrong or test addresses. Don't delete unsubscribed subscribers, because after deleting, Echo no longer knows they unsubscribed.
- **Forget:** when the subscriber asks for their data to be erased under GDPR. The subscriber, their notes, their group memberships and the details of their events are deleted for good. Campaign statistics keep their numbers, but they can no longer be linked to the person.

**How to forget a subscriber**

1. Open the subscriber's profile.
2. Click **Actions**, then **Forget**.
3. Read the text in the confirmation window and click **Forget**.

![The Forget this subscriber? confirmation window](https://docs.uptools.io/_astro/02-subscribers-forget.BH3KtJY2_Z1hQ8uK.webp)

> **Good to know**
>
> - Forgetting can't be undone. If you're not sure, save their data first with **Export JSON**.
> - If the owner of a forgotten address subscribes again later, they appear as a new subscriber, without their earlier data.

## How to create a custom field

Fields hold your subscribers' data. The built-in fields (such as **Name**, **Last name**, **Company**, **Country**, **City**, **Phone**) are always there, and you can add your own, for example a birthday or a customer level.

1. Open the **Fields** tab under **Subscribers**.
2. Click **Create field**.
3. Enter the field name and choose its type: **Text**, **Number** or **Date**.
4. Click **Create**.

![The Fields tab with the Create field button](https://docs.uptools.io/_astro/02-subscribers-fields.DmBWGdnl_Z1tktqJ.webp)

> **Good to know**
>
> - Every field has a tag, shown in the **Tag** column (for example `{$name}`). Put it in the text of an email and each subscriber sees their own value there.
> - Rename or delete a custom field from the menu at the end of its row. Deleting removes the field's value from every subscriber, and emails using its tag show nothing in its place. The subscribers stay.
> - Built-in fields can't be renamed or deleted.
> - Enter dates as YYYY-MM-DD (for example 2026-11-05) and only numbers in number fields.

## How to import subscribers from a file

If your subscribers are in a spreadsheet, import them all at once from a CSV or TXT file.

1. Click **Add subscribers**. The **Import from CSV/TXT** tab opens.
2. Drag the file into the dashed box, or click the box and pick the file from your computer. The file uploads and the **Import settings** page opens.

   ![The Import from CSV/TXT tab](https://docs.uptools.io/_astro/02-subscribers-import-upload.jxZdOf8M_Z22VVWB.webp)

3. **1. Add subscribers to groups:** choose the group the imported subscribers should join, or type a new group name into **Or add a new group**.
4. **2. File:** if the sample looks wrong (symbols instead of accented letters, all data in one column), change the **Encoding** or the **Separator**. If the first row of the file has no column names, untick **The first row contains column names**.
5. **3. Match columns to fields:** Echo suggests a field for each column based on the header. Check the **Belongs to** column and pick another field where needed. For columns you don't want to import, choose **Skip this column**.

   ![Match columns to fields: the Customer level column matched to a custom field](https://docs.uptools.io/_astro/02-subscribers-import-mapping.BTMF4zLK_Z1YcWHy.webp)

6. If an automation is linked to the chosen group and you want the imported subscribers to start it too, tick **Yes, the imported subscribers should start the automation workflow**.
7. Tick **I confirm that these subscribers gave me permission to send them emails.**
8. Click **Import subscribers**.

   ![The confirmation and the Import subscribers button](https://docs.uptools.io/_astro/02-subscribers-import-confirm.CQWkBzVm_Z1ouaFb.webp)

The import runs in the background, so you can leave the page. When it's done, the page shows the result.

> **Good to know**
>
> - The file can be up to 100 MB. Accepted encodings: UTF-8, UTF-16 or Windows (Excel). The separator can be a comma, semicolon, tab or pipe.
> - Imported subscribers don't get a confirmation email, so only import people who agreed to receive your emails.
> - An address that appears twice in the file is imported once. Subscribers already on your list are updated, but their status doesn't change: an unsubscribed subscriber stays unsubscribed.
> - Empty cells don't erase existing data.
> - Each field can be matched to one column only.
> - Clicking **Cancel** on the settings page deletes the uploaded file. An upload that is never started is deleted automatically after one day.
> - A workspace can have at most 5 uploads waiting for their settings. When there are 5, Echo takes no new file until the oldest is deleted after a day, so always leave an import you don't finish with **Cancel**.
> - To send subscribers automatically from your own system (for example your webshop), use the **Import using API** tab. The details are in the [developer guide](https://docs.uptools.io/echo/developer-guide/import/).

## How to paste subscribers from Excel

For a few dozen rows you don't need to save a file.

1. Click **Add subscribers**, then the **Copy/paste from Excel** tab.
2. Select the rows in your spreadsheet together with the header row, copy them and paste them into **Paste your subscribers**.
3. Click **Continue**.
4. From here, continue as with a file import: group, columns, confirmation, **Import subscribers**.

![The Copy/paste from Excel tab with pasted rows](https://docs.uptools.io/_astro/02-subscribers-import-paste.YtaijzV1_15qbjF.webp)

## How to check the result of an import

When an import finishes, the **Import results** page shows three numbers: how many new subscribers were added (**Added**), how many existing ones were updated (**Updated**) and how many rows didn't make it (**Failed**). Below them, the **Failed rows** table tells you row by row what went wrong.

![The Import results page with the failed rows](https://docs.uptools.io/_astro/02-subscribers-import-result.Dv1WorCK_Z1qgj4Q.webp)

Earlier imports are on the **History** tab. Click **View** to open the result of an import.

![The History tab with three finished imports](https://docs.uptools.io/_astro/02-subscribers-history.DAnoLw8E_Z2bbiTL.webp)

The most common reasons a row fails:

| Reason | What to do |
|---|---|
| **Duplicate in the file** | Nothing: the address was already imported once. |
| **Invalid email address** / **No email address** | Fix the address in the file and import the fixed rows again. |
| **Role address (e.g. abuse@)** | Echo doesn't add shared, role-based addresses (such as abuse@). Leave them out. |
| **On the suppression list** | The address bounced or made a spam complaint before, and can't be added again. |
| **Not a number** / **Not a date (use YYYY-MM-DD)** | The value doesn't fit the field type. Fix the format. |

> **Good to know**
>
> - The **History** tab shows every import: those started from a file or by pasting, and bulk imports sent through the API too (they're named `api-import.csv`). Subscribers added one by one, with **Add single subscriber** or through the API, don't appear here.
> - If you start several imports, each one waits for the previous one. Its status is then **Queued**.

## How to clean up inactive subscribers

Subscribers who haven't opened your emails for a long time lower your open rate and can hurt deliverability. On the **Clean up inactive** tab you can find them and unsubscribe them in one step.

1. Open the **Clean up inactive** tab under **Subscribers**.
2. In **No opens in**, choose the period (**The last 6 months**, **The last 12 months**, **The last 24 months** or **Never opened**).
3. In **Emails received**, choose how many emails they have received. **More than 10**, for example, leaves out people who have only had a few emails from you.
4. Check the list below. Above it you see how many subscribers match.
5. If it looks right, click **Unsubscribe inactive** and confirm.

![The Clean up inactive tab](https://docs.uptools.io/_astro/02-subscribers-inactive.DaMktbaw_ZgUnra.webp)

> **Good to know**
>
> - The list contains active subscribers only.
> - This can't be undone in bulk, so check the list first.
> - For large lists, unsubscribing takes a few minutes.

## How to read the subscriber stats

1. Open the **Stats** tab under **Subscribers**.
2. In **Showing**, choose whose numbers you want: **All subscribers**, a group or a segment.

![The Stats tab](https://docs.uptools.io/_astro/02-subscribers-stats.CUmEA9CK_Z29XgcN.webp)

The four cards are **Avg. open rate**, **Avg. click rate**, **Avg. new subscribers (per month)** and **Avg. unsubscribes (per month)**. The **List growth** chart covers the last 12 months: the top chart shows the number of subscribers at the end of each month, the bottom one the new and unsubscribed subscribers per month.

> **Good to know**
>
> - The growth chart doesn't count bounced, spam complaint and unconfirmed subscribers.
> - For a very large list the numbers can take too long to calculate. Then choose a group or a segment.

## FAQ

**Someone emailed us asking to delete all their data. What do I do?**
Open their profile and choose **Forget** in the **Actions** menu. This is the GDPR erasure. If you also need to send them their data, download it first with **Export JSON**.

**I unsubscribed someone by mistake. Can I undo it?**
Not in the app. A new import or adding them by hand doesn't change the unsubscribed status either, so always check your selection before unsubscribing.

**Why are there fewer subscribers than rows in my file?**
The **Failed** number and the **Failed rows** table in the import result show which rows were left out and why. The most common reasons are duplicates within the file and invalid addresses. Addresses already on your list are counted under **Updated**, not **Added**.

**What's the difference between a group and a segment?**
You put subscribers into a group yourself, while a segment is a saved filter that updates on its own. The [Groups and segments](https://docs.uptools.io/echo/user-guide/groups-segments/) chapter explains both.

**Why can't I see the export options?**
Only users with the Administrator role can export. Ask your workspace administrator to export for you or to change your role.