Mailing Lists
Archiving and deleting mailing lists
Keeping the list library usable: archiving what is finished, restoring it, and when deleting is the wrong answer.
Last updated September 2, 2026
Lists pile up. A library of forty, most of them for campaigns that ran two years ago, makes picking the right one slow and risky.
Archive, do not delete
| Action | What happens |
|---|---|
| Archive | The list is marked archived and drops out of the everyday view. It can be restored at any time. |
| Restore | Brings an archived list back into use. |
| Delete | Permanent. There is no undo. |
Archiving is almost always the right choice. It tidies the library without destroying the definition of an audience you may want again — a seasonal campaign comes round every year.
DELETING A LIST DOES NOT DELETE ANYONE
The list is only a set of rules. Deleting it removes the rules, not the contacts and not the history of campaigns already sent to it — but you cannot get the rules back, and rebuilding a complicated filter set from memory rarely produces the same audience.
A tidy library
- Archive anything not used in a year.
- Keep the handful of standing audiences — all customers, recent customers, prospects — and name them plainly.
- Delete only genuine mistakes: the duplicate, the half-built list nobody ever sent to.