Managing Unsubscribes

Every newsletter sent by Distill includes a one-click unsubscribe link in the footer. When a subscriber clicks it, they are immediately removed from future sends. Distill handles the mechanics automatically — you do not need to manually process unsubscribe requests.

How one-click unsubscribe works

When a subscriber clicks the unsubscribe link in your email:

1. They land on a confirmation page that immediately processes the request — no form to fill in.
2. Their status in your subscriber list changes from Confirmed to Unsubscribed.
3. They are excluded from all future sends from your workspace.
4. Distill adds them to a workspace-level suppression list.

The unsubscribe is processed instantly. There is no delay or manual approval step.

CAN-SPAM compliance

Under CAN-SPAM (and similar laws such as CASL and GDPR), you are required to:

1. Include a clear unsubscribe mechanism in every commercial email.
2. Honor unsubscribe requests promptly (within 10 business days under CAN-SPAM; Distill processes them instantly).
3. Not send email to unsubscribed contacts.

Distill handles items 1 and 2 automatically. Item 3 is also enforced at the infrastructure level — unsubscribed contacts are filtered out before any send is processed.

The suppression list

Each workspace maintains a suppression list — a permanent record of email addresses that must not receive email from that workspace. Suppressed addresses include:

• Manually unsubscribed contacts
• Contacts who clicked the unsubscribe link
• Hard bounced addresses (emails that are permanently undeliverable)

The suppression list is applied automatically at send time. You cannot accidentally send to a suppressed address even if you import the same email again in a new CSV.

Viewing unsubscribed contacts

1. Click the Users icon (Subscribers) in the sidebar.
2. Use the Status filter and select Unsubscribed.

You can see when each contact unsubscribed and from which issue they clicked the link (if applicable).

Resubscription

An unsubscribed contact can resubscribe by:

1. Finding a subscribe form or link for your newsletter.
2. Entering their email address.
3. Completing the double opt-in confirmation.

Resubscription requires fresh consent — you cannot manually flip a contact's status from Unsubscribed back to Confirmed in the dashboard. The contact must explicitly opt back in through the confirmation flow.

Handling bounce-based removals

Hard bounces (permanent delivery failures, such as non-existent addresses) are also added to the suppression list automatically. Distill receives bounce notifications from AWS SES and updates subscriber status accordingly:

• Hard bounce: Status set to Bounced; added to suppression list.
• Soft bounce: Temporary failure (e.g., mailbox full); subscriber status is unchanged for the first few soft bounces.

Regularly review bounced contacts to keep your list clean and maintain good sender reputation.

Next steps

• Adding Subscribers
• Sending & Delivery Overview