> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.retainful.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Manage contacts

> View, add, edit, and organize the people in your audience.

**Audience → Contacts** is your full contact directory. Search by name or email, filter by list or segment, and click any contact to open their profile.

## The contact profile

Each contact's page brings together everything Retainful knows about them:

* **Profile details** — name, email, phone, location, and any [custom fields](/audience/custom-fields).
* **Subscription status** — whether they can receive marketing email (and WhatsApp, if connected).
* **Activity timeline** — a chronological feed of everything that happened: emails opened and clicked, lists joined, forms submitted, orders placed, and custom events from your integrations.
* **Engagement analytics** — how they interact with your emails over time.

<Tip>
  The activity timeline is the fastest way to answer "why did this customer get that email?" — it shows which automation or campaign sent each message.
</Tip>

## Add a contact manually

1. Go to **Audience → Contacts** and click **Add contact**.
2. Enter at least an email address; name, phone, and other fields are optional.
3. Choose their subscription status and any lists they should join.

<Warning>
  Only mark a contact as **Subscribed** if they actually gave you permission to email them.
</Warning>

For more than a handful of contacts, use the [import wizard](/audience/import-contacts) instead.

## Edit or delete a contact

Open the contact and click **Edit** to change their details, or **Delete** to remove them entirely.

Deleting a contact removes their profile and history. If someone asks to be removed under privacy laws (GDPR, CCPA), deleting their contact honors that request.

## Bulk actions

Select multiple contacts in the directory to act on them together:

* **Subscribe / Unsubscribe** — change marketing status in bulk.
* **Add to / remove from list** — reorganize group membership.
* **Send double opt-in** — ask contacts to confirm their subscription by email.
* **Delete** — remove many contacts at once.

Large bulk actions run in the background — you'll see progress and can keep working.

## Single vs. double opt-in

* **Single opt-in**: a contact who submits your form is subscribed immediately.
* **Double opt-in**: the contact receives a confirmation email and must click it before they're marked subscribed. Slower list growth, but higher quality and required by law in some countries.

You can configure your opt-in preference under **Settings → Email → Opt-in**.