> ## 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.

# Suppressed contacts

> Why some contacts never receive your emails, and how suppression protects your sender reputation.

Suppressed contacts are people Retainful will **not** email, even if they appear in your audience for a campaign. Suppression is automatic and protects your sender reputation.

## Why contacts get suppressed

| Reason             | What happened                                                   |
| ------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Unsubscribed**   | The contact clicked the unsubscribe link in one of your emails. |
| **Hard bounce**    | The email address doesn't exist or permanently rejects mail.    |
| **Spam complaint** | The contact marked your email as spam in their inbox.           |

Sending to these addresses again would hurt your deliverability for *everyone* — mailbox providers like Gmail watch how often your emails bounce or get flagged, and punish senders who keep trying.

## View suppressed contacts

Go to **Audience → Suppressed contacts** to see who is suppressed and why, along with summary stats.

## Removing a suppression

If a contact was suppressed by mistake — say, their mailbox was temporarily full and caused a bounce, or they unsubscribed accidentally and asked to come back — you can remove them from the suppressed list using the bulk **Remove from suppressed** action.

<Warning>
  Only un-suppress a contact when they have explicitly asked to receive your emails again. Un-suppressing spam complainers is never a good idea — if they complain twice, mailbox providers take it very seriously.
</Warning>

## Suppression vs. unsubscribed status

They overlap but aren't identical: unsubscribing changes the contact's **subscription status** (their choice), while suppression is Retainful's **safety net** that also covers bounces and complaints. Either one is enough to stop marketing email to that address.

## Keeping your list healthy

* Use **double opt-in** for signup forms to keep fake addresses out.
* Don't email very old lists without a re-permission pass — dormant addresses turn into spam traps.
* Watch your bounce rate in [campaign analytics](/campaigns/analytics); a spike usually means a stale audience.
* See [Deliverability best practices](/email-setup/deliverability) for the full picture.