Who is on my do-not-email list, and why?
Your do-not-email list is the record of everyone your campaigns skip, and why. Bernard keeps it for you as things happen, and you can add to it yourself.
The prompt
“Show me the do-not-email list for [my site], explain why each address is on it, and tell me which ones I can undo.”
Signed in, Get my prompt fills in your site for you. Otherwise press Copy and fill in the [bracketed] parts. First time? Connect your AI to bernard once: Use your own AI (opens in a new tab).
The four reasons an address lands there
- Unsubscribed. They used the unsubscribe link in one of your emails. Where bernard knows which campaign they were reading, the entry names it.
- Blocked by you. You asked bernard to stop emailing that address. This is the one you can undo.
- Retired address. Mail to that address kept failing, so bernard stopped trying. Continuing to send to addresses that do not exist damages how the rest of your email is treated.
- Complained. They marked one of your emails as spam. Bernard stops immediately.
One address can carry more than one reason at once, and every reason keeps its own date. Removing one never removes another.
Blocking an address yourself
Type the address, choose Block, and confirm. Blocking is the account owner’s decision, so a team member is asked to pass it to the owner, and asking Bernard for it goes the same way. Nothing else about the person changes: they stay in your contacts, keep their order history and course access, and can still receive the practical emails that go with something they bought. Only your campaigns skip them from that moment on.
Undoing only what you decided
The Undo action appears on a row whose only reason is your own block. It is deliberately absent everywhere else, and bernard will refuse the same request in the Workshop with the same explanation.
An unsubscribe can only be undone by the person themselves, by saying yes again through one of your signup forms. A retired address or a spam complaint is bernard’s to review, because putting one back affects whether your future email arrives at all. Ask bernard to look at it rather than trying to work around it. How does unsubscribing from my emails work? explains the unsubscribe side in full.
You can also see the do-not-email entries that concern one person on their own contact page, under History, alongside every campaign they were sent and what happened to each one.
Tidying a year’s worth at once
Blocking addresses one at a time is fine for an ex-supplier. For a yearly clear-out there is a Quiet contacts section below this list, which appears once twenty or more of your contacts have gone twelve months with no order, no form and no campaign reaching them. It quotes the exact number before it changes anything, adds only your own block, and deletes nobody. How do I tidy my mailing list once a year? explains it in full.
Reading it alongside your numbers
A long list is not automatically a bad sign; a list that grows fast is worth a look. Is my email sending healthy? turns the same events into rates and tells you whether anything needs doing. Who will receive my email campaign? explains why somebody who is not on this list still might not be in an audience: the do-not-email list is about people who left, and permission is about people who joined.
Questions people ask
- Where do I find the list?
- Open Your customers, then the Email campaigns tab. The Do not email section sits under your campaigns and shows each address with every reason standing against it, and each reason carries its own date.
- Can I stop emailing one person without deleting them?
- Yes. Type the address into the Do not email box and choose Block. The person stays in your contacts with their purchases and history intact; only your campaigns skip them. Blocking and undoing a block are the account owner’s to make, whether you ask on the page or ask Bernard. Sending a campaign still needs your own approval as usual.
- Why can I undo some entries and not others?
- You can undo a block you made yourself, because it was your decision. You cannot undo an unsubscribe, a retired address or a spam complaint, because those were somebody else’s decision or a safety measure.
- Can I block a lot of addresses at once?
- Yes, in one place. Once twenty or more of your contacts have gone a full year with no order, no form and no campaign reaching them, a Quiet contacts section appears under this list with a one-step Stop emailing these. It quotes the exact number before it does anything, and every address it adds is your own block, so you can undo any of them. See the Tidy your mailing list guide.
- Does blocking someone here affect another business?
- No. The list belongs to one site. Blocking an address for your site changes nothing for anyone else using bernard, and it does not touch your own inbox.