--- title: "Understanding your Suppression list" updated: 2026-04-20 --- # Understanding your Suppression list Every beehiiv publication maintains a Suppression list — a record of email addresses that will no longer be included in future email deliveries from your publication. Addresses are typically added when delivery signals indicate that sending to them is likely to fail or could pose a risk to your sending reputation. Suppressions are designed to protect you. Repeatedly sending to addresses that fail delivery can hurt your sender reputation and reduce your ability to reach the inboxes of subscribers who are actively engaged. --- ## Where to find your Suppression list 1. From your dashboard, go to [**Subscribers**](https://app.beehiiv.com/subscribers). 2. Click on the [**Suppression list**](https://app.beehiiv.com/subscribers?tab=suppression_list) tab. ![](https://beehiivhelp.zendesk.com/hc/article_attachments/39887424926615) The Suppression list displays the following for each address: - **Recipient email:** The recipient address that has been suppressed. - **Type:** Whether the suppression is **Permanent** or **Temporary**. - **Date added:** The date the address was added to the list. - **Reason:** Why the address was suppressed. - **Last bounce response:** The most recent bounce response received for that recipient. You can sort the list by **Email** or **Date Added** to zero in on specific categories. --- ## Permanent vs. Temporary suppression types Every suppressed address is categorized as either **Permanent** or **Temporary**. ### Permanent A Permanent suppression means beehiiv has determined the address is undeliverable and is not expected to recover. Common examples include invalid or mistyped email addresses (such as john.smth@gmail.com instead of john.smith@gmail.com), or addresses that belong to a domain that no longer exists. An address like john.smth@gmail.com will typically fail with a hard bounce and will not receive future sends; though permanent suppressions can also accumulate through repeated soft bounces ### Temporary A Temporary suppression means the address has been paused from receiving emails, but the situation may resolve on its own. beehiiv will automatically retry delivery. If the issue has been resolved — for example, a previously full inbox has been cleared — the address will be resubscribed automatically. If delivery fails again, the address will become Permanently suppressed Because Temporary suppressions are managed automatically, each one will either resolve on its own if delivery succeeds, or become Permanent if it fails again. --- ## Reasons for suppression Each suppressed address includes a reason that explains why it was added to the list. Below is a breakdown of each reason and how it typically occurs. | Reason | What it means | | --------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Bad address | The recipient address is invalid or does not exist. These come back as hard bounces and are always Permanent. | | Not deliverable | beehiiv’s system suppressed the address based on repeated delivery signals, such as a persistently full inbox. These can be either Temporary or Permanent. | | Manual | A beehiiv administrator manually added an address to your publication’s Suppression list. | ### Bad address This is an email address that is invalid and cannot receive mail. This most commonly happens when a subscriber mistyped their address at signup; for example, john.smth@gmail.com instead of john.smith@gmail.com. When a delivery attempt returns a hard bounce confirming that the address doesn't exist, it is permanently suppressed and will not recover. ### Not deliverable These are addresses where delivery has consistently failed but without a clear hard bounce signal, indicating that the email address exists but emails cannot be delivered there. Unlike a bad address, the reason may not be fully explicit — but the outcome is the same: the address cannot receive email. These will show up as either Temporary or Permanent suppressions.   ### Manual This address was manually suppressed by beehiiv. Manual suppressions are uncommon and typically happen in specific circumstances — such as a compliance or legal request, the identification of a known spam trap, or another situation where beehiiv's team has determined that continued sending to this address poses a risk. --- ## Transactional emails and suppression Suppressed addresses will not receive any emails from your publication — with one exception: transactional emails. At beehiiv, transactional emails are system-generated messages that beehiiv sends automatically on behalf of the platform itself — things like password resets and account verifications. These are not emails you create or control as a publisher. Because they are essential to account access and security, they are not subject to suppression. > **Tech Note** > > The term ‘transactional’ can mean different things depending on the platform. At beehiiv, only system-generated emails qualify — publisher-controlled emails such as automations and welcome emails are subject to suppression like any other send. --- ## How to segment your suppression list You can [create a segment](https://beehiivhelp.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/9366426644503) of your audience using the **Suppression** attribute to identify which subscribers are, or are not, suppressed.  From **Segments**, set your conditions to: **Subscriber data > Attribute > Suppression > exists** or **does not exist**. From here, you can [bulk delete the suppressed subscribers](https://beehiivhelp.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/12428610562327) in the segment to remove them from your list entirely. Keeping your Suppression list in check is one part of broader list hygiene. Other workflows that help maintain good deliverability include:  - Re-engagement campaign: Use [this template to create an automation that targets inactive subscribers](https://beehiivhelp.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/16666074781975) before they disengage completely.  - Disengaged subscriber segment: Create a [segment to identify subscribers with low engagement](https://beehiivhelp.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/12428610562327), then [bulk delete](https://beehiivhelp.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/12428610562327) if needed. Example conditions: **Subscriber data > Engagement > Open rate is 0%**. > **Reminder** > > Bulk deleting subscribers is permanent and cannot be undone. Back up your subscriber data before proceeding. --- ## FAQs about suppression lists  **Does suppression affect all email types?** Yes. Suppressed addresses will not receive any emails from your publication, including posts, welcome emails, and automations. The only exception is transactional emails — system-generated messages like password resets and account verifications that beehiiv sends automatically. **Will my subscriber count or delivery rates change?** You may notice a small decrease in your Total Delivered count and an improvement in your Delivered Rate as undeliverable addresses are removed from future sends. This is expected and a sign of a healthier list. **Do I need to manage my Suppression list?** In most cases, no. Temporary suppressions are retried and resolved automatically. Permanent suppressions are addresses that are no longer reachable. The suppression system works in the background to protect your sending reputation without requiring ongoing action from you. **Can an address be removed from the Suppression list?** In most cases, Permanent suppressions should remain on the list because the addresses are undeliverable and removing them would result in failed sends that harm your sender reputation. If you believe an address was suppressed in error, ask our chatbot Buzz for further assistance. **Why is an address showing as Temporary if it keeps failing?** beehiiv retries delivery automatically for Temporary suppressions. If the underlying issue doesn't resolve after repeated attempts, the address will be upgraded to a Permanent suppression. No action is needed from you during this process.