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Introduction

This article is intended for individuals or administrators managing mailing lists who need to provide an easy way for subscribers to unsubscribe via email. It covers the steps to create a mailto link that allows users to unsubscribe automatically by sending an email with a preset subject, as well as offering alternative methods for managing unsubscribes. These steps should be used when you want to offer subscribers a straightforward and automated way to unsubscribe from your email list. It is applicable to any mailing list service that supports unsubscribing via email and allows for mailto links or unsubscribe requests through web forms. Administrators can apply these steps in their email templates or mailing list tools to simplify the unsubscribing process for users.

Prerequisites

• Access to the email list address
• Familiarity with basic HTML if using mailto links in web pages or templates
• A keywords or phrase set up for automatic unsubscribing (e.g., “remove or “unsubscribe”).

Steps

1. Select the text you want to use as a hyperlink.
2. Click on the “Add Hyperlink” icon
3. Change the type to “mailto:”.
4. Enter the URL in the format:mailto:youremail@yourdomain.tld?subject=remove

Example

Let’s say you email list address us yourlist@yourdomain.tld and the unsubscribe keyword is “Remove”. The mailto would link like this:mailto:yourlist@yourdomain.tld?subject=remove

Clicking the mailto link will open the recipient’s mail client with the pre-set recipient and subject, so the user only needs to send the email. The program will automatically process the unsubscribe request when it syncs with the email.

Alternative option

• Use a link to a webform that generates the unsubscribe email.
• Instead of a mailto link, request users to “Reply with ‘Remove’ in the subject.”
• Combine both options, e.g., “Click here to unsubscribe” (as a mailto link) or reply with “Remove” in the subject.

Conclusion
By following the steps outlined in this article, mailing list administrators can simplify the unsubscribe process for their subscribers. This ensures better list management and a user-friendly experience for recipients wishing to opt out.

Article posted on 16 Apr 2020.