{"article":{"id":5313915904914,"url":"https://sendinblue.zendesk.com/api/v2/help_center/en-us/articles/5313915904914.json","html_url":"https://help.brevo.com/hc/en-us/articles/5313915904914-Delete-contacts","author_id":10424752368658,"comments_disabled":false,"draft":false,"promoted":false,"position":8,"vote_sum":-31,"vote_count":197,"upvote_count":83,"downvote_count":114,"section_id":6066427982994,"created_at":"2022-04-28T12:11:40Z","updated_at":"2026-11-02T14:20:55Z","name":"Delete contacts","title":"Delete contacts","source_locale":"en-us","locale":"en-us","outdated":false,"outdated_locales":[],"edited_at":"2026-06-16T09:07:32Z","user_segment_id":null,"permission_group_id":114904,"content_tag_ids":[],"label_names":["banner_all"],"body":"<p>Deleting contacts allows you to <strong>completely and permanently remove them and their information from your Brevo account</strong>.</p><div style=\"border: 0; color: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; margin: 1rem 0; padding: .5rem; background-color: #fff4f0; border-left: 3px solid #ff6e3d; border-bottom-right-radius: 8px; border-top-right-radius: 8px;\">\n<div style=\"margin: 0; padding: .5rem .75rem;\">\n<div style=\"color: #663e0f; font-size: 1.125rem; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 1rem;\">❗️ Important</div>\nDeleted contacts <strong>cannot</strong> be restored. We suggest regularly <a href=\"https://help.brevo.com/hc/en-us/articles/5310065850642\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">exporting your contacts</a> to create backups in case of accidental deletion.</div>\n</div><h1 id=\"delete-or-blocklist\">🤔 Should I delete or blocklist contacts?</h1><p>When deciding whether to delete or blocklist contacts, consider the following:</p><ul>\n<li data-list-item-id=\"e4a2e452be16add2a04377c3fefb66f12\">Deleting a contact will <strong>remove all of their information stored on your Brevo account</strong>. This action is <strong>irreversible</strong> and <strong>all data will be permanently lost</strong>, including attributes, history, and other related information. Deleting contacts is only <strong>recommended for General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliance purposes</strong>, such as when a contact specifically requests that you delete their data.</li>\n<li data-list-item-id=\"ea926a8d1e0e05e53ae21bb9685837f4b\">\n<p>On the other hand, <a href=\"https://help.brevo.com/hc/en-us/articles/5317448358034\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">blocklisting contacts</a> is <strong>reversible</strong> and <strong>does not delete any data</strong>. If you have unengaged or invalid contacts, we recommend that you blocklist them to keep their data and protect the quality of your campaigns. </p>\n<div style=\"border: 0; color: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; margin: 1rem 0; padding: .5rem; background-color: #fff4f0; border-left: 3px solid #ff6e3d; border-bottom-right-radius: 8px; border-top-right-radius: 8px;\">\n<div style=\"margin: 0; padding: .5rem .75rem;\">\n<div style=\"color: #663e0f; font-size: 1.125rem; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 1rem;\">❗️ Important</div>\nWe highly recommend that you <strong>do not delete blocklisted contacts</strong>. Keeping blocklisted contacts ensures that you cannot accidentally re-import and send campaigns to contacts that are found to be invalid or have previously opted out of your communications.</div>\n</div>\n</li>\n</ul><h1 id=\"h_01H9G4HRRFN9K5RTSB20JVMDSE\">🗑️ Delete contacts</h1><p>There are three ways to delete contacts. You can:</p><ul>\n<li data-list-item-id=\"e5e34eee46a038dd48f07fa910d9ca498\">\n<a href=\"#h_01GH1K8SZWHNZR15XG0VWFH85D\" target=\"_self\">Delete one or several contacts from the <strong>Contacts </strong>page</a>,</li>\n<li data-list-item-id=\"ed22c65a4dfb8c4ce31bb82e9d48b75a1\">\n<a href=\"#h_01GH1K8ZVFCFBKG1CAY81XR0GS\" target=\"_self\">Delete a single contact from their details page</a>, or</li>\n<li data-list-item-id=\"ee14f2487828853a523574bbb0c0d672c\">\n<a href=\"#h_01JDRZ1G8G2YSA1PTTD5FG0QS3\">Delete contacts automatically using the new automation editor</a>.</li>\n</ul><h2 id=\"h_01GH1K8SZWHNZR15XG0VWFH85D\">Delete one or several contacts from the Contacts page</h2><ol>\n<li data-list-item-id=\"e745eaec517e1e62f204399bb67856e15\">Go to <a href=\"https://app.brevo.com/contact/list\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>CRM &gt; Contacts</strong></a>.</li>\n<li data-list-item-id=\"e620c5708e73052297af7035d4ee6c2d7\">Optional: Click <strong>Add filter </strong>to filter your contacts, for example, by language or creation date, or click <strong>Use segment template</strong> to use a pre-defined segment. You can also <strong>load a </strong><a href=\"https://help.brevo.com/hc/en-us/articles/5526943347858\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>list</strong></a><strong> or a </strong><a href=\"https://help.brevo.com/hc/en-us/articles/7943906808594\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>segment</strong></a> if you've already created one.<br><img src=\"https://help.brevo.com/hc/article_attachments/21013663244690\" alt=\"contacts_add-load-segment-list_EN-US.png\">\n</li>\n<li data-list-item-id=\"e22644509023afeabf4e98175641d4523\">Select the contacts that you want to delete:<br><img src=\"https://help.brevo.com/hc/article_attachments/21013663240082\"><ol>\n<li data-list-item-id=\"e9035d7096ab34f3f0ba9c63e81cb0579\">To select <strong>multiple individual contacts</strong>, select the checkboxes next to the contacts.</li>\n<li data-list-item-id=\"efd8dce016953e5fd7d8b7e7ad1a22f5a\">To select all of the contacts <strong>on your current page</strong>, select the checkbox at the top left of the table.</li>\n<li data-list-item-id=\"efb3470a1fbbfde5388ce445a9f1398d6\">To select all of the contacts <strong>on your current list or database</strong>, select the checkbox at the top left of the table and click <strong>Select all contacts</strong>.</li>\n</ol>\n</li>\n<li data-list-item-id=\"e8b537932cfebc4166e9a8434f7b4a4d4\">Click <strong>More actions &gt; Delete permanently</strong>.<br><img src=\"https://help.brevo.com/hc/article_attachments/21013663241490\">\n</li>\n<li data-list-item-id=\"ef17898f65ce7a9484b469326fd3ac84d\">Enter the number of selected contacts to confirm.<br><img src=\"https://help.brevo.com/hc/article_attachments/21013675463314\" width=\"481\" height=\"290\">\n</li>\n<li data-list-item-id=\"effe63ed0b3c67888840cb88c936bb017\">Click <strong>Delete</strong>.</li>\n</ol><p>The contacts and their data have been <strong>permanently deleted</strong> from your Brevo account. From your <a href=\"https://app.brevo.com/notifications\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">notifications center</a>, you can see who deleted the contacts, how, and using which IP address.</p><h2 id=\"h_01GH1K8ZVFCFBKG1CAY81XR0GS\">Delete a single contact from their details page</h2><ol>\n<li data-list-item-id=\"ec5ea816568860dff39bb9134f15cbd76\">Go to <a href=\"https://app.brevo.com/contact/list\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>CRM &gt; Contacts</strong></a>.</li>\n<li data-list-item-id=\"ebb7d3333599e5c855ba91cf3bc1c900c\">Select a contact to open their details page.</li>\n<li data-list-item-id=\"e5717cf0abe002c13d017141349d71503\">Click the <strong>three-dot icon in the header &gt; Delete permanently</strong>.<br><img src=\"https://help.brevo.com/hc/article_attachments/23237656991378\" alt=\"contacts_delete-permanently_en-us.png\" width=\"350\" height=\"305\">\n</li>\n<li data-list-item-id=\"ed31071d602f37d0109449cb344f5c8da\">Click <strong>Yes, delete permanently</strong> to confirm.</li>\n</ol><p>The contact and their data have been <strong>permanently deleted</strong> from your Brevo account.</p><h2 id=\"h_01JDRZ1G8G2YSA1PTTD5FG0QS3\">Delete contacts automatically using the new automation editor</h2><p>You can automatically delete contacts using an automation if they meet certain criteria. For example, you may want to automatically delete contacts that have not interacted with you in a long time.</p><p class=\"wysiwyg-text-align-center\"><img src=\"https://help.brevo.com/hc/article_attachments/23237670313234\" alt=\"automation_delete-contact_en-us.png\" width=\"300\" height=\"405\"></p><ol>\n<li data-list-item-id=\"e4fecff8f64a139239c46e74bc00aabdc\">Go to <a href=\"https://app.brevo.com/automation/automations\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Automations &gt; Workflows</strong></a>.</li>\n<li data-list-item-id=\"e591a2af2aa4a0593c302e1336e4cc7f5\">Click <strong>Create an automation</strong>.<img src=\"https://help.brevo.com/hc/article_attachments/23237670314770\" alt=\"automations_create-an-automation_button_en-us.jpg\" width=\"652\" height=\"145\">\n</li>\n<li data-list-item-id=\"e228818357d5e8ee6c1f2a8320ebdb1e9\">Click <strong>Use the new editor [Beta]</strong>.</li>\n<li data-list-item-id=\"e5dcd2576fcc8f4bdb1300b7e54dc757b\">Click the name of your automation in the top bar to update it.</li>\n<li data-list-item-id=\"ea1ef6f643e63b3693bf62604e2a7a530\">Add a <strong>trigger</strong>. In our example, we added the trigger <strong>Contacts matches custom filters</strong>:<ol>\n<li data-list-item-id=\"e5395e4126ca672fe578079c070d23f15\">From the <strong>Triggers</strong> tab, drag and drop the <strong>Contacts - Contact matches custom filters</strong> trigger into the canvas.</li>\n<li data-list-item-id=\"ec80f67b07e27318549f6319cbe85cf4a\">\n<p>Click <strong>Add filter</strong> on the <strong>Contacts filters</strong> card, click <strong>Add filter</strong> to specify what filters should trigger the automation.  </p>\n<div style=\"border: 0; color: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; margin: 1rem 0; padding: .5rem; background-color: #efeefc; border-left: 3px solid #4f46b2; border-bottom-right-radius: 8px; border-top-right-radius: 8px;\">\n  <div style=\"margin: 0; padding: .5rem .75rem;\">\n    <div style=\"color: #4f46b2; font-size: 1.125rem; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 1rem;\">➡️  For example</div>\n    You can specify filters for contacts who haven't interacted with you in a\n    while:\n  </div>\n  <ul>\n    <li>\n      <strong>Marketing &gt; Email &gt; Email not opened &gt; Any type of email &gt; In the last &gt; 24 months</strong>.\n    </li>\n    <li>\n      <strong>Contact attributes &gt; Engagement status &gt; Unengaged</strong>.<br>\n      You can customize the criteria that define an unengaged contact from\n      the\n      <strong><a href=\"https://my.brevo.com/users/list/q/unengaged-segment\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Unengaged Contacts</a></strong> page.\n    </li>\n  </ul>\n</div>\n</li>\n<li data-list-item-id=\"e63d620d09a134b08831c76f61a475b8d\">Click <strong>Add filters</strong>.</li>\n<li data-list-item-id=\"e0caff2e4f40e5681a9af9a68d7ec71f6\">Click <strong>Save</strong>.</li>\n</ol>\n</li>\n<li data-list-item-id=\"ef46965d7e019c6de4a1476dca1d97104\">\n<p>From the <strong>Actions</strong> tab, select the <strong>Contacts - Delete a contact</strong> step into the canvas. </p>\n<div style=\"border: 0; color: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; margin: 1rem 0; padding: .5rem; background-color: #efeefc; border-left: 3px solid #4f46b2; border-bottom-right-radius: 8px; border-top-right-radius: 8px;\">\n<div style=\"margin: 0; padding: .5rem .75rem;\">\n<div style=\"color: #4f46b2; font-size: 1.125rem; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 1rem;\">💡 Good to know</div>\nYou <strong>cannot</strong> add any more steps after the <strong>Contacts - Delete a contact</strong> step.</div>\n</div>\n</li>\n<li data-list-item-id=\"ee400329aa914aaa62de041edddfb86d3\">Click <strong>Save</strong>.</li>\n<li data-list-item-id=\"ebf5af4bd80826a4c874cc59251a24ec9\">In the top bar, click <strong>Activate automation</strong>.</li>\n<li data-list-item-id=\"e97e2f85658e08af141bfcb146cc66db9\">Click <strong>Activate automation</strong>.</li>\n</ol><p>To learn more about the new automation editor, check <a href=\"https://help.brevo.com/hc/en-us/sections/18914865573010-New-automation-editor\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">our dedicated articles</a>.</p>","user_segment_ids":[]}}