# What are suppression lists and when to use them?

A **suppression list** lets you exclude certain email addresses or domains from receiving your campaigns – even if they are still part of your main email list. You can use them to preserve your sender reputation, honor opt-outs promptly and avoid sending to invalid or risky email addresses.

**Suppression lists** are a convenient way to make sure that you don’t send updates on products or services to recipients who have opted out from receiving them. Simply go to **Contacts > [Suppression lists](https://app.getresponse.com/suppression-lists)** and click the **Create the suppression list** button to set it up. Then, select it when you _choose newsletter recipients_ in the newsletter creator.

**Suppression rules** can be used to exclude emails or domains. You can use the following rules:

*   **name@example.com** – use a full email address to exclude a particular recipient.
*   **@example.com** – use the domain name part to exclude all email addresses at that domain.
*   **name@** – use the local part (username – the part that comes before the domain name) to exclude such email addresses at all domains.
*   **#example** – use # followed by ISP name to block it.
*   **e24xa340a8mpl68ed3d28063f17d2e27a**– you can also use MD5 hashed email addresses.

You can apply a suppression list during the **recipients selection step** of your newsletter setup. [Click here for instructions on how to exclude contacts from receiving your newsletter](https://www.getresponse.com/help/how-do-i-exclude-contacts-from-receiving-my-newsletter.html).

Creating a suppression list
---------------------------

1.  Go to **Contacts >** [**Suppression lists**](https://app.getresponse.com/suppression-lists).
2.  Click on the **Create suppression list** button.  
      
    ![](https://us-wd.gr-cdn.com/help/sites/9/2026/02/1041/sp1en.png)  
      
    
3.  The **Create suppression list** page will open. Enter your suppression list name (required). The list name can be 1-64 characters long. All characters are allowed, but your list name can’t be just a space ( ). Emojis are turned into an underscore ( \_ ).  
      
    ![](https://us-wd.gr-cdn.com/help/sites/9/2026/02/1050/sp2en.png)  
      
    
4.  Add suppression rules.  
      
    ![](https://us-wd.gr-cdn.com/help/sites/9/2026/02/1050/sp3en.png)  
      
    You can:  
    *   Paste or type them in. Add one rule per line, press **Enter** to separate each entry.
    *   Upload a file. Use CSV or TXT files, no larger than 10 MB. You can either drag-and-drop it or click **Choose file** and select the file from your computer. When the file has been successfully added, we confirm that it’s ready for upload.

**Note:** The file should contain only one column. Each line should be in one of the following formats:

user@domain.com

@domain.com

user@

5.  Click **Save suppression list**.  
      
    ![](https://us-wd.gr-cdn.com/help/sites/9/2026/02/1051/sp4en.png)

Once you’ve successfully created a suppression list, you’ll automatically return to the **Suppression lists** page.

![](https://us-wd.gr-cdn.com/help/sites/9/2025/08/0017/CleanShot-2025-08-25-at-02.16.48.jpeg)

From there, you can:

*   view the lists you’ve created
*   edit and delete existing lists
*   sort your existing lists by name or date
*   create new suppression lists

Editing the suppression list
----------------------------

1.  Go to **Contacts **\>**** [**Suppression lists**](https://app.getresponse.com/suppression-lists)**.**
2.  Hover the mouse over the **action menu** to open the actions list and select **Edit** or **Delete**.  
      
    ![](https://us-wd.gr-cdn.com/help/sites/9/2025/09/1348/CleanShot-2025-09-11-at-15.46.59.jpeg)  
      
    
3.  After you’ve clicked Edit, you’ll get to the Edit suppression list page. From there you can change the suppression list name and delete or add suppression rules:
    *   To change the name, type in a new name in the space provided.
    *   To delete the rules, select one or more rules. To delete the rules in bulk, check the box above the list. Next, click **Delete rules**.  
          
        ![](https://us-wd.gr-cdn.com/help/sites/9/2025/08/0020/CleanShot-2025-08-25-at-02.19.19-1.jpeg)  
          
        
    *   To add new rules, select **Add suppression rule**. Next select **Type in or paste** or **Upload a file**. Then, follow the steps for _adding suppression rules_. Click **Save** when you are done.  
          
        ![](https://us-wd.gr-cdn.com/help/sites/9/2025/08/0022/CleanShot-2025-08-25-at-02.19.19-3.jpeg)

Deleting the suppression list
-----------------------------

1.  Go to **Contacts **>**** [**Suppression lists**](https://app.getresponse.com/suppression-lists)**.**
2.  Hover the mouse over the **action menu** to open the actions list and select **Delete**. A pop-up modal will appear.  
      
    ![](https://us-wd.gr-cdn.com/help/sites/9/2025/09/1348/CleanShot-2025-09-11-at-15.46.59-1.jpeg)  
      
    
3.  Click **Yes, delete** to confirm you’d like to remove the suppression list.  
      
    ![](https://us-wd.gr-cdn.com/help/sites/9/2025/08/0023/CleanShot-2025-08-25-at-02.22.30.jpeg)