> For clean Markdown of any page, append .md to the page URL.
> For a complete documentation index, see https://docs.laposta.org/llms.txt.
> For AI client integration (Claude Code, Cursor, etc.), connect to the MCP server at https://docs.laposta.org/_mcp/server.

# Setting retention periods for unsubscribed and cleaned subscribers

> Configure per list after how many days Laposta automatically deletes unsubscribed and cleaned subscribers, and see which data is retained.

Unsubscribed and cleaned subscribers remain in your list by default. If you want or need to delete them after a certain period, for instance because of your privacy policy, you can set a retention period per list. Laposta will then delete these subscribers automatically.

## Setting a retention period

Go to Subscribers → your list → Settings and look under ‘Retention periods’. There you will find two fields:

* ‘Delete unsubscribed subscribers after (days)’: for subscribers who have unsubscribed.
* ‘Delete cleaned subscribers after (days)’: for subscribers who have been cleaned, for example after a hard bounce, six consecutive soft bounces or a spam complaint.

Enter the desired number of days in the fields and save. If you leave a field empty, those subscribers will not be deleted automatically.

The period starts from the moment of unsubscribing or cleaning. Every night, Laposta deletes the subscribers that are due according to the retention period.

> **Warning**
>
> A retention period also applies to subscribers who have already been unsubscribed or cleaned for a longer time. As soon as you set a period, those subscribers will be deleted the following night.

## Which data is erased?

When deleting a subscriber, Laposta erases the personal data:

* the email address
* all field values (name, city, custom fields, and so on)
* the source URL of the subscription
* the choices for multiple-choice fields and the tags

This is permanent and cannot be undone, not even by Laposta. Subscribers deleted due to a retention period do not appear on the ‘deleted’ tab. Therefore, you cannot [restore](/verwijderde-relaties-herstellen) them.

## Which data is retained?

No data remains of a deleted subscriber that would allow you to identify the person. Laposta does retain some technical data: a unique number with the corresponding sending history, and sometimes an encrypted code of the email address (a hash).

## Deleted email addresses remain blocked

If an email address were simply to disappear, it could be added back to your list as a new subscriber during a future import or subscription. For someone who has unsubscribed or for an address that does not work, this is undesirable. That is why, in those cases, Laposta remembers a hash of the address per list, along with the reason and the date. The address itself cannot be reconstructed from that code. The code is only used to check whether an address is blocked for this list.

Whether a hash is retained depends on how the subscriber was unsubscribed or cleaned:

| Deleted subscriber                                                                                               | Retain hash |
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------- |
| Cleaned (hard bounce, six consecutive soft bounces, spam complaint, and so on)                                   | yes         |
| Unsubscribed by the subscriber themselves (unsubscribe link, unsubscribing via the email client, contact centre) | yes         |
| Unsubscribed via the API                                                                                         | yes         |
| Unsubscribed by you or a colleague in Laposta (lists, importing, segments)                                       | no          |
| Unsubscribed by an automation                                                                                    | no          |

If the subscriber did not unsubscribe themselves, a new subscription does not need to be prevented, and Laposta does not retain a hash.

A block only applies to the list the subscriber was in, not to your other lists, and has no end date. The ‘unsubscribed’ and ‘cleaned’ tabs show how many email addresses are blocked for that list.

## What happens if you delete subscribers yourself?

If you delete a subscriber or an entire list yourself, it will be retained for another 30 days. This allows you to correct a mistake, for example if you delete the wrong list. During those 30 days, you can restore the subscribers or the list yourself via [Restoring deleted subscribers and lists](/verwijderde-relaties-herstellen).

After 30 days, Laposta erases the personal data in the same way as with the retention periods. At that point, Laposta cannot retrieve it either. You can, however, add the email address again as a new subscriber. The old sending history remains anonymous and is not linked to the new subscriber.

## Related articles

#### [Restoring deleted subscribers and lists](/verwijderde-relaties-herstellen)

Read where to find deleted subscribers and lists, how to restore them and what happens…

#### [What are active, unsubscribed and cleaned subscribers?](/waar-vind-ik-een-overzicht-van-actieve-uitgeschreven-en-opgeschoonde-relaties)

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