How to Delete Unsubscribed Contacts from Mailchimp in 2025: A Step-by-Step Guide

Let me guess — your Mailchimp audience is growing, but so is your monthly bill. And you just found out that unsubscribed contacts still count toward your contact limit. Super frustrating, right?

Yeah, I’ve been there too.

When I first started with Mailchimp, I thought unsubscribed contacts were gone for good. But nope — they were just sitting there quietly, bloating my list and pushing me into higher pricing tiers. That’s when I learned how important it is to regularly delete or archive those contacts.

So if you’re looking to clean up your audience, save money, and stop paying for people who don’t even want your emails anymore — I’ve got you. Here’s how I do it.

Why I Delete Unsubscribed Contacts (and Why You Might Want To)

If someone unsubscribed, they’re not getting your newsletters anyway. But what Mailchimp doesn’t tell you right away is that these unsubscribed folks still count toward your total audience size.

That means:

You’re paying for them
They clutter your stats and reports
They serve no purpose if you’re not going to email them again

For me, it came down to one question: Do I want to keep paying for people who don’t want to hear from me? Yeah… no thanks.

Quick Note Before We Begin

Just so we’re on the same page — once you delete contacts, they’re gone for good. You can’t recover them later. If you’re a little hesitant (and I totally get that), you can archive them instead. Archiving removes them from your bill but keeps their info tucked away if you ever want to restore them.

Alright, let’s jump in.

Step-by-Step: How I Delete Unsubscribed Contacts from Mailchimp in 2025

Step 1: Log In to Mailchimp

Pretty straightforward — head to mailchimp.com, sign in, and go to your dashboard.

Step 2: Go to the Audience Tab

On the left-hand side, click Audience. If you’ve got more than one list (a.k.a. audience), make sure you pick the one you want to clean up.

Tip from me: If you don’t name your audiences clearly, it’s easy to delete the wrong one. Been there. Learn from me.

Step 3: Filter for Unsubscribed Contacts

Here’s the magic move:

Click Manage Contacts
Then choose Segments
Create a new segment with the condition:
- “Email Marketing Status is Unsubscribed”

Hit Preview Segment, and boom — you’ve got your list of unsubscribed folks.

Step 4: Select and Review

You’ll see checkboxes next to each contact. Hit the top checkbox to select all on the page. If you have multiple pages of unsubscribed contacts, a little banner will pop up that says something like:

“Select all [XXX] contacts in this segment?”

Click that. Now you’ve got everyone selected in one go.

Step 5: Delete (or Archive)

Now for the big moment:

Click Actions
Choose Remove Contacts
Then select Permanently Delete

Mailchimp will ask you to confirm. And yeah — once you hit delete, that’s it. So double-check before pulling the trigger.

Pro tip: If you’re not 100% sure, you can choose Archive instead. It’s reversible and still removes them from your billing count.

Bonus: Export a Backup (Just in Case)

Before I delete a big chunk of contacts, I always download a backup file — just in case I ever need to refer back. Here’s how I do it:

While in your unsubscribed segment, click Export Audience
Mailchimp will email you a download link
Save that CSV somewhere safe (I name mine with the date for easy reference)

When I Choose to Archive Instead

Sometimes I don’t want to fully delete someone — especially if they were once a really engaged subscriber or made a purchase. In those cases, I archive them instead.

Here’s the deal:

Archived contacts don’t count toward your audience total
You can unarchive them later
You keep their data for analytics, tags, history, etc.

It’s the best of both worlds when you’re unsure.

Final Thoughts (From My Inbox to Yours)

Keeping your email list clean isn’t just about deliverability or analytics — it’s also about respecting your time and your wallet.

Once I got in the habit of clearing out unsubscribed contacts every few months, my Mailchimp bills dropped, my reports got clearer, and honestly? My stress went down too.

If you’ve been meaning to do a list cleanup, consider this your sign. Go in, follow the steps, and give your Mailchimp account a fresh start.

You’ve got this.