List-Health & Sunset Planner
Inactive subscribers don’t just waste sends — they drag down inbox placement for everyone. Get the right lapse window for your sending frequency, size your at-risk and never-active segments, and build a sunset plan that protects your list.
The list-health and sunset planner recommends how long to wait before treating a subscriber as lapsed — scaled to your sending frequency (roughly 60–90 days for daily senders, up to 150–180 for monthly) — and sizes your at-risk and never-active segments from your engagement numbers. It separates long-quiet subscribers who deserve a win-back from never-actives that warrant fast removal, so you protect deliverability for the subscribers who actually want your email. Define engagement on clicks, not opens. Runs in your browser.
List-Health & Sunset Planner inputs and result
A sunset window is only useful if it triggers something automatically. Build it as one connected flow: when a subscriber crosses the inactivity threshold for your sending frequency, drop them into a short win-back sequence rather than removing them outright. Those who click, visit, or buy return to your active program; those who stay silent through the final “last email” move to a suppressed segment. Suppress rather than delete, so you keep the purchase history and can run an occasional one-off reactivation later without the dead weight dragging your everyday placement. Treat never-actives on a faster track — one re-engagement attempt, then suppression — because they have no proven value and most resemble the junk addresses that damage reputation. Then measure: note your inbox placement and Postmaster spam rate before you start, and check them two to four weeks after the first suppression. On a list that has never been cleaned, the improvement is usually fast and visible, which is exactly the evidence that turns a nervous one-time cleanup into a standing policy nobody argues with.
How to use this tool
- Pick your sending frequency.Daily, weekly, or monthly — it sets how long to wait before calling someone lapsed.
- Enter your list size and engagement.Use clicks, visits, and purchases for the engaged figure — never opens, which Apple MPP inflates.
- Add your never-actives.The share who joined and never once engaged; these warrant faster removal than long-quiet subscribers.
- Read your plan.The recommended lapse window, the size of your at-risk and never-active segments, and a list-health verdict.
- Export it.Copy a share link, download the CSV, or print a one-page PDF.
RGM Expert Says
Inactive subscribers are not harmless — they are dangerous. Mailbox providers judge your sender reputation on engagement, so a list heavy with people who never open or click drags inbox placement down for the customers who actually want your email. The job of a sunset policy is to re-earn the reachable and let go of the dead weight on purpose, before it taxes everyone else.
This planner sets the lapse window by your sending frequency, because the right threshold scales with how often you mail. A daily sender can be confident someone has gone quiet after roughly 60–90 days; a weekly sender needs 90–120; a monthly sender 150–180. The principle is the same: wait long enough to be sure, but not so long that the dead weight poisons your reputation while you hesitate. And define “engaged” on clicks and visits, never opens — Apple Mail Privacy Protection inflated opens into a number you can’t trust.
The hard part is emotional, not technical. Suppressing addresses feels like deleting money, which is why only about a quarter of senders run a sunset policy. Reframe it: suppress (don’t delete) the chronically unengaged, keep their purchase history, and watch placement improve — usually within two to four weeks. Treat never-actives hardest: one quick re-engagement attempt, then out.
How it works
The planner recommends a lapse window from your sending frequency, then sizes your segments:
- Lapse window — daily ~60–90 days, weekly ~90–120, monthly ~150–180, after a failed win-back.
- At-risk — subscribers who are neither recently engaged nor never-actives: the win-back-then-sunset group.
- List health — a read on what share of your list is actively engaging.
Windows reflect common deliverability guidance (Mailjet, Mailgun); tune to your own reorder and engagement cycles. Runs in your browser.
Why a sunset policy protects the subscribers you keep
It feels backwards to stop emailing part of your list, but it is one of the highest-return moves in email. Providers infer whether your mail is wanted from how recipients behave. When a large share ignore you, they conclude your mail is unwanted — and route it to spam for everyone, including your best customers. Removing the chronically unengaged lifts placement for the people who actually buy.
The planner separates two groups that deserve different treatment. Long-tenured subscribers who recently went quiet earn patience and a real win-back — something probably changed in their life, not their opinion of you. Never-actives, who ignored you from the start, look like spam-trap behavior to providers and warrant fast removal after a single attempt. Lumping them together either wastes a generous offer on dead addresses or under-serves reclaimable customers.
Run the win-back first, sunset the non-responders, suppress rather than delete, and re-measure placement. The deliverability gain usually shows up within weeks.
Recommended lapse window by sending frequency
Start the clock after a failed re-engagement attempt, on clicks and visits — not opens.
| Frequency | Lapse window | Then |
|---|---|---|
| Daily / near-daily | ~60–90 days | Win-back, then sunset |
| Weekly | ~90–120 days | Win-back, then sunset |
| Monthly | ~150–180 days | Win-back, then sunset |
What operators say
It becomes increasingly dangerous to mail an address that hasn’t engaged with any of your first 8 emails.
Suppress, don’t delete — you get the deliverability benefit immediately and keep the purchase history.