Deleting a suppressed contact is different from deleting a regular contact. For suppressed contacts, their email address or mobile number is retained to maintain their suppression, preventing accidental re-imports or future marketing sends.
When you delete a suppressed contact, only their associated contact data fields and Insight data are removed. This data does not go to the recycle bin, and can't be recovered.
You can only delete a suppressed contact if they are suppressed at a contact level, meaning they are suppressed on all available channels.
Before you start
Things you need to know:
If the suppressed contact you want to delete has an email address awaiting verification—in Pending status—this must be deleted before you can delete the suppressed contact’s data.
Any data related to this contact from the Pages and forms, surveys, or transactional email tools, if you use them, is not automatically removed. This data can be deleted separately.
Suppressed contacts can't be bulk deleted using segments or programs. The deletion process must be completed in the Suppressions area.
Delete a suppressed contact
An important note on GDPR compliance
When a suppressed contact wants you to remove them from your system, they're exercising their right to be forgotten. This delete action allows you to comply with this request by removing any data held in contact data fields, but remember to delete any other data you may hold for the contact, such as that held in survey or form responses, or the transactional email functionality.
To delete a suppressed contact:
Go to Audience > Suppressions.
Select the check box for the contact you want to delete.
Select DELETE.
Read the warning text, and select the checkboxes to confirm you understand each point.
Select DELETE SUPPRESSED CONTACT, then, in the confirmation window, select OKAY.
Delete suppressed contacts in bulk
You can't segment or programmatically target suppressed contacts, so bulk deletion is restricted to one page at a time in the Suppressions area of the platform.
To delete more than one suppressed contact in a page:
In Dotdigital, go to to Audience > Suppressions.
Adjust items per page filter to the maximum (150).
Select the checkbox next to the Full name column to select all contacts on that page.
Select DELETE.
Read the warning text, and select the checkboxes to confirm you understand each point.
Select DELETE SUPPRESSED CONTACT, then, in the confirmation window, select OKAY.
Repeat these steps for each page until all required contacts are deleted.
Suppress vs delete a contact
The table below outlines how each action impacts data retention, re-importing, channel behaviour, and compliance, helping you choose the right approach for your contact management needs.
Action | Summary of effect | Re-importing and data retention | Compliance and channel behaviour |
Suppress | Blocks marketing sends; contact remains in account | Cannot be re-imported; retains identifier to prevent future contact | Supports opt-out compliance; email marketing blocked, transactional allowed; SMS fully blocked |
Delete (suppressed) | Permanently removes contact data; bypasses recycle bin | Cannot be re-imported; retains identifier to maintain suppression | Supports GDPR right to be forgotten; all sends blocked; must be suppressed at contact level |
Delete (non-suppressed) | Moves contact to recycle bin; deleted after 30 days or manually | Can be re-imported; all data removed | Risk of accidental re-import; no suppression protection; all sends blocked until re-imported |