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Email Compliance · Unsubscribe requirements

Email unsubscribe compliance checklist for 2026

Short answer

A complete email unsubscribe compliance checklist has 4 setup items and 2 things to audit against. Work through setup in order, then schedule a quarterly review.

Setup checklist#

  • ☐ Include a visible unsubscribe link in every marketing message.
  • ☐ Add List-Unsubscribe and List-Unsubscribe-Post headers so providers show a native unsubscribe button.
  • ☐ Process opt-outs immediately; the legal maximum is 10 business days in the US, but providers expect 2 days.
  • ☐ Never require login or more than one click to unsubscribe.

Audit checklist#

  • ☐ Confirm you are not: unsubscribe pages that ask 'are you sure' with a hidden confirm button.
  • ☐ Confirm you are not: continuing sequences from a different tool after an opt-out in another.

Ongoing monitoring#

  • ☐ Weekly: review provider dashboards (Postmaster Tools, SNDS) and bounce logs
  • ☐ Monthly: re-run the setup verification after any vendor or DNS change
  • ☐ Quarterly: full audit against this checklist

Frequently asked questions#

What is one-click unsubscribe?

An RFC 8058 header pair that lets the mailbox provider send a POST to your endpoint when a user clicks Unsubscribe in the client, with no landing page.

Keep reading on Unsubscribe requirements