Why is the unsubscribe link missing from my campaign?

This article helps when a campaign warns that the unsubscribe link is missing, or recipients see the raw text {{unsubscribe_url}} instead of a working link.

Symptoms

• The send step of the campaign shows Missing unsubscribe link! with “Add unsubscribe variable {{unsubscribe_url}} to your campaign content.”
• The received email shows {{ unsubscribe_url }} as plain text, or the link goes nowhere.
• Recipients mark your campaign as spam because they can’t find a way to opt out.

Cause

Every campaign email gets a personal unsubscribe address. Emailit uses it in two places:

• In the message headers. Emailit adds List-Unsubscribe and List-Unsubscribe-Post: List-Unsubscribe=One-Click to every campaign email, so Gmail, Yahoo and others can show their own Unsubscribe button.
• In your content. The merge tag {{unsubscribe_url}} is replaced with the same address. If your content doesn’t contain it, there’s no visible link in the email.

Common causes:

• The tag isn’t in the content, for example after you pasted HTML from another tool or chose a template without a footer.
• The tag has spaces. Only {{unsubscribe_url}} is replaced. {{ unsubscribe_url }} passes the check but is sent as literal text.
• A different tool’s tag is used, such as *|UNSUB|* or [unsubscribe].

The warning doesn’t stop you from sending, but you should fix it. A visible unsubscribe link is required by laws such as CAN-SPAM and by Gmail and Yahoo for bulk mail.

Fix

1. Add the link to your content. In the HTML editor, add it to your footer:

   HTML

   <a href="{{unsubscribe_url}}">Unsubscribe</a>

   In the rich-text editor, type @ and choose Unsubscribe URL. In the drag-and-drop editor, set a link’s URL to {{unsubscribe_url}}.

2. Remove spaces inside the braces. Search your content for unsubscribe_url and make sure it’s written exactly as {{unsubscribe_url}}.

3. Fix your templates too. If you start campaigns from a template, add the link to the template so future campaigns include it.

4. Test it. On the preview step, select Send test and check that the email shows a real link instead of the raw tag. Test sends use a placeholder address, so clicking it doesn’t unsubscribe anyone. In real campaign emails, the link unsubscribes the contact from every audience they’re in and offers a Resubscribe button.

5. Check the send step again. The warning changes to No problems detected!

Emails sent with the API, SMTP or automations don’t get unsubscribe headers or links automatically. For marketing mail sent that way, add your own link and List-Unsubscribe headers. See How do I meet Gmail and Yahoo bulk sender requirements?. Learn more in Merge tags and Unsubscribes.

Still stuck?

Contact support or ask in Discord with the campaign name and the part of your HTML that contains the link.