When a segment doesn't return the contacts you expect, start from what you can see: an empty result, a count that doesn't match, an error when you send, or contacts that didn't receive a campaign. Find your symptom below to check the most likely causes in order.
Before you start
Segments don't refresh on their own. Before you troubleshoot anything else, check the Last updated time for your segment in Audience > Segments.
Segments used in a program behave differently. See the Your segment doesn't update inside a program section.
Your segment returns no contacts, or fewer than you expect
Work through these causes in order.
Overlapping include and exclude rules
Exclusion rules run after the inclusion rules, on the contacts that made it through. Rules that look different can still cancel each other out. For example, a segment for lapsed customers finds nobody if it includes contacts who purchased in the last 70 days, and excludes contacts who purchased in the last 42 days.
Remove your exclusion rules, refresh the segment, and check the count. If contacts appear, the conflict is in the exclusions.
Comparison operators that are stricter than you intend
A rule such as order count more than 1 excludes contacts with exactly one order. Use order count greater than or equal to 1 to include them.
AND and OR groupings
By default, rules are grouped with AND, so a contact must match every rule. A segment with several unrelated rules under AND often returns nothing. Change the grouping to OR where a contact only needs to match one of the rules.
Rules that depend on exact values
Some rules match the value stored against the contact rather than a status. A rule that tests for text has to match the text that's actually stored, so check a contact record to see the value before you write the rule.
Your segment won't refresh, or the count doesn't change
Refresh a segment from Audience > Segments. Learn more in Refresh, delete, or export a segment.
If the Last updated time doesn't change, or the count stays the same when you expect it to move:
The refresh hasn't finished. Large segments and segments with several rules take longer. Check the Last updated time again before you refresh a second time.
An integration has used up your API allowance. If your account refreshes segments through the API, a refresh can fail while your account is over its call rate limit. Learn more in API rate limits.
The refresh worked, and the rules return nothing. If the Last updated time moves but the count stays at zero, the problem is the rules. See the Your segment returns no contacts, or fewer than you expect section.
You see an error when you select your include and exclude audiences
When you choose the audience for a campaign, you might see:
Your options have not been saved. Your include and exclude selection must contain a minimum of one email contact
The SMS version of this message ends minimum of one SMS contact. You can also see it when you select a list rather than a segment.
The message means that no contacts are left to send to once your exclusions and any sending restrictions have been applied. Work through these checks in order.
Check the audience has contacts. Refresh the segment or check the list, and confirm the contact count isn't zero.
Check your exclusions. Remove the excluded lists or segments, then select your audience again. If the error goes, your exclusions are removing everyone who passed the inclusion rules.
Check your list permissions. If the audience has contacts and your exclusions aren't the cause, the contacts may belong to a list you don't have permission to send to. Permissions apply to the contact, not the list you selected, so restricted contacts are removed even when you send to a different list or segment. Ask your account owner to check the Permitted senders setting under Properties for those lists. Learn more in List permissions: restrict who can send to specific contacts.
Your segment count doesn't match another number
A segment count and a count elsewhere in the platform are usually built from different data, so they aren't expected to match.
Dashboards. A dashboard such as RFM personas counts every contact with matching data, including contacts who are suppressed or unsubscribed. A segment only returns contacts that meet its rules.
Campaign sends. A segment count is a count of contacts in the segment. It isn't a count of who receives a campaign: exclusions, list permissions, and suppressions are all applied at send.
Account usage. The contact count under Settings > General > Usage covers your billing period, so it can include contacts deleted during that period.
To compare a segment against a send, open the campaign report and check Excluded contacts in the Campaign details section.
Contacts you expected to receive a campaign didn't get it
A contact can be in your segment and still not receive the campaign. The usual causes are:
Exclusions. A contact in both an included and an excluded audience doesn't receive the campaign.
List permissions. Contacts in a list you don't have permission to send to are removed before the campaign sends, even when you send to a different list or segment.
Suppressions. Contacts suppressed on the channel you're sending on are skipped.
Open the campaign report and check Excluded contacts in the Campaign details section to see how many contacts were removed. Learn more in List permissions: restrict who can send to specific contacts.
Your segment doesn't update inside a program
A segment you create in Audience > Segments doesn't refresh on its own. A program doesn't use that segment directly: it takes its own copy, and that copy refreshes when a contact reaches the node the segment is used in, such as an enrolment node or a decision node.
So a program can keep enrolling contacts even when the Last updated time in Audience > Segments is days old. If contacts aren't enrolling as you expect, check the segment's rules rather than its refresh time.
Contacts suppressed from email aren't in your segment or export
Contacts suppressed from email aren't returned by segment rules. You can't build a segment of them, and they don't appear when you export a segment.
To get a file of your suppressed contacts and their email addresses, export your suppressions instead. Learn more in Export your suppressed contacts.