Delete a contact when you no longer need their record in your account. Deleting a contact removes them from all of your lists, but doesn't unsubscribe them. If you want to stop sending to a contact, suppress them instead.
Learn more in Suppress vs delete a contact.
Deleted contacts move to the recycle bin, where you can restore them within 30 days. After 30 days, the contact and all of their contact data fields and Insight data are permanently removed from your account.
Before you start
Required permissions
To delete a contact, you must be an account owner or have the Contacts user permission. To restore a deleted contact from the recycle bin, you must be an account owner or have the Can manage account user permission.Deleting a contact doesn't unsubscribe them
If the contact is added to your account again, for example through an import, a form, or an integration, they can receive your campaigns. To stop sending to a contact, suppress them instead.You can restore a deleted contact within 30 days
After 30 days, the contact and all of their contact data fields and Insight data are permanently removed and can't be recovered. Suppressed contacts and anonymous contacts don't go to the recycle bin. When you delete one, you can't recover it.Delete several contacts at once
Learn more in:
Delete a single contact
Go to Audience > Contacts.
Find and select the contact you want to delete.
On the Single customer view, expand the Contact actions drop-down menu.
Select Delete this contact.
Select the confirmation checkboxes.
Select Delete.
The contact is moved to the recycle bin. After 30 days, it is permanently deleted.
If the contact is suppressed
The Delete this suppressed contact window opens instead. Read each point and select the checkboxes, then select Delete suppressed contact. The contact doesn't go to the recycle bin. Their email address or mobile number stays in your account to keep the suppression active. If the contact is still subscribed on another channel, or has an email address awaiting verification, their data isn't deleted. Learn more in Delete a suppressed contact.
Delete a contact from the contacts list
You can also delete a contact without opening their Single customer view.
Go to Audience > Contacts.
Use the search field to find the contact you want to delete.
Select the checkbox next to the contact.
Expand the More actions drop-down menu and select Delete from account.
Select the confirmation checkboxes.
Select Delete. The contact is moved to the recycle bin. After 30 days, it is permanently deleted.
What happens after you delete a contact
Lists
The contact is removed from all of your lists. If you restore them, they're added back to Audience > Contacts only, not to the lists they were in.Campaign reports
While the contact is in the recycle bin, they appear as Deleted contact in your campaign reports, and their campaign stats stay in the report. After they're permanently removed, their personal data and engagement data are anonymised and no longer linked to them.Adding the contact again
If you add the contact again while they're in the recycle bin, their existing record is restored. After they're permanently removed, they're added as a new contact with no previous history.Billing
Deleting a contact doesn't always reduce your bill for the current billing period. Learn more in Understand contact-based billing.Requests to delete a contact's data
Deleting a contact doesn't remove their data from forms, surveys, or transactional email. Learn more in Process a request to delete a contact's data.