Import your list
Already collected emails somewhere else? You don’t have to start over. Import your existing list and SubsTab keeps your past opt-outs suppressed, only emails the people who still need to confirm, and gets you ready to send.
You’ll find it on the Subscribers page — click Import contacts.
What you can import
Section titled “What you can import”- A Mailchimp audience export
- A Constant Contact contacts export
- Any CSV file with an email column (for example, a spreadsheet you keep yourself)
How to export from your current tool
Section titled “How to export from your current tool”Mailchimp
Section titled “Mailchimp”- In Mailchimp, go to Audience → All contacts.
- Click Export Audience. Mailchimp emails you a
.zipfile. - Unzip it — inside is a
.csvfile. That’s what you upload to SubsTab.
Mailchimp’s export includes each contact’s status (subscribed, unsubscribed, cleaned), so SubsTab sorts everyone correctly for you.
Constant Contact
Section titled “Constant Contact”- Go to Contacts, select the list you want.
- Choose Export and download the CSV.
A spreadsheet or another tool
Section titled “A spreadsheet or another tool”Export or save your contacts as a CSV with, at minimum, an email column. A name column is nice to have but optional.
What happens to each contact
Section titled “What happens to each contact”SubsTab reads your file and sorts every contact based on what your old tool says about them — so you don’t email anyone you shouldn’t:
| Your file says… | We add them as | Do they get an email? |
|---|---|---|
| Already subscribed / active | Confirmed — ready to email | No — they already opted in, so we keep their original sign-up date |
| No record either way (a plain spreadsheet) | Pending | Yes — one confirmation email; they join your list when they click it |
| Previously unsubscribed | Unsubscribed | Never — we import the opt-out so they stay off your list |
| A bad or bounced address | Bounced | Never — kept out of every send |
Before you commit, SubsTab shows you a preview with these exact numbers, so there are no surprises.
See Subscribers for more on what each status means.
The permission checkbox
Section titled “The permission checkbox”Before importing, you’ll confirm one thing:
These contacts personally gave me permission to email them. This list wasn’t purchased, rented, or scraped.
This matters. Emailing people who never agreed to hear from you leads to spam complaints, which hurt your ability to reach the inbox — for you and for everyone who sends through SubsTab. Import lists you built honestly, and you’re in great shape.
Free plan limits
Section titled “Free plan limits”Importing is available on every plan, including Free. The Free plan holds up to 1,000 confirmed subscribers — if your import goes over that, we’ll let you know and you can upgrade to email the whole list. (Sending campaigns always needs a paid plan.)
Undo an import
Section titled “Undo an import”Changed your mind right after importing? The results screen has an Undo this import button. It removes exactly the contacts that import added and leaves everyone else — including people already on your list — untouched.