Lead Recovery DeskPreview my list free

Email marketing platform

Bring the contact restrictions with the list.

Your old email platform may hold the most useful unsubscribe and bounce records. Preserve them when you export so they are not lost during preparation.

Before you begin

Find the audience or list for this business. Keep the original export and any separate restriction files. These instructions prepare a file; they do not connect the platform to LRD.

Work on a copy. Keep the original export safe. Remove unwanted rows and sensitive columns from the copy you will upload.

You will finish with

A reviewed CSV copy plus the original restriction records. If statuses are split across files, resolve them before using the list for follow ups.

A CSV is a simple table saved as a file. It is not an email campaign.

Prepare your file

Use the instructions for your app. Menu names can differ by version and account permissions.

  1. Choose the correct audience

    Select the list for the same business and purpose. Avoid mixing brands or treating all contacts as subscribed. Include the available status information and keep existing restrictions.

  2. Export contacts with their statuses

    In Mailchimp, open Audience, choose the audience if needed, then More options → Export audience. Download the export when it is ready. Other platforms have their own export menus; use their official help.

  3. Open every file in the export

    Mailchimp may download a ZIP containing separate CSVs for subscribed, non-subscribed, unsubscribed and cleaned contacts. Extract the ZIP and inspect each file. Do not upload only subscribed.csv and forget the restrictions.

  4. Preserve the meaning of each status

    If a status is recorded only in the filename, retain that information in your working records. Do not assume any unfamiliar status will be interpreted correctly by LRD. Ask for help mapping it before confirming.

    Cleaned, bounced and unsubscribed can mean different things. None should be silently converted to subscribed. Do not strip suppression records to make an import pass.

  5. Keep the relevant dates and fields

    Keep email, source status and known opt-out records. A signup, last changed or export date is not necessarily the last time you contacted someone. Remove tracking scores, unnecessary location data and private notes from the upload copy.

  6. Preview, then inspect restrictions

    Check the columns and known opted-out records in the preview. If the result does not preserve a restriction, stop and ask for help. A successful upload or an active subscription does not establish permission for a new campaign.

What your file should look like

Original LRD example with invented contacts. This illustrates the file you are preparing, not your provider’s screen.

Original illustration of an audience ZIP containing subscribed, unsubscribed and cleaned CSV files, with a reminder to keep all restriction records.
One export may contain several files. Keep the restrictions, even when they arrive in a different CSV.Scroll the image sideways to see all columns.
Download a small example CSV to practise

Keep it useful. Keep it private.

Keep the information needed for review and any known contact restrictions. Do not invent missing dates or permission.

Keep in your working copy

  • email: the contact’s email address
  • name: the person or business name, if useful
  • last_contacted: a real last-contact date, if known
  • status: preserve known unsubscribes, bounces and do-not-contact records
  • source: where the record came from
  • Original unsubscribe and bounce records, even if exported separately

Leave out of the upload

  • Staff, suppliers and personal contacts
  • Sensitive notes, health information and information about children
  • Passwords, payment details and unnecessary addresses
  • Engagement ratings and unnecessary tracking data

Next: preview it in LRD

Check the detected columns, dates and restrictions before confirming anything. Use last_contacted for the last contact date and status for a contact’s recorded status.

CSV, TSV or plain text. Excel workbooks and ZIP files cannot be uploaded directly. Free previews share a 100-row allowance each calendar month across all lists.

Warm, Lukewarm and Cold group contacts by recency. They do not prove permission to contact someone. A file preview sends nothing.

Preview my list free
Upload and confirm your listActual app · Example data
Actual LRD upload screen: Start with a file, a drop zone for CSV, TSV or text, a paste box, and three steps: Read, Clean and Sort.

Upload your full export. Confirming a list decides what the Desk works with; it sends nothing.

If something looks wrong

My export contains several CSV files

Keep them all as your reference. Do not upload the ZIP. Check how each file records subscription status. If you cannot make a working copy without losing restrictions or mixing meanings, ask for help before uploading.

My file is Excel, PDF or a ZIP

For Excel, save or download a CSV copy. Extract a ZIP and inspect the files inside. A PDF or a picture is not a contact table; ask your source system for a CSV export. Renaming a file to .csv does not convert it.

Dates or columns look wrong in the preview

Stop before confirming. Check the column headings and use YYYY-MM-DD for dates, such as 2026-02-18. Do not use the export date as a last-contact date. If the source has no reliable date, leave it blank and review the result.

I do not know whether someone can be contacted

Keep the original restriction records. Do not turn an unknown or unsubscribed status into subscribed. The file preview does not establish permission. Ask for help before using those contacts for follow ups.

Still stuck? Ask for help with the app name and column headings. Do not send customer rows or passwords.

Official instructions

Checked 7 September 2026. These links include the provider’s own instructions and screenshots where available.

Before-upload checklistChoose a different source