Summary
When a subscriber email is marked as "blocked," LaunchNotes cannot deliver announcement emails to that address. Emails become blocked for several reasons including invalid addresses, spam filters, bounce-backs, or the recipient manually blocking your messages. You can verify email addresses, review your sending practices, and contact your email provider to resolve most blocking issues.
Understanding email blocking
LaunchNotes delivers announcement emails through an email service provider (ESP). By default, LaunchNotes uses Postmark as the ESP, but you can configure a custom provider through your email settings. Regardless of which ESP you use, subscriber emails can become blocked when delivery repeatedly fails or when mail servers refuse to accept messages from your domain.
A "blocked" status means LaunchNotes will not attempt to send future announcement emails to that address until the issue is resolved. Email addresses that are blocked will show up on the Subscriber list under Audience > Subscribers with a status of Blocked.
Common reasons subscribers get blocked
Invalid or non-existent email address: The subscriber may have mistyped their email during signup, or the email account has been deactivated. This is the most common reason for blocking.
Spam filter detection: Email content or sending patterns triggered the recipient's spam filters, causing their mail server to reject messages from your domain.
Mail server policies: The recipient's mail server blocks emails from certain IP addresses or domains suspected of spam or malicious activity.
Previous bounce: The email previously bounced because it couldn't be delivered, prompting the recipient's mail server to block future delivery attempts.
Recipient action: The recipient marked your emails as spam or created a filtering rule to block messages from your domain.
Suppression list: Your ESP maintains a suppression list of addresses that should not receive emails. If a subscriber's address is on this list, the ESP automatically blocks sends to that address.
How to resolve blocked subscribers
Verify the email address
Check the subscriber's email for typos or formatting errors in your subscriber management dashboard. If possible, contact the subscriber directly to confirm their correct email address, then update it in LaunchNotes.
Review your email content
Ensure your announcement emails follow best practices for avoiding spam filters. Use clear subject lines, avoid excessive capitalization or spam trigger words, and include proper unsubscribe links in every email.
Check your sending patterns
Avoid sending too many emails in a short time period, as this triggers spam detection. Maintain a consistent, reasonable schedule for announcement emails.
Clean your subscriber list
Regularly remove invalid or inactive email addresses from your subscriber list. This improves overall deliverability and reduces the likelihood of future blocks.
Contact your email provider
If you're using a custom ESP, log into that platform's management portal to find detailed information about why specific addresses are blocked. If you're using LaunchNotes' default Postmark integration, contact LaunchNotes support at [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) for help investigating the block and recommendations for resolving it.
Notes & important info
Note: LaunchNotes cannot override blocks imposed by the recipient's mail server or ESP. You may need to work with the subscriber directly to resolve delivery issues on their end.
Important: Regularly monitoring your subscriber list health helps prevent blocking issues before they impact your announcement reach.
Troubleshooting
The subscriber says they never received any emails from me: Check if their address appears as "blocked" in your subscriber list. If blocked, follow the resolution steps above. If not blocked, ask them to check their spam folder and add your sending domain to their safe senders list.
Multiple subscribers from the same company domain are blocked: The company's mail server may be blocking your sending domain. Contact their IT department to request that they whitelist your email domain.
A subscriber was working fine but suddenly became blocked: This often happens after a temporary delivery issue causes repeated bounces. Verify the email address is still valid and contact your ESP to remove the address from any suppression lists.
I can't find blocking details in my account: If you're using a custom ESP, blocking information lives in that provider's dashboard, not in LaunchNotes. If you're using the default Postmark integration, contact LaunchNotes support at [email protected] for assistance.
For more information on managing subscribers, please refer to our detailed help article How do I mange subscribers to my LaunchNotes page?