The Calculate Actual Sends feature is an advanced tool that helps you see the real number of emails that will go out in your campaign after all suppression lists are applied.
When building an email campaign, your initial list size often looks larger than the actual number of sends. This is because suppression lists remove certain contacts (unsubscribes, bounces, complaints, or any other lists you’ve chosen to exclude). By using Calculate Actual Sends, you can avoid surprises and plan more effectively.
Why Use This Feature?
Accurate planning – Know exactly how many subscribers will receive your campaign.
Better deliverability – Ensures suppressed or unwanted contacts won’t be emailed.
List health insight – Quickly see how much of your list is being filtered out.
Time-saving – Helps avoid sending test campaigns just to estimate reach.
How to Calculate Actual Sends
Create a Campaign
Start by creating your campaign as usual.
Go to Step 3
In the campaign builder, go to Step 3: Select Suppression List.
Click the Button
Under the suppression list selection, you’ll see the option Calculate Actual Send.
Click it to run the calculation.
Review the Results
The system will display the final count of contacts that will receive the campaign.
This number already excludes all suppressed contacts.
Example
Your list has 10,000 contacts.
You apply suppression lists for unsubscribes and bounces.
After clicking Calculate Actual Sends, the system shows 9,320 contacts.
That means 680 contacts were removed due to suppression rules.
Best Practices
Always run this calculation before sending, especially if you use multiple suppression lists.
If the suppressed number is unusually high, check whether your lists are overlapping too much.