Unsubscribes & Compliance

Email regulations exist to protect subscribers from unwanted email. MailJawn handles most compliance requirements automatically — this page explains what's built in and what you need to do.

What MailJawn Handles for You

One-Click Unsubscribe (RFC 8058)

Every campaign email includes two headers that email clients use to show a native unsubscribe button:

List-Unsubscribe: <https://track.example.com/track/u/...>, <mailto:unsubscribe+...@mail.example.com>
List-Unsubscribe-Post: List-Unsubscribe=One-Click

This lets subscribers unsubscribe directly from Gmail's "Unsubscribe" link, Apple Mail's banner, or any client that supports RFC 8058 — without needing to open the email or find a link.

Note

Gmail and Yahoo require List-Unsubscribe-Post for bulk senders. MailJawn adds this automatically to every campaign, so you're always compliant.

Unsubscribe Link in Email Body

In addition to the header-based unsubscribe, you should include an unsubscribe link in your email body using the {{unsubscribe_url}} template variable. This is required by CAN-SPAM.

<mj-text>
  <a href="{{unsubscribe_url}}">Unsubscribe</a>
</mj-text>

When a subscriber clicks this link, they're shown a confirmation page and immediately unsubscribed from the project.

Unsubscribe Tracking

MailJawn tracks how each unsubscribe happened:

Source	What It Means
Link	Subscriber clicked the unsubscribe link in the email body
Header	Subscriber used their email client's one-click unsubscribe button

This appears in your campaign reports so you can see which method subscribers prefer.

Immediate Processing

Unsubscribes take effect immediately. The subscriber's status changes to unsubscribed and they're excluded from all future sends for that project. There's no delay or "processing period."

What You Need to Do

Set Your Mailing Address

CAN-SPAM requires a valid physical mailing address in every commercial email. Set this in Dashboard → Organization Settings.

You'll need to provide:

Field	Required?
Company Name	Optional (defaults to your organization name)
Address Line 1	Yes
Address Line 2	Optional
City	Yes
State/Province	Yes (for US addresses)
Postal Code	Yes
Country	Yes (defaults to US)

Warning

MailJawn will not send campaign emails until your mailing address is complete. This is enforced at send time — if your address is missing required fields, the send will fail with an error message.

Your address is available in email templates via the {{address}} variable and your company name via {{company_name}}.

Include Required Footer Content

Every campaign email should include:

1. Your mailing address — Use {{address}} in your template
2. An unsubscribe link — Use {{unsubscribe_url}}
3. Your company name — Use {{company_name}}

A typical email footer looks like:

<mj-section>
  <mj-column>
    <mj-text font-size="12px" color="#666666" align="center">
      {{company_name}} · {{address}}
      <br/>
      <a href="{{unsubscribe_url}}">Unsubscribe</a>
    </mj-text>
  </mj-column>
</mj-section>

CAN-SPAM at a Glance

The CAN-SPAM Act applies to commercial email sent to US recipients. Here's how MailJawn helps you comply:

Requirement	How MailJawn Handles It
Don't use deceptive subject lines	You — write honest subject lines
Identify the message as an ad	You — if applicable to your content
Include your physical address	You — set it once in org settings, use {{address}}
Tell recipients how to opt out	Automatic — List-Unsubscribe headers + {{unsubscribe_url}}
Honor opt-out requests promptly	Automatic — unsubscribes are processed immediately
Monitor what others do on your behalf	Automatic — MailJawn is your email service provider

Tip

CAN-SPAM compliance isn't just about avoiding fines. Following these practices keeps your emails out of spam folders and your subscribers happy. When in doubt, ask yourself: "Would I want to receive this email?"

Project-Level vs. Organization-Level

It's worth understanding the difference:

• Unsubscribe is project-level. If a subscriber unsubscribes from Project A, they can still receive emails from Project B (if they're subscribed there).
• Suppression (bounces and complaints) is organization-level. A hard bounce or spam complaint suppresses the email address across all projects. See Bounces & Suppression for details.