How to create and manage lists

Last updated: September 5, 2025

Overview

Lists are where contacts are stored in Sendlane, most commonly used to set up "buckets" of contacts for integration functionality and, less commonly, for sending to contacts.

Read on to learn how to create and manage lists!



Create a list

To create a list:

  1. From your Sendlane dashboard, click Audience > Lists > +List

  2. Enter a name for your list

  3. Click Confirm to save your new list



Add contacts to an existing list

To add contacts to an existing list

  1. Open the list

  2. Click the Import button

  3. Select your CSV file of Contacts

  4. Map fields

  5. Finish

Check out more details on importing contacts here!

New lists are reviewed before they can be used to send campaigns

When you import a list, the Sendlane Compliance team reviews it to ensure that your list is safe to send to.

This review process typically takes up to 24 business hours and is conducted from 9AM to 5PM PST, Monday through Friday. Your list will be reviewed in the order it was received.

During this process, you may see the following statuses next to your import:

  • Processing - The List is being processed and is in queue to be reviewed by the Compliance team

  • Active - The List has been processed, reviewed by our Compliance team, and is now being activated in your account

  • Completed - The List is finished activating and is now ready to send to!

The first 3-5 Campaign sends to a new Audience will be on Manual Approval

Read Sending Campaigns While on List Review for more information on the list review and manual approval process.

Your list review status will be removed after three to five sends so that our Compliance team can determine the health of your list.

Contact your Customer Success Manager or reply to the email you receive from our Compliance team for more information.



Edit list details

To edit a List's details, click the arrow in the View column next to the desired List:

Use the top container of the View List sidebar to

  1. Edit a List's name

  2. Import Contacts to a List

  3. Export Contacts from a List to .CSV or .TXT

  4. Add Contacts from a List to a Facebook Custom Audience

  5. Start List Hygiene

  6. Manually add a single Contact to a List

  7. Delete a List (deleting a List permanently deletes all associated data such as segments, subscriptions, activity, and all Contacts who are not associated with other Lists)



Troubleshooting

Why are the contact counts on the list page different than the number of contacts I know have been added to the list?

The list page's count of contacts on each list can take up to 24 hours to update.

If you are actively adding contacts to a list via a form or automation, reporting on the list page may not be accurate in real time.