> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.msgcompanion.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Opt-outs

> How customers opt out of marketing with STOP, how to record an opt-out yourself, and what an opted-out contact still receives.

An opt-out means a customer has asked not to be sent marketing. Companion records it on their contact and enforces it for you.

## STOP and START

A customer who replies **STOP** is opted out of marketing automatically. **START** opts them back in.

The whole message has to be the keyword. "STOP" counts. "Please stop by the shop" does not. Capital letters do not matter.

| To opt out | To opt back in |
| - | - |
| stop, stop all, stop promotions, unsubscribe, opt out | start, unstop, subscribe, resubscribe, opt in |

"Stop promotions" is the label of WhatsApp's own opt-out button on marketing templates, so tapping that button counts too.

## Record an opt-out by hand

<Note>
  Owners, admins and managers, on the Contacts page.
</Note>

Use this when a customer tells you another way, such as in a call or in the middle of a chat.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the contact">
    Go to **Contacts** and select the contact.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Opt them out">
    Choose **Opt out of marketing**.
  </Step>
</Steps>

To opt out several people at once, tick their rows, choose **Opt out of marketing**, then **Opt out**.

To reverse it, open the contact and choose **Opt back in to marketing**. Only do this if the customer has asked to hear from you again.

In the phone app, anyone handling a chat can record an opt-out. Open the customer's details in the conversation and choose **Record an opt-out** under **Marketing**. Only a manager, an admin or the owner can lift one.

## Other ways a contact is opted out

* **An import.** If your CSV has an opted-out column, those people are opted out. See [Import and export](/contacts/import-and-export).
* **Your shop.** A customer your connected shop has as unsubscribed is opted out. See [Sync from your shop](/contacts/sync-from-your-shop).

The contact's details show when they opted out and how, for example that they replied STOP.

To list everyone who has opted out, go to **Contacts** and set the **Marketing** filter to **Opted out**.

## What an opted-out contact still receives

| Message | Sent? |
| - | - |
| Marketing templates, from a conversation or a workflow | No |
| Broadcasts, whatever the template's category | No |
| Replies inside the 24-hour window | Yes |
| Utility templates sent to them individually, such as an order update | Yes |
| Authentication templates | Yes |

If you try to send a marketing template to someone who has opted out, Companion does not send it and tells you why.

A scheduled broadcast works out who it reaches when it sends. Anyone who opts out before then is left out.

## Importing and syncing never opt anyone in

Being on a spreadsheet, or being a customer in your shop, is not consent to WhatsApp marketing. So:

* An import can opt people out, but never in.
* A sync from your shop can opt people out, but never in.
* Neither one clears an opt-out already held in Companion.

Adding a contact by hand does not opt them in to anything either. The safest way to start is to invite people to message you first.

## Opt-outs survive merging and erasing

* **Merging.** If either of two merged contacts had opted out, the contact you keep is opted out.
* **Erasing.** If you erase a contact who had opted out, Companion remembers the opt-out without keeping their number. If they are ever imported, synced or added again, they come back opted out.

## Related

* [Contacts](/contacts/overview)
* [Audiences](/broadcasts/audiences)
* [Templates](/templates/overview)
* [How WhatsApp messaging works](/get-started/how-whatsapp-messaging-works)


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