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

# Manage lists

> Learn how to manage your subscriber lists safely to protect deliverability and domain reputation.

## Overview

This page covers **how to manage your subscriber lists safely**. Here, "safely" means **protecting your email deliverability and domain reputation** by reducing bounces caused by invalid addresses.

In particular, if you have a large list (thousands to tens of thousands) and haven't sent email for a while (several months or more), we recommend **warming up and cleaning your list** before a full send.

<Warning>
  Sending to temporary or fake email addresses causes soft/hard bounces. If bounces accumulate, future sends may be restricted, your account may be blocked, or your domain reputation may become difficult to recover. A damaged reputation can take a long time — or be practically impossible — to restore, so it's important to keep a clean list from the start.
</Warning>

## What to follow when adding subscribers

When adding email addresses (subscribers) to Spread, please follow these guidelines.

1. Add **only subscribers who have given prior email consent**.
2. Add bot-protection (reCAPTCHA, Botpoison, etc.) to your consent form to block fake signups.
3. (If possible) Confirm consent once more with a **double opt-in**.
4. Do not re-send to addresses that have **unsubscribed or previously bounced**.

## Spread's automatic protections

Spread handles the following automatically so you can keep a clean list.

### Automatic bounce & subscription management

If you send all your emails (transactional, marketing, product updates) through Spread, **you don't need to manage bounces and unsubscribes separately.** Spread tracks each subscriber's status (bounced, unsubscribed) and only sends to deliverable recipients.

In addition, if the **bounce rate exceeds 5% per 1,000 emails sent during a campaign, Spread automatically stops the campaign** and notifies you to prevent further damage.

### Automatic detection of likely bounces

Spread runs an automatic check on all registered subscribers to **detect email addresses that are likely to bounce** in advance. Note that this predicts likelihood and is not 100% accurate, so it cannot fully prevent bounces.

## Create a list

A list is a **list of subscribers** you want to send an email campaign to. For how to create a list and set it as email recipients, see [Create a List and Set Recipients](/docs/lists-and-recipients).