How do I export my Mailchimp audience?

In Mailchimp, click Audience. If you have more than one audience, pick it from the Audience drop-down. Click Export audience. Click Export CSV, then download the file from the email Mailchimp sends. The download can be a ZIP with separate files for subscribed, unsubscribed, non-subscribed and cleaned contacts. Verify the subscribed file. Only Owners and Admins can export.

Will verification find the inactive audience on my Mailchimp list?

No. Verification tells you whether an address can receive mail, not whether the person reads it. Someone who has not opened in a year can have a perfectly valid mailbox. Handle disengaged people with an engagement segment and a re-permission or sunset email, and use verification for addresses that are invalid or at risk of bouncing.

What does a risky result mean?

A risky address could not be confirmed as a real mailbox, usually because the domain accepts all mail (catch-all) or the provider will not say. An unconfirmed address is never reported as valid. Keep risky addresses out of your first send and mail them later, most engaged first.

Is there a free way to try this on my Mailchimp list?

Yes. Sign in with Google and the first 100 addresses are checked free, with results to download and no card. After that, verification is $29.99 a month on the Pro plan.

Clean your Mailchimp subscriber list

Export your Mailchimp audience as a CSV, verify every address, then import the valid file back and keep the risky one out of your first send. Verification finds addresses that cannot receive mail. It cannot tell who has stopped reading, and an address it cannot confirm is called risky, never valid.

Export steps, bounce rules and prices read from Mailchimp's own pages on 23 Oct 2026.

1. Export your Mailchimp audience

In Mailchimp, click Audience.
If you have more than one audience, pick it from the Audience drop-down.
Click Export audience.
Click Export CSV, then download the file from the email Mailchimp sends.

The download can be a ZIP with separate files for subscribed, unsubscribed, non-subscribed and cleaned contacts. Verify the subscribed file. Only Owners and Admins can export.

Source: Mailchimp help: view and export contacts. Or see the shorter Mailchimp export page.

2. What Mailchimp already does with bounces

Mailchimp's export separates cleaned contacts (addresses it stopped sending to) from subscribed ones. Verify only the subscribed file and leave the cleaned file out. (Mailchimp help: view and export contacts)
Mailchimp's abuse-complaints page says it monitors complaints and bounces and may warn and then suspend, without giving the number. (Mailchimp help: about abuse complaints)

Inactive is not invalid. A subscriber who has not opened for a year usually has a working mailbox, so verification keeps them. Deal with them separately: segment by last engagement, send a re-permission email, and remove the ones who do not answer. Verification is for the addresses that would bounce.

3. What verification can and cannot tell you

It can tell you

The address is malformed or the domain has no mail servers.
The mailbox does not exist, where the provider answers the check.
The domain is disposable, which is common for junk signups.
The domain accepts all mail, so the address cannot be confirmed.

It cannot tell you

Whether the person reads your issues.
Whether they agreed to hear from you.
Whether the address is a spam trap.
Whether a risky address is real. Providers that hide mailbox status and catch-all domains stay unconfirmed.

Unconfirmed always means risky, never valid. You get three files back, valid, risky and invalid, with your original Mailchimp columns kept.

4. Import the clean file back

Import the valid file as your active list. Keep the original columns so tags, names and signup dates survive.
Do not re-import the invalid file. Addresses the platform already suppressed stay suppressed, and re-adding dead ones only brings the bounces back.
Hold the risky file out of the first send. Mail it later, to the most engaged people first, and watch the bounce rate on that send.

Mailchimp bounce rate limits

Mailchimp says thresholds exist and does not publish the number. Source: Mailchimp help: about abuse complaints, read 23 Oct 2026. Other platforms' published lines are in bounce rate limits by platform.

How much is a dirty Mailchimp list costing you?

Enter your own numbers. The share of dead addresses is your estimate (your last bounce rate is a floor, since only some dead addresses have bounced yet). Nothing is sent anywhere.

Audience on your list

Addresses you think are dead

Invalid or abandoned, your best estimate.

Your Mailchimp bill

per month

From your invoice.

Your reported open rate (optional)

Fill in the list size and the share of dead addresses to see the result.

Mailchimp prices by contact count, but its pricing page shows one starting price per plan rather than a table for each size, so enter your current monthly bill. Mailchimp pricing, read 23 Oct 2026. Prices change; check the page before you decide.

Check a Mailchimp address, then your list

Type any address. It gets the same check the paid plans run: syntax, the domain’s mail servers and, where the provider allows it, a live mailbox check. Nothing is sent to the address.

Email address

Five checks a minute, no account needed. Nothing is sent to the address — we ask its mail server whether the mailbox exists, then disconnect.

Have a list? Sign in with Google and the first 100 addresses are checked free, with results to download. No card.

By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.

Common questions

How do I export my Mailchimp audience?: In Mailchimp, click Audience. If you have more than one audience, pick it from the Audience drop-down. Click Export audience. Click Export CSV, then download the file from the email Mailchimp sends. The download can be a ZIP with separate files for subscribed, unsubscribed, non-subscribed and cleaned contacts. Verify the subscribed file. Only Owners and Admins can export.
What bounce rate does Mailchimp allow?: Mailchimp says thresholds exist and does not publish the number. Source: Mailchimp help: about abuse complaints, read 23 Oct 2026.
Will verification find the inactive audience on my Mailchimp list?: No. Verification tells you whether an address can receive mail, not whether the person reads it. Someone who has not opened in a year can have a perfectly valid mailbox. Handle disengaged people with an engagement segment and a re-permission or sunset email, and use verification for addresses that are invalid or at risk of bouncing.
What does a risky result mean?: A risky address could not be confirmed as a real mailbox, usually because the domain accepts all mail (catch-all) or the provider will not say. An unconfirmed address is never reported as valid. Keep risky addresses out of your first send and mail them later, most engaged first.
Is there a free way to try this on my Mailchimp list?: Yes. Sign in with Google and the first 100 addresses are checked free, with results to download and no card. After that, verification is $29.99 a month on the Pro plan.