Mailchimp audience to email list: subscribed file cleaned, unsubscribed and cleaned files as suppressions
In short: Reads a CSV from Mailchimp's audience export ZIP: Email Address, names and TAGS kept, repeats merged; rows from the unsubscribed file (UNSUB_TIME) or the cleaned file (CLEAN_TIME) are set aside, so the same tool builds a suppression list. Limit: Mailchimp's help lists the extra columns in an export but not UNSUB_TIME and CLEAN_TIME; those are found by name, so check the notes above the result.
In Mailchimp, click Audience, pick the audience, click Export audience and then Export CSV. Mailchimp emails you when the export is ready; it can be a ZIP with a separate CSV for subscribed, unsubscribed, non-subscribed and cleaned contacts. Upload the subscribed CSV here to get one clean email column with tags kept and repeats merged. Upload the unsubscribed or cleaned CSV to get a suppression list. Check the subscribed list live before you send.
Price: this tool is free. Checking a whole email list is from $9/mo, and the first 100 checks are free with Google, no card. See pricing
Sample result
5 Mailchimp rows: 4 contacts, Ana's repeat merged with tags.
- Addresses
- 4 contacts
- Rows read
- 5
- Set aside
- 0
What this means for you
Upload the subscribed file; unsubscribed and cleaned files become suppressions.
- Repeats merged
- Tags kept
- UNSUB_TIME set aside
- CLEAN_TIME set aside
- Mailchimp
- Audience
- CSV
By SimpleVerifier Team · Last updated · Runs in your browser; nothing you paste is sent to us
How do I check the list before the next campaign?
- Download the email list here.
- Upload it at /verify. Every address gets a live mailbox check, and valid, risky and invalid download as separate files; catch-all domains are marked. The first 100 email checks are free with a Google sign-in, no card.
- Send to the valid file, and keep the set-aside files as your suppression list.
How do I turn a Mailchimp audience export into a clean email list?
- In Mailchimp, click Audience. If you have more than one audience, pick it from the Audience drop-down.
- Click Export audience, then Export CSV in the pop-up. Mailchimp emails you when the export is ready, and it stays in your account for 30 days.
- Unzip the download. Upload the subscribed CSV here, or paste it.
- Download the email list. Run the unsubscribed and cleaned CSVs through too and keep their set-aside files as suppressions.
Example
- You enter
- The subscribed CSV from a Mailchimp audience export with 5 rows: Ana twice (once in capitals, different tags), an
info@address, agmial.comtypo, and MEMBER_RATING, OPTIN_TIME, LEID and TAGS columns. - You get
- 4 contacts in the list, Ana merged with labels
newsletter, buyer, webinar. The notes say the file has no status column and to upload the subscribed file; an unsubscribed or cleaned file would be set aside row by row. - Limits
- Runs in your browser with no row cap; an uploaded file can be up to 25 MB.
Why does the export come as several files?
Mailchimp's audience export can be a ZIP with one CSV per contact type: subscribed, unsubscribed, non-subscribed and cleaned. The files don't say which type they are in a status column, so upload the subscribed file for your send list.
Rows with a value in UNSUB_TIME are read as unsubscribed and rows with a value in CLEAN_TIME as cleaned, and both are set aside. Uploading those files turns them into a set-aside file you can keep as a suppression list when you move platforms.
What does cleaned mean?
Mailchimp marks a contact cleaned when the address hard bounced or soft bounced repeatedly, and cleaned addresses can't receive future emails you send to that audience. Keep them out of the list you take anywhere else too.
Who uses this tool, and for what?
- Marketers
- Move a Mailchimp audience to another platform with unsubscribes and cleaned contacts left behind.
- Agencies
- Merge a client's audience into one de-duplicated list with tags kept.
- Founders
- Get a plain email column out of an audience export for a one-off send.
What can’t this tool tell you?
- Mailchimp's help lists the extra columns in an export but not UNSUB_TIME and CLEAN_TIME; those are found by name, so check the notes above the result.
- The non-subscribed file looks like the subscribed one, so the tool can't tell them apart; mind which file you upload.
- It can't tell which addresses have a working inbox today; that needs a live mailbox check.
Common questions
- Which Mailchimp columns does it read?
- Email Address, First Name, Last Name, Phone Number and TAGS, plus UNSUB_TIME and CLEAN_TIME when the file has them. Mailchimp's own columns such as MEMBER_RATING, OPTIN_TIME, LEID and EUID are recognised but not copied. The notes above the result say which were found.
- Can I upload the whole ZIP?
- No. Unzip it and upload one CSV at a time, starting with the subscribed file.
- Is my audience uploaded?
- No. The file is read in your browser. Nothing is sent unless you choose to check the addresses afterwards.
Sources
A tidy list can still be full of dead addresses.
Extracting, deduplicating and syntax checks all work on the text of an address. None of them can tell whether the mailbox exists. Only the server that hosts it can answer that, through an SMTP check, and that is what the paid product does.
- Upload the cleaned file as it is: CSVs up to 100,000 rows
- A real SMTP mailbox check on every row, with catch-all detection
- Small list? Starter at $9/mo covers 2,500 emails a month, cancel anytime
Plans from $9 a month, cancel anytime, no contract. Sign in with Google and your first 100 email checks are free, no card. The free tools stay free either way.