Remove List Members

Push / DestinationList Management

Overview

The Remove List Members action allows you to remove subscribers from Klaviyo lists. This action is essential for maintaining list hygiene, honoring unsubscribe requests, and ensuring compliance with email marketing regulations.

Use this action when customers unsubscribe from your systems, opt out of communications, or when you need to remove contacts from specific list segments for segmentation purposes.

Key Features

🗑️ Clean Removal

Safely remove members from lists while preserving their profile data in Klaviyo

⚖️ Compliance Ready

Honor unsubscribe requests to comply with GDPR, CAN-SPAM, and email regulations

🔄 Sync Unsubscribes

Automatically sync unsubscribe events from other systems to Klaviyo

📊 Batch Processing

Efficiently remove multiple members in bulk operations

Configuration

Required Fields

Ensure your Klaviyo integration is configured with valid credentials:

{
  "klaviyo": {
    "api_key": "pk_8eef70f5c90d76f5ecd2c10487b7f9c402",
    "list_id": "KKbLLU"
  }
}

🔑 Configuration Requirements

  • api_key: Your Klaviyo Private API Key (starts with pk_)
  • list_id: The ID of the Klaviyo list to remove members from

Field Mapping

Map your source system fields to identify which members to remove:

{
  "mapped_fields": [
    {
      "origin_field": "Email1",
      "destination_field": "email",
      "convert_function": ""
    }
  ]
}

Field Specifications

email
Required

Type: String

Description: The email address of the subscriber to remove

Validation: Must be valid email format (user@domain.com)

Notes: Primary identifier for locating the member to remove from the list.

phone_number
Optional

Type: String

Description: The phone number (if available) for additional identification

Format: Include country code (e.g., +1234567890)

Notes: Optional field—removal is primarily based on email address.

💡 Mapping Tips

  • Email field is mandatory—Klaviyo uses email as the primary identifier
  • Phone number is optional and not required for member removal
  • Email matching is case-insensitive
  • If email doesn't exist in list, operation will silently succeed (idempotent)

Workflow Configuration

Example workflow configuration for removing list members:

{
  "name": "Remove Unsubscribed Users from Klaviyo",
  "origin": {
    "microservice": "customer",
    "action": "pull_unsubscribed_customers"
  },
  "destination": {
    "microservice": "integrations",
    "action": "list_member_remove",
    "type": "push",
    "chunk_size": 100,
    "chunk_waiting_time": 1500,
    "integration": {
      "name": "klaviyo"
    },
    "mapped_fields": [
      {
        "origin_field": "email",
        "destination_field": "email"
      }
    ]
  }
}

Workflow Parameters

  • action: Set to list_member_remove
  • type: Set to push (destination operation)
  • chunk_size: Number of records to process per batch (50-200 recommended)
  • chunk_waiting_time: Delay between batches in milliseconds (1000-2000 recommended)
  • mapped_fields: Array of field mappings identifying members to remove

Use Cases

📧 Unsubscribe Sync

Scenario: When users unsubscribe from your website or app, automatically remove them from Klaviyo lists.

Benefit: Maintain synchronized unsubscribe status across all platforms, ensuring compliance and avoiding spam complaints.

⚖️ GDPR Compliance

Scenario: Honor "right to be forgotten" requests by removing users from marketing lists.

Benefit: Comply with GDPR and privacy regulations by promptly processing deletion requests.

🧹 List Hygiene

Scenario: Remove inactive, bounced, or invalid email addresses from lists.

Benefit: Improve deliverability rates and maintain high-quality subscriber lists.

🎯 Segment Exclusion

Scenario: Remove customers from specific list segments when they no longer meet criteria.

Benefit: Keep segmentation accurate by removing members who changed status (e.g., VIP to regular customer).

🔄 CRM to Klaviyo Sync

Scenario: Sync unsubscribe events from your CRM to Klaviyo lists.

Benefit: Maintain consistent contact preferences across your marketing stack.

📊 Automated Cleanup

Scenario: Periodically remove hard-bounced or complained email addresses.

Benefit: Protect sender reputation and maintain list quality automatically.

Behavior & Logic

Removal Operation

Understanding how member removal works in Klaviyo:

1. Email Lookup

Klaviyo searches for the email address in the specified list.

↓

2. If Email Exists in List

Member is removed from the list. Profile data remains in Klaviyo.

↓

3. If Email Doesn't Exist

Operation succeeds silently (idempotent behavior—no error thrown).

↓

4. Result

Member is no longer part of the specified list.

📝 Important Notes

  • Profile preservation: Removing from a list does NOT delete the profile from Klaviyo
  • Idempotent: Removing a non-existent member doesn't cause errors
  • List-specific: Removal only affects the specified list_id, not other lists
  • Subscription status: Member can still exist in other lists or be re-added later
  • Suppression vs. Removal: For permanent opt-outs, consider Klaviyo's suppression lists

⚠️ Profile vs. List Membership

This action removes members from a specific list, but the customer profile remains in Klaviyo. Historical event data and profile information are preserved. To completely delete a profile from Klaviyo, use Klaviyo's profile deletion API or manual deletion.

Compliance & Best Practices

⚖️ Legal Compliance

Regulatory Requirement: Process unsubscribe requests promptly (typically within 10 business days per CAN-SPAM, immediately per GDPR). Failure to honor opt-out requests can result in legal penalties and damage to sender reputation.

✅ Best Practices

  • Prompt processing: Sync unsubscribes immediately or within hours
  • Audit trail: Log all removal operations for compliance records
  • Double-check: Verify email addresses before removal to avoid accidental deletions
  • Suppression list: Consider adding permanently opted-out users to Klaviyo suppression lists
  • Multi-list removal: If user opts out globally, remove from all relevant lists
  • Confirmation: Send confirmation when processing unsubscribe requests
  • Error handling: Implement retry logic for failed removals
  • Monitoring: Track removal metrics to identify patterns or issues

🔒 Data Privacy

When processing removal requests:

  • Respect user preferences—don't re-add removed members without explicit new consent
  • Maintain records of when and why members were removed
  • Distinguish between temporary list removal and permanent opt-out
  • Consider implementing a "do not contact" list for permanently opted-out users

Performance Optimization

⚡ Batch Processing

For bulk removal operations:

  • Use moderate chunk sizes (50-200 members per batch)
  • Set chunk_waiting_time to 1000-2000ms to avoid rate limits
  • Process removals during off-peak hours for large operations

🎯 Real-Time vs. Batch

Choose processing method based on use case:

  • Real-time: Individual unsubscribes processed immediately (chunk_size: 1)
  • Batch: Periodic cleanup or bulk operations (chunk_size: 50-200)
  • Hybrid: Real-time critical removals, batch for list cleanup

⏱️ Removal Scheduling

For scheduled cleanup operations:

  • Run daily or weekly cleanup jobs for bounced emails
  • Process compliance removals immediately (regulatory requirement)
  • Schedule large bulk removals during low-traffic periods

Troubleshooting

🔴 Issue: "List not found"

Cause: list_id is incorrect or list was deleted.

Solution: Verify list_id in Klaviyo Lists → Settings. Ensure list exists and ID is correct (case-sensitive).

🔴 Issue: "Authentication failed"

Cause: API key is invalid, expired, or lacks required permissions.

Solution: Verify api_key is a Private API Key (starts with pk_). Check permissions include list management access.

🔴 Issue: "Rate limit exceeded"

Cause: Too many API requests in a short time period.

Solution: Increase chunk_waiting_time (try 2000-3000ms) or reduce chunk_size. Spread large operations over longer periods.

🔴 Issue: "Member still appears in list"

Cause: Klaviyo may take a few minutes to update list views.

Solution: Wait 5-10 minutes and refresh the list. Check workflow logs for API response confirmation. Verify removal was successful.

🔴 Issue: "Invalid email address"

Cause: Email format doesn't meet validation requirements.

Solution: Validate email format before attempting removal. Ensure no spaces, proper format (user@domain.com).

🔴 Issue: "Removal not syncing to Klaviyo flows"

Cause: Active flows may continue sending to recently removed members.

Solution: This is expected behavior—in-flight flows complete. Members won't be included in new flow triggers after removal.

API Response

Success Response

When members are successfully removed, Klaviyo returns confirmation:

{
  "status": "success",
  "members_removed": 50,
  "list_id": "KKbLLU"
}

Error Response

If an error occurs, you'll receive details about what went wrong:

{
  "status": "error",
  "message": "List not found",
  "details": {
    "list_id": "INVALID",
    "reason": "The specified list does not exist"
  }
}

Related Actions

📥 Add List Members

Add or update subscribers in Klaviyo lists with email and phone data

📤 Pull List Members

Export members from Klaviyo lists for synchronization with other systems

📊 Track Events

Send customer events and behaviors to Klaviyo for marketing automation

Additional Resources