---
title: "Reactivate an inactive recipient"
slug: "reactivate-an-inactive-recipient"
abstract: "Learn how to change a recipient's status from bounced to active."
---
# Reactivate an inactive recipient

A recipient of one of your email lists can be set as inactive for different reasons. It is worth investigating why this occurs before you move ahead with reactivating them. Here are the reasons why Sitecore Send automatically sets a recipient as inactive:

- They have reported one of your email campaigns as spam.
- They unsubscribed by clicking on the unsubscribe link located inside every newsletter campaign you send.
- A hard bounce occurred resulting in their email address being automatically removed from your email lists.
- A soft bounce repeatedly occurred resulting in their email address being automatically deleted from your email lists.

If you are certain that your recipient was incorrectly set to inactive, for example, because of bounces from a [spelling error on their email address](https://doc.sitecore.com/send/en/users/sitecore-send/email-lists/work-with-email-lists/resubscribe-a-bounced-email-address.html "Resubscribe a bounced email address") spelling error on their email address, or if you accidentally removed the recipient from your email list, you can reactivate them. You must keep your mailing lists [GDPR compliant](https://doc.sitecore.com/send/en/users/sitecore-send/email-lists/make-your-email-list-gdpr-compliant.html "Make your email list GDPR compliant").

To reactivate a recipient:

1. On the menu bar, click **Audience** > **Email lists**.
2. Click the name of the email list that you want to view.
3. On the menu on the left, click **View all members**.
4. Select the check box of the email address that you want to reactivate.
5. Click the **Select action** drop-down menu that appears above the list of recipients, and select **Change status**.
6. In the **Change status** dialog, select **Active** and click **Change status**.