Save and Manage Segments

When you create a segment in your MailChimp list, you can save that segment to use with email and ad campaigns. Find out which method of creating and saving segments works best for you: use conditions, import a file, or paste email addresses.

In this article, you'll learn the different ways to create, save, and manage segments.

Before You Start

• To use segments, you must first create a list in your account.
• Standard segmentation combines up to five conditions and is included with all MailChimp plans. Upgrade to MailChimp Pro to create advanced segments, which support multiple, nested conditions.

Use Conditions to Save Segment

MailChimp offers numerous segmentation conditions based on group data, campaign activity, purchase activity, and more.

To use conditions to create and save a segment in your list, follow these steps

1. Navigate to the Lists page.
2. Click the name of the list you want to work with.
3. Click Create A Segment.
   
4. Choose your segment conditions, and click Preview Segment to view the contacts in the segment. If the results aren't what you expected, click Edit to return to change your segment conditions.
5. When you're satisfied with your segment, click Save as segment.
6. In the Save Segment pop-up modal, type in a name for your segment, and click Save.
   

The Auto-Update option determines whether your segment will be created and saved once, or created and updated each time new contacts join who match your criteria. Uncheck the Auto-Update box to save a static segment that only includes the segment's contacts when you create it. Keep the Auto-Update box checked to update your segment when it's targeted with an email or ad campaign.

Paste Addresses to Save Segment

If you have a list of certain subscribers, from your CRM, for example, you can paste in subscriber email addresses to create a saved segment. Any segment created with addresses you paste in will be static and can't be changed after it's created.

To paste addresses to create a saved segment, follow these steps.

1. Navigate to the Lists page.
2. Click the name of the list you want to work with.
3. Click Create A Segment.
   
4. Click Need to upload a CSV or paste in emails?
   
5. Type in a name for your segment.
6. Click the Paste email addresses radio button.
7. Paste the addresses in the email address field. Email addresses can be separated by a comma, tab, semicolon, or line break. This field has a maximum input of 40,000 lines.
   
8. Choose whether to include or exclude the email addresses you pasted in. Include creates a static segment of just the addresses you provided, and Exclude ignores the addresses you pasted in, to create a static segment of the other contacts who remain in your list.
9. Click Save Segment.

Import Addresses to Save Segment

You can also build a static segment by uploading a file of your contacts.

Keep in mind that you can only add a contact to a segment if they're already on your MailChimp list, so this doesn't replace the list import feature. Any segment created with this method will be static and can't be changed after you create it.

This segmentation method can only accept CSV or tab delimited text files with one column of email addresses. Additional addresses or other data in your file will cause errors.

To build a static segment with a CSV or other tab delimited text file, follow these steps.

1. Navigate to the Lists page.
2. Click the name of the list you want to work with.
3. Click Create A Segment.
   
4. Click Need to upload a CSV or paste in emails?.
   
5. Type in a name for your segment.
6. Click the Import email addresses radio button.
7. Click Browse to choose the CSV or tab delimited text file you want to import into your segment.
8. Click Save Segment.
   

View and Edit Saved Segments

You can view any saved segment, but only segments that use Auto-Update can be edited. If a saved segment does not Auto-Update or was created by pasting in addresses, it's considered a static segment and can't be edited.

To access a saved segment, follow these steps.

1. Navigate to the Lists page.
2. Click the drop-down menu for the list you want to work with, and choose Manage contacts.
   
3. Click Segments.

On this page, you can view and sort all saved segments, edit the segmentation criteria for auto-update segments, or use a segment's drop-down menu to Send to a specific segment.

Delete a Saved Segment

Saved segments can be deleted when you no longer need them, and we won't delete those contacts from your list. To use the segment again though, you'll have to recreate it.

To delete a saved segment, follow these steps.

1. Navigate to the Lists page.
2. Click the drop-down menu for the list you want to work with, and choose Manage contacts.
   
3. Click Segments.
4. Check the box next to the segment you want to delete and click Delete.
   
5. In the Are you sure? pop-up modal, click Delete to confirm.