What is a sunset flow in Klaviyo?

A sunset flow is an automated sequence that identifies subscribers who have not engaged with your emails for a defined period (typically 60-120 days), sends them a final re-engagement series, and then suppresses or unsubscribes those who still do not engage. It keeps your list clean and your deliverability healthy.

Why should I remove subscribers from my email list?

Disengaged subscribers hurt your email deliverability. Email providers like Gmail and Outlook track engagement rates — if too many recipients ignore your emails, your sender reputation drops and more of your emails land in spam. Removing disengaged subscribers improves deliverability for everyone else on your list.

How long should I wait before sunsetting a subscriber?

The standard window is 60-120 days of no email engagement (no opens, no clicks). For brands with infrequent purchase cycles (e.g., luxury goods, furniture), you might extend this to 180 days. For fast-moving consumer goods, 60-90 days is appropriate.

Will sunsetting subscribers reduce my list size?

Yes, your list size will decrease. However, the subscribers you remove were not engaging with your emails and were not buying. A smaller, engaged list outperforms a large, disengaged list in every metric that matters — open rates, click rates, conversion rates, and revenue per recipient.

Can I re-subscribe someone after sunsetting them?

Yes. If a sunset subscriber returns to your site and re-subscribes through a popup or checkout, they re-enter your list as a fresh subscriber. Sunsetting is not permanent — it simply stops you from emailing people who are not interested.

How to Create a Sunset Flow in Klaviyo to Clean Your List

Every email list has dead weight — subscribers who signed up months ago, received dozens of emails, and never opened a single one. These disengaged subscribers are not just wasting your Klaviyo budget (you pay per profile). They are actively harming your deliverability.

A sunset flow solves this problem systematically. It identifies subscribers who have stopped engaging, gives them a final chance to re-engage, and then quietly removes those who do not. The result is a smaller, healthier list that performs better across every metric.

We implement sunset flows as a standard part of every Klaviyo setup we manage. The improvement in deliverability and engagement rates is immediate and measurable.

Why you need a sunset flow

Email deliverability is not just about having a clean domain and proper authentication. Inbox providers like Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo track how recipients interact with your emails. If a significant portion of your list consistently ignores your emails, your sender reputation degrades.

Here is what happens when you keep emailing disengaged subscribers:

Lower inbox placement. Gmail sees that 40% of your recipients never open your emails. It starts routing your emails to the Promotions tab, then to spam, for engaged subscribers too.
Higher costs. Klaviyo charges based on the number of active profiles. Disengaged subscribers cost you money every month without generating any return.
Misleading metrics. Your open rates and click rates are diluted by disengaged profiles, making it harder to measure the true performance of your campaigns.
Spam trap risk. Old, abandoned email addresses can be recycled as spam traps by inbox providers. Continuing to email them can trigger spam blacklisting.

A list of 10,000 engaged subscribers will generate more revenue than a list of 50,000 disengaged ones. List size is a vanity metric. Engagement is the metric that matters.

Email deliverability impact of disengaged subscribers — Disengaged subscribers drag down your sender reputation, affecting deliverability for your entire list.

How a sunset flow works

A sunset flow follows this sequence:

Identify — create a segment of subscribers who have not opened or clicked any email in 60-120 days
Warn — send 2-3 re-engagement emails with compelling reasons to stay subscribed
Monitor — track which recipients engage with the re-engagement emails
Re-engage — subscribers who open or click are moved back to your active list
Suppress — subscribers who still do not engage are suppressed from all future marketing emails

The key principle is giving people a fair chance before removing them. A sudden mass suppression without a re-engagement attempt is aggressive and unnecessary.

Step 1: Define your disengagement criteria

The first decision is defining "disengaged." This varies by industry and email frequency:

Email frequency	Disengagement window	Reasoning
Daily or near-daily	60 days	They have had 50+ chances to engage
2-3 times per week	90 days	They have received 25-35 emails
Weekly	120 days	They have received 15-17 emails
Fortnightly or less	180 days	They need more time to demonstrate disengagement

We typically use 90 days of no email opens and no email clicks as the threshold for most ecommerce brands sending 2-3 emails per week. This is aggressive enough to keep the list clean but generous enough to avoid suppressing people who might still be interested.

Important distinction: opens vs clicks

Apple Mail Privacy Protection and similar features can inflate open rates by pre-loading tracking pixels. For this reason, we recommend using clicks as the primary engagement signal and opens as a secondary signal. A subscriber who has not clicked any email in 90 days is genuinely disengaged, regardless of what the open data says.

Step 2: Create the segment

In Klaviyo, create a segment that captures your disengaged subscribers:

Go to Lists & Segments > Create Segment
Name it "Sunset Candidates" or "Disengaged 90 Days"
Add these conditions:

Has not opened email at least once in the last 90 days AND
Has not clicked email at least once in the last 90 days AND
Has received email at least 5 times in the last 90 days (ensures they had enough opportunity to engage) AND
Has not placed an order in the last 90 days (customers who buy without opening emails should not be sunset)

The last condition is important. Some customers buy directly from your site without ever opening marketing emails. Suppressing them would mean losing actual revenue. For guidance on segmentation, read our email list segmentation guide.

Klaviyo segment builder for sunset flow — Build your sunset segment with multiple conditions to avoid suppressing valuable customers.

Step 3: Build the flow

Create the sunset flow in Klaviyo:

Go to Flows > Create Flow > Create from Scratch
Name it "Sunset / Re-engagement Flow"
Set the trigger to Segment > Sunset Candidates (when someone enters the segment)
Add the following sequence:

Flow structure

Trigger: Enters "Sunset Candidates" segment
│
├── Email 1: "We miss you" (immediate)
│   Wait 3 days
│   ├── Conditional split: Opened or clicked Email 1?
│   │   ├── YES → Exit flow (re-engaged)
│   │   └── NO → Continue
│
├── Email 2: "Last chance" (day 3)
│   Wait 4 days
│   ├── Conditional split: Opened or clicked Email 2?
│   │   ├── YES → Exit flow (re-engaged)
│   │   └── NO → Continue
│
├── Email 3: "We're saying goodbye" (day 7)
│   Wait 3 days
│   ├── Conditional split: Opened or clicked Email 3?
│   │   ├── YES → Exit flow (re-engaged)
│   │   └── NO → Suppress profile
│
└── Profile action: Suppress from all email marketing

Step 4: Design re-engagement emails

Email 1: "We miss you"

The tone should be warm and non-accusatory. Remind them why they subscribed and what they are missing:

Subject: "We've missed you — here's what's new"
Content: Highlight new products, bestsellers, or recent content
CTA: "Shop New Arrivals" or "See What's New"
Optional: Offer a small incentive (10% off) if your margins allow it

Email 2: "Your preferences"

Give them control. Perhaps they are disengaged because they receive too many emails or the content is not relevant:

Subject: "Too many emails? Let's fix that"
Content: Offer preference options — reduce frequency, change content types
CTA: "Update My Preferences" linking to a preference centre

Email 3: "Final goodbye"

Be direct. Tell them this is the last email they will receive unless they take action:

Subject: "This is goodbye (unless you want to stay)"
Content: Clear message — "We are going to stop emailing you. If you want to keep hearing from us, click the button below."
CTA: "Keep Me Subscribed"

This final email often has the highest engagement because people respond to the fear of losing something. It is a proven psychological trigger.

Sunset flow email sequence examples — Each email in the sunset sequence takes a different approach to re-engagement.

Step 5: Suppress non-responders

After the three-email sequence, subscribers who have not engaged at all should be suppressed. In Klaviyo, you have two options:

Option A: Add to a suppressed segment (recommended)

Create a "Sunset Suppressed" list. Add non-responders to this list via a profile property update at the end of the flow. Then exclude this list from all campaign sends and flow filters.

Option B: Unsubscribe

Use Klaviyo's "Unsubscribe" action at the end of the flow. This is more permanent and removes the profile from all marketing. Use this only if you are confident you do not want to re-engage these profiles in the future.

We generally recommend Option A because it gives you the flexibility to re-engage sunset profiles during major events like Black Friday or end-of-season sales, where even disengaged subscribers might convert.

Measuring the impact

Track these metrics before and after implementing your sunset flow:

Metric	Expected change
Open rate	Increase by 5-15 percentage points
Click rate	Increase by 2-5 percentage points
Spam complaint rate	Decrease significantly
Bounce rate	Decrease
Revenue per recipient	Increase
Klaviyo bill	Decrease (fewer active profiles)

For more on measuring email performance, read our flow optimisation guide and our essential flows guide.

Sunset flow performance impact — After implementing a sunset flow, expect significant improvements in all engagement metrics.

Common mistakes to avoid

1. Setting the window too short

Sunsetting after 30 days of disengagement is too aggressive. People go on holiday, change devices, or simply have a quiet month. Give subscribers at least 60-90 days before entering the sunset flow.

2. Not excluding recent purchasers

A customer who buys regularly but never opens marketing emails is still valuable. Always exclude recent purchasers from your sunset segment.

3. No re-engagement attempt

Going straight to suppression without giving subscribers a chance to re-engage is wasteful. The re-engagement sequence typically recovers 5-15% of disengaged subscribers.

4. Sending boring re-engagement emails

If someone is already disengaged, a generic "We miss you" email will not cut through. Make your re-engagement emails visually distinct, use compelling subject lines, and offer genuine value.

5. Never reviewing the suppressed list

Review your sunset-suppressed list quarterly. Some profiles may have re-engaged through other channels (social, direct) and could be worth re-activating for major campaigns.

Sunset flow best practices — A well-implemented sunset flow balances list hygiene with revenue preservation.

A sunset flow is not about losing subscribers — it is about focusing your email marketing on the people who actually want to hear from you. The maths is simple: a clean list costs less, delivers better, and generates more revenue per email sent.

If your Klaviyo account does not have a sunset flow running, you are paying for disengaged profiles and damaging your deliverability with every campaign. It is one of the highest-ROI improvements you can make to your email programme.

Need help setting up a sunset flow or auditing your Klaviyo deliverability? See our Klaviyo services or get in touch for a free account review.

How to Create a Sunset Flow in Klaviyo to Clean Your List

Why you need a sunset flow

How a sunset flow works