Guide
One-click unsubscribe when you send fewer than 5,000 emails a day
The one-click rule has a threshold. The duty to let people opt out does not.
Short answer
Not required by Google, still worth doing. Google says that if you send more than 5,000 messages a day, marketing and subscribed messages must support one-click unsubscribe [1]. Below that line the rule does not apply, but Google still tells every sender: "Always give recipients an easy way to unsubscribe from your messages." [2] The law in the countries covered here asks for a working opt-out whatever your volume.
General information, not legal advice, as of the date above. Where a regulator says its guidance is under review, we say so. If your situation is unusual, ask a lawyer who practises in that country.
What the 5,000 threshold covers
Google's sender guidelines draw the line in two places. The requirements for bulk senders apply to senders of more than 5,000 messages a day to Gmail accounts [3], and Google defines a bulk sender as one that sends "close to 5,000 messages or more to personal Gmail accounts within a 24-hour period" [4]. One-click unsubscribe sits inside that group. Someone who sends 30 a day from their own mailbox is well below it.
What still applies below it
| Who | What they ask of every sender |
|---|---|
| "Always give recipients an easy way to unsubscribe from your messages." [2] | |
| Yahoo | "Provide an obvious and visible unsubscribe process that doesn't require users to log in." [5] It also lists "Honor unsubscribes within 2 days" [6]. |
| UK regulator | Its marketing checklist asks: "We offer an opt-out (by reply or unsubscribe link) and act on this promptly." [7] |
| US law | "You must honor a recipient’s opt-out request within 10 business days." [8] |
None of these name a volume. They apply to the first email you send.
Why add one-click anyway
- It is the cheapest way to say no. Without it, a person who does not want your email has two choices: write back, or press the spam button. Google warns that "if messages from your domain are frequently reported as spam, future messages from you are more likely to be marked as spam" [9].
- A header lets the mail client do the work. The one-click header is a request your recipient's mail client sends for them, with no page to load [10]. You can still keep a visible link in the body.
- You may cross the line without noticing. Google says senders who meet the bulk criteria once are permanently treated as bulk senders [11]. Adding the header now means nothing to retrofit later.
What a small sender can skip
Nothing legal. A small sender can skip the engineering fuss around volume: no bulk-sender setup to chase. You still need a working opt-out that someone actually honours. See how fast to honour a request.
How Honest Intros does it
Every email Honest Intros sends carries both one-click headers with a signed link for that recipient, even though one mailbox sending at most 100 a day is far below 5,000. The link works with no login, and using it stops all further email to that person, and to the rest of their organisation, straight away. Each email also ends with a plain sentence saying they can tell you to stop.
Questions
Is one-click unsubscribe required if I send under 5,000 emails a day?
Google's one-click requirement applies above 5,000 messages a day to Gmail. Below that, you still need an easy, working way to opt out, and one-click is the easiest.
Does the law require one-click unsubscribe?
No law named here requires the one-click header. They require a working opt-out that you honour within a set time.
What happens if I cross 5,000 a day once?
Google says senders who meet the bulk criteria at least once are permanently considered bulk senders, so the one-click rule would apply from then on.
See what it would write for you
Paste your website. Honest Intros learns what you sell and shows who it would write to, and what it would say.
Free to start. Nothing is sent until you approve it.