# What is one-click unsubscribe? A header-based email action

One-click unsubscribe is a standardized email-header mechanism a recipient’s mail client can use to submit an unsubscribe request without opening a separate webpage.

The standard uses message headers that a supporting mailbox application can act on. The visible unsubscribe link in the email body is a separate route.

## Testing the message header path

The publisher inspects a delivered test message for the List-Unsubscribe header fields used by the one-click mechanism, triggers the mailbox’s unsubscribe action, and verifies that the address is suppressed from a later eligible send. It tests the visible footer link separately; the two controls are not the same path.

## The two headers have different jobs

List-Unsubscribe supplies the unsubscribe destination. List-Unsubscribe-Post tells a supporting mailbox that the message offers the one-click mechanism. Check the delivered message because an email provider can add or change headers after the template is prepared.

## Confirm that the reader actually stops receiving the stream

Test with an address you control. Use the unsubscribe action, then verify how the mailing system records it and whether a later eligible campaign reaches that address. A working button and a durable suppression are separate outcomes.

## Related terms

[ESP](https://digitalpublishingnews.com/dictionary/esp/)

## Continue reading

[Gmail bulk-sender requirements: check authentication and unsubscribe in a delivered email](https://digitalpublishingnews.com/articles/gmail-bulk-sender-checks/): It tests the received message’s header unsubscribe action for covered Gmail campaigns.

## Sources

https://support.google.com/mail/answer/81126?hl=en

https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8058.html

https://support.google.com/mail/answer/81126?hl=en

Editorial method: https://digitalpublishingnews.com/how-we-use-ai/

Canonical: https://digitalpublishingnews.com/dictionary/one-click-unsubscribe/