Learning Objective
By the end of this guide, you'll know how to archive campaigns, understand what happens when campaigns are archived, and learn when to archive versus pause campaigns.
Why This Matters
As you run more campaigns, your campaigns list can get cluttered with completed, seasonal, or test campaigns you're not actively using. Archiving keeps your workspace clean while preserving all campaign data, analytics, and structure for future reference.
Archiving is reversible. You can unarchive campaigns anytime to view their data or reactivate them. This makes archiving the safe choice when you're done with a campaign but might need it later.
Important: Campaigns Can’t Be Deleted Anymore
Campaigns can no longer be deleted. If you want to “clean” your campaigns list, you can archive campaigns instead.
What Happens When You Archive
When you archive a campaign, lemlist automatically:
✅ Pauses the campaign – All scheduled emails and activities stop immediately
✅ Moves it to the Archived section – It's removed from your main campaigns list
✅ Preserves all data – Leads, analytics, sequence structure, and settings remain intact
✅ Makes it reversible – You can unarchive anytime to view or reactivate
Nothing is deleted. Campaign and lead data remain available.
Prerequisites
Before archiving, consider:
Is the campaign still running? Archiving will pause it and stop all activities immediately.
Do you need a report right now? While data is preserved, exporting analytics beforehand can make reporting easier.
Is this better than pausing? Pausing also stops all activities. Use pause if you plan to resume soon; use archive when you want to clean your campaigns list while keeping all data.
How to Archive a Campaign
Step 1: Open Campaigns and access the campaign actions
Click Campaigns in the main navigation, then click the three dots (⋮) in the Actions column next to the campaign you want to archive.
Step 2: Open the actions menu
The campaign actions menu will appear.
Step 3: Archive the campaign
Click Archive campaign.
The campaign is immediately paused and moved to the Archived section.
How to View Archived Campaigns
Step 1: Go to your campaigns dashboard
Click Campaigns in the main navigation.
Step 2: Filter by Archived status
Open the Status filter dropdown and select Archived.
Your archived campaigns will appear in the list. You can view their data, analytics, and sequence structure just like active campaigns.
How to Unarchive a Campaign
Step 1: Find the archived campaign
Use the Status filter to view archived campaigns (see above).
Step 2: Unarchive from the actions menu
Click the three dots (⋮) next to the archived campaign, then click Unarchive.
The campaign moves back to your active campaigns list and remains paused. You can manually resume it if you want to restart outreach.
When to Archive vs. Pause
Archive when:
The campaign is complete, and you don't plan to run it again soon
You want to clean up your campaigns list but keep the data
The campaign is seasonal (e.g., holiday outreach) and you'll reference it later
You're testing campaigns and want to save old versions for analysis
Pause when:
You're temporarily stopping a campaign but plan to resume it soon (within days or weeks)
You need to fix the content or update the settings before continuing
You're waiting for more leads to import before resuming
💡 Best practice: If you want to tidy up your campaigns list, archive. If you expect to continue shortly, pause. In both cases, your campaign and lead data remains available.
Practical Application / Real-Life Example
Agency Managing Multiple Client Campaigns
A marketing agency runs dozens of campaigns across various clients. Each quarter, they archive completed campaigns to stay organized.
Their workflow:
End of Q1:
Filter campaigns by date to find all Q1 campaigns
Select completed campaigns (those with 100% leads through the sequence)
Archive them to remove them from the main list while keeping all data
Export analytics for quarterly reporting when needed
Result:
Main campaigns list shows only active Q2 campaigns (clean, focused view)
Q1 data is preserved for client reporting and future reference
They can unarchive Q1 campaigns anytime to reference successful messaging
Impact:
Reduced cognitive load when managing 50+ campaigns
Faster campaign selection for team members
Easy quarterly performance reviews using archived campaign data
Troubleshooting
Issue: I can't find my archived campaign
Root cause: The Status filter isn't set to show archived campaigns
Fix:
Go to Campaigns
Click the Status filter
Select Archived
Your archived campaigns will appear
Issue: I archived a campaign but leads are still receiving emails
Root cause: This shouldn't happen. Archiving automatically pauses campaigns and stops all activities
Fix:
Check if you archived the correct campaign
Verify the campaign is in the Archived status
If emails continue, contact lemlist support. This may be a technical issue
Issue: I want to archive campaigns older than a certain date
Root cause: No automatic date-based archiving exists
Fix:
Manually filter campaigns by date or name
Archive the campaigns you no longer want in your active view
Consider naming campaigns with dates (e.g., "Q4-2024-Campaign") for easier filtering
Optimization Tips
Archive on a schedule: Set a quarterly or monthly reminder to review and archive completed campaigns. This keeps your workspace consistently clean.
Use naming conventions: Name campaigns with dates or status indicators (e.g., "2024-Q1-SaaS-Outreach") to make it easier to identify which campaigns to archive.
Export before archiving: While data is preserved, export key analytics to your reporting tools when you need to report results.
Document campaign outcomes: Before archiving, add notes about what worked or didn't. When you unarchive later, you'll remember why that campaign succeeded or failed.
Archive test campaigns: After testing different approaches, archive the unsuccessful versions and keep only the winner active. This prevents confusion about which version to use.
Unarchive for reference: When building new campaigns, unarchive similar past campaigns to copy successful messaging or structure. You can duplicate them, then re-archive the original.
Keep active campaigns list short: Aim to keep your main view focused on campaigns you actively manage. Archive everything else.