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Archive a campaign

Easy steps to archive campaign

Updated over a week ago

Learning Objective

By the end of this guide, you'll know how to archive single or multiple campaigns, understand what happens when campaigns are archived, and learn when to archive versus delete or 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.

Unlike deleting, 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.

What Happens When You Archive

When you archive a campaign, lemlist automatically:

Pauses the campaign – All scheduled emails and actions 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. Archived campaigns are simply hidden from your active view to reduce clutter.

Prerequisites

Before archiving, consider:

  • Is the campaign truly complete? If leads are still receiving emails, archiving will pause them mid-sequence.

  • Have you exported any data you need? While data is preserved, exporting analytics before archiving makes reporting easier.

  • Is this better than pausing? If you plan to resume soon, pause instead. Archive for longer-term storage.

How to Archive a Campaign

You can archive campaigns individually or in bulk.

Option 1: Archive a Single Campaign from the Campaigns List

Step 1: Go to your campaigns dashboard

Click Campaigns in the main navigation.

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Step 2: Find the campaign to archive

Locate the campaign in your list, click the three dots (⋮) next to the campaign name, then select Archive from the dropdown menu.

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The campaign is immediately paused and moved to the Archived section.

Option 2: Archive from Within the Campaign

Step 1: Open the campaign

Go to Campaigns, then click the campaign you want to archive.

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Step 2: Access campaign options and archive

Click the three dots (⋮) in the campaign interface, then select Archive.

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Option 3: Archive Multiple Campaigns at Once (Bulk)

Step 1: Go to your campaigns dashboard

Click Campaigns to view your campaigns list.

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Step 2: Select campaigns and archive

Check the boxes next to the campaign(s) you want to archive, then click Archive in the bulk actions bar.

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All selected campaigns are paused and moved to the Archived section at once.

💡 Time-saver: Bulk archiving is perfect for cleaning up seasonal campaigns, completed tests, or old campaigns from previous quarters.

How to View Archived Campaigns

Step 1: Go to your campaigns dashboard

Click Campaigns in the main navigation.

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Step 2: Filter by Archived status

Open the Status filter dropdown and select Archived.

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Your archived campaigns now 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 from the dropdown.

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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 vs. Delete

Archive when:

  • The campaign is complete, and you don't plan to run it again soon

  • You want to clean up your campaigns lis,t but keep the data

  • The campaign is seasonal (e.g., holiday outreach,) and you'll reference it next year

  • You're testing campaigns and want to save unsuccessful 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

Delete when:

  • The campaign was a mistake or a test with no useful data

  • You're certain you'll never need the sequence or analytics again

  • You want to permanently remove it (cannot be undone)

💡 Best practice: Archive by default. Only delete if you're absolutely sure you won't need the data. Archiving keeps your options open.

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:

  1. Filter campaigns by date to find all Q1 campaigns

  2. Select completed campaigns (those with 100% leads through the sequence)

  3. Bulk archive them using the checkbox selection method

  4. Export analytics for quarterly reporting before archiving

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

Fix:

  • Check if you archived the correct campaign

  • Verify the campaign status shows as "Archived" and "Paused"

  • 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

  • Select all campaigns from that period using checkboxes

  • Use bulk archive to move them all at once

  • 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 before archiving. This makes quarterly reviews faster.

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.

Bulk archive test campaigns: After testing different approaches, bulk 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 have 10-20 active campaigns maximum in your main view. Archive everything else. This makes daily campaign management much easier.

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