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Customize your lead list layout

Learn how to add variables to the grid, customize their visibility, or delete them

Learning Objective

By the end of this guide, you'll know how to customize your lead list layout by showing or hiding variables, creating new custom columns, deleting unnecessary variables, and organizing your view to focus on the data that matters most for your campaigns.

Why This Matters

Default lead list views show many columns, which can be overwhelming when managing campaigns with multiple custom variables. Customizing your layout helps you:

  • Focus on relevant data – Hide variables you're not actively using to reduce clutter

  • Work faster – See only the columns you need for quick decision-making

  • Organize by workflow – Different team members can customize views based on their role

  • Create custom variables on the fly – Add new personalization fields without leaving the lead list

A clean, customized lead list improves efficiency and reduces cognitive load when managing hundreds or thousands of leads.

Prerequisites

Before customizing your lead list:

  • You have a campaign with leads imported

  • You understand which variables you need – Know which columns are essential for your workflow

  • You have permission to manage campaigns – Some team roles may have restricted access

What You Can Customize

Show/Hide variables:

  • Toggle visibility of any variable column

  • Hidden variables still exist, they're just not displayed in the table

Delete variables:

  • Permanently remove custom variables you no longer need

  • Default columns cannot be deleted

💡 Important: Hiding a variable doesn't delete it. The data is still there. Deleting a variable permanently removes the data for all leads, and this action is irreversible.

Core Lesson: Step-by-Step Workflow

Phase 1: Show or Hide Variables

Step 1: Open your campaign

Go to Campaigns and select the campaign you want to edit.

Step 2: Open the lead list visibility settings

In your campaign, open the Leads list tab, then click the crossed eye icon to open Table settings.

Step 3: Show or hide variables from Table settings

In Table settings, click the eye icon next to the variable you want to show or hide, then click Save to apply your changes.

Alternative Method: Hide Variables via Column Header

Step 4: Hide a column from the header

To quickly hide a specific column, click the column header you want to manage, then select Hide from the dropdown menu.

💡 Tip: This method is faster when you want to quickly hide one or two specific columns without opening the full visibility menu.

Phase 2: Create a New Variable

Step 5: Open the add-column menu and create a column

In the lead list, click Add on the right side of the table header, then select Create column.

Step 6: Name your new variable

Enter a name for your new variable in the Variable name field, then click Save.

Naming best practices:

  • Use clear, consistent names

  • Be descriptive but concise

  • Avoid overly long names

Example variable names:

  • painPoint – Lead's main challenge or pain point

  • referralSource – Where you found this lead

  • meetingDate – Date of scheduled meeting

  • industry – Lead's industry category

Step 7: Add data to the new variable

After saving, the new column appears in your lead list table and is ready to be filled with data.

You can click any cell in the new column to add values for individual leads.

Phase 3: Delete a Variable

Step 8: Delete a custom variable

Find the custom variable you want to remove, click its column header, then select Delete from the dropdown menu.

⚠️ Warning: This permanently deletes the variable and all its data for all leads in the campaign. Make sure you don't need this data before deleting it.

Step 9: Verify deletion

The variable column disappears from your lead list, and the data is permanently deleted.

💡 Cannot delete default columns: Standard columns are protected and can only be hidden, not deleted.

Understanding Protected (Default) Columns

lemlist protects essential columns that are core to campaign functionality.

Protected columns:

  • Email

  • Status

  • Phone number

  • LinkedIn

  • Company name

Custom variables:

  • Any variable you create can be deleted

This protection helps prevent accidental deletion of critical campaign data.

Troubleshooting

Issue: I hid a variable but can't find it to show it again

Fix:

  • Click the crossed eye icon to open Table settings

  • Find the hidden variable in the list

  • Click the eye icon next to it, then Save

Issue: I deleted a variable by mistake

Fix:

  • Deleted variables cannot be restored

  • If you exported your data before deletion, re-import it if needed

  • Otherwise, recreate the variable and re-enter the data manually

Issue: I can't delete a default column

Fix:

  • Default columns cannot be deleted by design

  • Use Hide instead if you don't want to see them

Issue: My new variable isn't showing up after creation

Fix:

  • Check whether the column was created but hidden

  • Scroll horizontally to the right side of the table

  • Refresh the page if needed

Optimization Tips

Hide, don't delete when unsure: If you might need a variable later, hide it instead of deleting it.

Use descriptive variable names: Clear names make the lead list easier to manage for your whole team.

Customize for your workflow: Show only the columns you need for the task you're working on.

Export before deleting variables: If a variable contains important data, keep a backup before removing it.

Review your layout regularly: Clean up unused variables to keep your lead list easy to navigate.

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