Opt Outs

Last updated: October 6, 2025

When someone opts out from your texting program, Switchboard will suppress them from future sends within the same Switchboard account. You do not need to exclude them in your searches or clean your lists proactively.

They will receive this message automatically:

You have successfully been unsubscribed. You will not receive any more messages from this number. Reply START to resubscribe.

Managing Opt Outs

Manually opting phone numbers out

On the All Phone Numbers page, you can upload a file of phone numbers to opt out. This is recommended if you are migrating over from a new platform. You can also type in numbers in one by one, which can be useful if someone reaches out via email asking you to remove them from your program.

Opting back in

If someone opts out by accident, you can have them text START to any of your sending numbers to opt back in.

If you uploaded a file of opt outs by accident and need to undo it, email support@oneswitchboard.com

Custom Opt Outs

You have the ability to add custom opt-out terms from your Organization Settings page. If your message recipients reply with any of your custom opt-out terms, those recipients will be opted out. You can choose whether to apply this setting only to messages that match the term exactly (ignoring punctuation), or to any message that includes the term anywhere in the message.

We recommend considering adding terms that, in your opinion, show a clear intention to opt out of your program. For example, you could add the name of opposing candidates or generally hostile terms like MAGA or curse words.

Removing folks off your list saves you money on future messages and reduces the risk of upsetting people, which can save you headaches down the road. These ‘voluntary’ opt-outs also don’t count against the opt-out rate tracked by the carriers.

How to Create Custom Opt-Outs

  1. Go to Organization Settings

  2. This will bring you to Messaging Settings. Below Sending Window, you will see Opt Outs.

  3. You will see a few of the default opt out words. You can click Show More to see the full list.

Please be aware there are profane words in this list.

  1. To create new custom opt-out words/phrases, click Enable Custom Phrases.

  2. Enter one word/phrase at a time that you would like to include as a custom opt-out keyword.

    1. These are not case-sensitive.

  3. Next, you choose whether you would like to match the phrase exactly to opt folks out or opt out anyone who includes that phrase anywhere in their message.

    1. If I type in I'll never vote for Frank and choose matches one of these phrases exactly, it would only opt-out people if their text was exactly “I'll never vote for Frank” — no more, no less.

    2. If I chose includes one of these phrases anywhere in their message, it would opt-out people who said the phrase as a stand-alone or if they said that phrase within their text at all.

      1. Just note, with this option, you’d risk opting out someone who texts something like “I hate when people say 'I’ll never vote for Frank' because I love Frank!!!!!”

  4. Once you’re ready, click Save Custom Opt Out to add that phrase as a custom opt-out.

  5. Once you’ve added a word/phrase, it will populate under Active Custom Phrases.

  6. You can create an automatic reply to all new custom opt-outs by toggling that setting on and writing your message. Note: this only applies to the custom opt-out keywords.

Important Notes:

  • This does not retroactively affect messages you were sent before you added the custom keywords—it only applies to messages going forward.

  • If you add a custom opt-out term you can later delete it, but people who are opted out while it is in effect stay opted out.

  • Default opt-out keywords (STOP, CANCEL, etc.) only apply as an exact match (ignoring punctuation), but if you want them to apply if they appear in longer messages, you can also now add them as a Custom Opt-Out term and choose the option to include messages where the keyword is anywhere in the message.

How to Export Opt-Out Data

You can export a list of phone numbers that have opted out of receiving messages.

  1. Navigate to the All Phone Numbers page

  2. Click the "Export Opt Outs" button

  3. Click "Export" in the modal that appears

  4. Set your desired date range to filter opt-outs by specific time periods

The exported file will contain all opt-out data within your selected date range.