How to Safely Remove Contacts from HubSpot Lists (Without Deleting Them from HubSpot)

Safely manage contacts within lists in HubSpot and prevent accidental permanent deletion of contact records from the CRM.

If you’ve accidentally deleted a contact from HubSpot while managing a list, you can restore them from the Recycling Bin within 90 days.

How to Restore a Deleted Contact:

• Navigate to the Recycling Bin from the HubSpot navigation:

  • Go to Contacts

  • Click Actions > Restore records

• Select the checkbox beside the contact(s) you want to restore.

• Click Restore.

Types of HubSpot Lists & How to Safely Remove Contacts

There are two types of lists in HubSpot: Active Lists and Static Lists. Understanding the difference is key to managing contacts properly.

Active Lists

• Automatically update based on defined filters or criteria.

• You cannot manually remove a contact from an Active list. HubSpot will re-add them if they still meet the list criteria.

Options for Managing Contacts in Active Lists:

• Edit the List Filters:
  Adjust the criteria so the contact no longer qualifies for inclusion.

  • Example: If your list filter is “Contact has submitted Form A,” and you want to exclude someone who did, you could adjust the filter to:
    Form submission is Form A AND Email is not equal to [email@example.com]

• Use “Exclude from List”:
  You can exclude specific contacts or members of another list to prevent them from appearing in the Active List even if they meet the criteria. Exclude from List allows you to prevent specific lists or records from being included in the active list's membership. This means that even if a contact meets the criteria to be added to an active list, they will be excluded if they are also a member of a list or are one of the specific records you've chosen to exclude.

Exclude a contact from list

• After selecting Exclude from list for a contact, a pop-up message will appear asking you to confirm the exclusion. When you click Add and reprocess, the list will be updated and the selected contact(s) will be removed.

• To find excluded contacts:

  • Go to the Settings tab in the list view

  • Scroll to the “Exclusions" section

  • You’ll see the list of contacts who have been excluded manually

Exclude a specific list from active list

Important: DO NOT click “Delete” from the list view. This action deletes the contact from the entire CRM, not just from the list.

Static Lists

• They do not auto-update.

• You can manually remove contacts from the list safely.

To remove a contact from a Static List:

1. Open the list.

2. Check the box next to the contact(s) you want to remove.

3. Select “Remove from static list” from the dropdown menu.

This action only removes the contact from the list. It does not delete the contact from the CRM.

Best Practices

• Always double-check the list type (Active or Static) before removing contacts.

• Use “Exclude from list” instead of “Delete” for Active Lists.

• Train all users on proper list contact management especially around avoiding the Delete option.

• For safe recovery, monitor the Recycling Bin regularly.