The lists tool in HubSpot allows you to create a list of contacts or companies based on property values and other characteristics, including activities. This article includes instructions for creating and editing lists from the lists tool. To set up your list criteria and add records to existing lists, learn how to determine criteria or manually add records to static lists.
Other HubSpot tools rely on lists to make changes to a specific group of contacts. Some uses of lists in HubSpot include:
The above uses are currently not available for company lists. However, you can still create a list to analyze the contacts or companies that fit a certain criteria.
Types of lists
There are two types of lists in your HubSpot account: active lists and static lists.
Active lists
Active lists automatically update their members based on its criteria. Records will join the list when they meet the criteria and leave the list when they no longer meet the criteria.
Examples of when active lists should be used include:
- Sending unique marketing emails based on each contact's behavior and properties. If you send out a regular newsletter, an active list automatically manages the continually changing list of subscribers.
- Placing outbound calls to contacts based on behavior and property values.
- Grouping your contacts by lifecycle stage to continually identify behavior and properties for contacts in each stage.
- Segmenting records based on properties that change frequently over time, such as HubSpot score.
Static lists
Static lists include records who meet a set criteria at the point when the list is saved. Static lists do not update automatically, so new records who meet the criteria will not be added to the list. Records can be manually added and removed from static lists.
Examples of when static lists should be used include:
- Manually adding records to a workflow.
- Sending one-time email blasts, email campaigns that you don't run often, and for a list of contacts that doesn't change (e.g., event attendees, staff lists for an internal newsletter, or lists from a trade show).
- Manually grouping records that may not have a shared list criteria.
- Segmenting to bulk delete records from your account.
Create a list
- In your HubSpot account, navigate to Contacts > Lists.
- In the upper right, click Create list.
- In the left panel, select Contact-based to create a list of contacts, or Company-based to create a list of companies.
- In the right panel, enter a name for the list and select if you want an Active list or a Static list.
- In the upper right, click Next.
- In the left panel, set the criteria for the contacts or companies you want to segment. Learn the list criteria available to you and how they work. You can select up to 250 filters per list.
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- Select Add filter.
- Scroll or type to search, then select a filter category.
- Within the category, scroll or type to search, then select the property or activity to filter by.
- For associated object filters, by default, the list includes records when any associated records meet the criteria. To base the criteria on a primary company association or a custom association label instead, click the Any [object] dropdown menu:
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- Select Any [object] to filter based on all associated records of that object type (e.g., the list would include a contact when any of their associated companies meet the criteria).
- If you're creating a contact-based list, select Primary [object] to filter based on only the primary associated company (e.g., the list would include a contact only if the primary associated company meets the criteria).
- In the With label section (Professional and Enterprise only), select a label to filter based on only associations that use the selected label (e.g., the list would include a contact only if they have an associated company with that label and that company meets the criteria).
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- Select an option for the property or activity, then set your criteria based on the field type:
- Dropdown select or checkbox: click the dropdown menu and select the checkboxes to the left of the values.
- Text: click the Add options field and type to enter a text value. If you’re adding multiple options, separate each value with a semicolon (e.g. Boston; Chicago; New York).
- Please note: for most text criteria in list filters, the use of a wildcard (*) is not supported. The only case when a wildcard (*) will work is if using the Page views criteria Contact has (not) visited URL that matches regular expression.
- Numerical: click the Add values field and type to enter a number value. If you’re adding multiple options, separate each value with a semicolon (e.g. 10; 25; 30). This applies to Number, Score, and Calculation properties.
- Date picker: click the date calendar field, then in the calendar, select a date.
To add additional filters, click Add filter. Additional filters within the same filter group will follow AND logic. A record must meet the criteria of all filters within the group in order to be included in the list.
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- To remove a piece of criteria, click the delete Delete icon on the right.
- To finish editing a filter group, click the X at the top right of the editor.
- To add another filter group, in the left panel, click Add filter group. Between filter groups, OR logic applies. A record must meet the criteria of at least one of the filter groups in order to be included in the list.
- To remove a piece of criteria from an existing filter group, hover over the property, activity, or value, and click the delete Delete icon. If you're deleting a category that includes multiple filters, in the pop-up box, click Delete branch to confirm.
- To clone or delete a filter group, on the top right of the group, click the Actions dropdown menu, then select Clone or Delete.
- To test if an existing record meets the filters, in the left panel, click Test. In the dropdown menu, select a record to test.
- In the upper right, click Save list.
This list will begin processing once you've entered or selected valid criteria. The set of records that appear is a preview of the records that will be added to your list. When the list is saved and fully processed, the exact count of records will be visible under the list's name in the upper left. Once the list has finished processing, you can continue editing your list.
View and edit a list
- In your HubSpot account, navigate to Contacts > Lists.
- In the table, click the list you want to view or edit. To view or edit lists that are not currently used by other HubSpot tools, click the Unused lists tab.
- To search for a specific record in your list, use the search bar in the upper right.
- To edit the filters of an active list, in the left panel, click Edit, then adjust your filters and criteria, To save your changes, in the top right, click Save changes.
- In the upper right, click the Actions dropdown menu to perform more actions with your list:
- Edit columns: select the contact properties to display for each contact in the table.
- Export/Export list: download a copy of the list.
- Move to folder: select a list folder to move the list to.
- Clone: clone the list.
- Delete list: delete the list. You can only delete lists that aren't actively being used elsewhere in HubSpot. Records in the list will not be deleted. If you delete a static list, the list will be permanently deleted. If you delete an active list, the list can be restored within 90 days from the recently deleted tab.
- Create a report: build a custom report based on your contact lists.
- View list performance: analyze your list's metrics, such as the list's size over time, and the breakdown, engagement, and activity of the list's contacts. This only applies to contact lists.
- Resync list with Salesforce (Professional and Enterprise only): trigger a resync of the list with Salesforce if you're using the Salesforce integration for contacts.
- Use this list to limit Salesforce Sync (Professional and Enterprise only): specify the list as an inclusion list for contacts that will sync to Salesforce, if you're using the Salesforce integration. Learn more about Salesforce inclusion lists for contacts.
Please note: if you delete a static list, the list will be permanently deleted. If you delete an active list, the list can be restored within 90 days from the Recently deleted tab.
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- In your HubSpot account, navigate to Contacts > Lists.
- To view only lists that haven't been used or updated in the last two months, click the Unused lists tab. You can also continue with your deletion in the Lists library tab.
- To delete a single list, hover over a list and click the More dropdown menu, then select Delete list.
- To bulk delete lists, select the checkboxes next to the lists you want to delete and click Delete at the top of the table.
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- In the dialog box, click Restore to confirm.