The opt-out and the blacklist are both lists of phone numbers the portal must not send to. They differ in reach — in which messages they stop.

## How the two lists differ

- The **[blacklist](https://www.bulkgate.com/en/helpdesk/campaign/blacklist/)** stops **all** messages — promotional and transactional alike.
- The **[opt-out](https://www.bulkgate.com/en/helpdesk/campaign/opt-out/)** stops **promotional messages only**. Transactional messages still reach such a number, because the recipient unsubscribed from advertising, not from order confirmations.

How the promotional and the transactional route differ otherwise is described in [Promotional vs. transactional messages](https://www.bulkgate.com/en/helpdesk/general-information/difference-promotional-transactional-sms/).

## Where to find the lists

You will find both lists in the portal under **Address book** as the *Blacklist* and *Opt-out* items. They are two kinds of record in a single list, so you can move a record between them at any time — from the opt-out to the blacklist and back.

## How a number gets onto the list

A number gets onto the list:

- manually from the portal,
- by importing a list of numbers,
- through the API,
- from a campaign, when the recipient uses the web opt-out or replies to the SMS opt-out,
- automatically on an incoming unsubscribe message — the portal adds the number to the opt-out and replies with an unsubscribe confirmation.

> [!IMPORTANT]
> A record applies to the whole account, not to a single channel. The record does remember which channel the unsubscribe came from (and you can filter the list by it), but an unsubscribe over SMS stops promotional messages on Viber, RCS and WhatsApp as well.

> [!NOTE]
> A message to a listed number is not sent at all. In the recipient overview it gets the *Blacklisted* status and you are not charged for it — even though the final step of the campaign counted it among the valid recipients.