# Preference center: let people choose what they get

A preference center lets subscribers choose which emails they get instead of unsubscribing from everything. How it works, the rules, and how Mimeo does it.

**Definition:** A preference center is a page where subscribers choose which kinds of email they get, such as the weekly digest but not promotions, instead of unsubscribing from everything.

## How it works

The page is usually linked from the email footer, next to or behind the unsubscribe link. It shows a few choices, each mapped to something the sender's audiences already use: a list, a tag or a field. Turning off "Promotions" removes the person from promotional sends and leaves the newsletter alone.

The rules set the edges:

- **Stop-all stays.** US law lets you offer a menu of message types, as long as it includes the option to stop all marketing email.
- **One-click unsubscribe still comes first.** Google says list-by-list choices can be offered but shouldn't replace one-click unsubscribe. Yahoo allows the visible unsubscribe link to lead to a preference page.

## Why it matters

- **Some people want less, not none.** A choice keeps a reader who would otherwise leave.
- **It only works if sending respects it.** A preference that doesn't change who gets which email breaks a promise in front of the reader.
- **It's data.** What people turn off tells you which emails they value.

## How Mimeo handles it

Mimeo's own unsubscribe page can carry a second tab, **Manage my subscriptions**, turned on under **Settings → General → Unsubscribe Flows** ([subscription preferences](https://mimeohq.com/docs/usage/domains-and-senders#subscription-preferences)). **Unsubscribe from everything** stays as its own tab. Each toggle has a label, an **On when** condition on tags or custom fields, and actions for turning on and off: add or remove a tag, set or clear a field.

Preferences never suppress anyone. They change tags and fields, so you wire each one into your sending rules: a [segment](https://mimeohq.com/docs/usage/segments) for the audience, and a send-time [guard](https://mimeohq.com/docs/usage/guards) for mail already queued. Mimeo doesn't add those for you. The one-click unsubscribe from the inbox is always global.

To build a preference page of your own, your backend sends an event with `tags` and `remove_tags` to change preferences without unsubscribing the person ([selective preferences](https://mimeohq.com/docs/api/events#selective-preferences)). See [Mimeo terms](https://mimeohq.com/docs/glossary#sending--deliverability) for unsubscribes in Mimeo's own words.

## Sources

1. [CAN-SPAM Act: a compliance guide for business](https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/can-spam-act-compliance-guide-business), checked 2026-11-09
2. [Sender best practices](https://senders.yahooinc.com/best-practices/), checked 2026-11-09
3. [Email sender guidelines](https://support.google.com/a/answer/81126), checked 2026-11-09
4. [Sending domains & senders](https://mimeohq.com/docs/usage/domains-and-senders), checked 2026-11-09
5. [The event contract](https://mimeohq.com/docs/api/events), checked 2026-11-09

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This is the Markdown copy of https://mimeohq.com/glossary/preference-center.