---
title: "Auto-pause unengaged contacts | FirstSales"
description: "Automatically pause a contact's sequence after a set number of emails with no opens, clicks, or replies — so you stop spending sends on cold contacts."
canonical: "https://firstsales.io/tutorial/auto-pause-unengaged/"
---

[Home](/)/[Tutorials](/tutorial/)/Auto-pause unengaged contacts

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# Auto-pause unengaged contacts

Automatically pause a contact's sequence after a set number of emails with no opens, clicks, or replies — so you stop spending sends on cold contacts.

5 min read·Intermediate·6 steps

1. 1  
## Open campaign Settings  
In the campaign builder, go to the **Settings** tab and find the **Contact Engagement** section.
2. 2  
## Enable auto-pause  
Tick **Auto-pause unengaged contacts**.
3. 3  
## Set the threshold  
In **Unengaged emails before pause**, enter how many consecutive cold emails to allow before pausing (minimum 1; the field defaults to 3 if left blank).  
![Set the threshold](/tutorials/autopause-02-threshold.webp)
4. 4  
## Understand 'unengaged'  
A contact is considered cold once they've had N **consecutive** emails with no opens, clicks, or replies.
5. 5  
## Know it needs manual resume  
“Paused contacts stay paused until manually resumed.” They don't restart on their own.
6. 6  
## Track paused contacts  
Paused contacts still read as **Active** on their Inbox row, but the conversation shows a **Paused** journey card.

## Pro tips

Hard-won shortcuts that keep warm-up on track.

1

### Match the threshold to your sequence length

Pausing after 3 cold emails on a 5-step sequence saves the last two sends on contacts who'll never engage.

2

### Not the same as delivery-protection auto-pause

This is engagement-based auto-pause, separate from the setting that watches bounce/spam rates — you can run both.

3

### Manual resume is intentional

It forces a human decision on whether a cold contact is worth re-approaching, rather than silently retrying forever.

4

### A rising pause count is a list-quality signal

Growing cold segments usually need better targeting or cleaning — not more emails.

## Frequently asked questions

Where is auto-pause?

Campaign **Settings → Contact Engagement**, the “Auto-pause unengaged contacts” checkbox.

What counts as unengaged?

**N consecutive** emails with no opens, clicks, or replies — you set N.

What's the minimum threshold?

1\. The field defaults to **3** if left blank.

Do paused contacts resume automatically?

No — they stay paused until you manually resume them.

Is this the same as delivery-protection auto-pause?

No. This pauses individual cold contacts based on engagement; delivery protection pauses on bounce/spam-rate thresholds.

Where do I see paused contacts?

In the Inbox they still show as Active, but the conversation shows a **Paused** journey card.

## Ready to put this into practice?

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