---
title: "Auto-pause a campaign when delivery degrades | FirstSales"
description: "Set bounce and spam-complaint thresholds so a campaign pauses itself before a bad sender reputation spreads — your deliverability safety net."
canonical: "https://firstsales.io/tutorial/delivery-protection-autopause/"
---

[Home](/)/[Tutorials](/tutorial/)/Auto-pause a campaign when delivery degrades

Deliverability

# Auto-pause a campaign when delivery degrades

Set bounce and spam-complaint thresholds so a campaign pauses itself before a bad sender reputation spreads — your deliverability safety net.

7 min read·Advanced·7 steps

1. 1  
## Open the campaign → Settings tab  
In your campaign, open the **Settings** tab and scroll to **Auto-pause when delivery health degrades**.
2. 2  
## Turn on auto-pause  
It's **off by default** — flip the toggle on to arm the safety net and unlock the threshold fields.  
![Turn on auto-pause](/tutorials/autopause-01-toggle.webp)
3. 3  
## Set the bounce rate threshold  
Default **5%** (range 1–20, step 0.5). If the campaign's bounce rate climbs past this, it pauses itself. Keep it at or below 5% unless you have a specific reason not to.  
![Set the bounce rate threshold](/tutorials/autopause-02-thresholds.webp)
4. 4  
## Set the spam complaint threshold  
Default **0.1%** (range 0.01–1, step 0.01). Complaints above this pause the campaign. 0.1% is the widely-cited industry danger line — don't raise it casually.
5. 5  
## Understand what “pause” means  
When a threshold trips, sending stops so you can investigate — your reputation stops bleeding before it hits a blocklist.
6. 6  
## Save and launch  
Save settings; the protection runs for the life of the campaign. If it ever auto-pauses, check the campaign — a trip means list quality or targeting needs a look, not just a resume.
7. 7  
## Apply it to every real campaign  
Because it's off by default, set it deliberately on each campaign — especially on new domains and cold lists.

## Pro tips

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

1

### Turn it on for every cold campaign

It's off by default, so an un-armed campaign has no brakes. The defaults (5% bounce / 0.1% spam) are sane — arming it is the important part.

2

### Don't raise the spam threshold to dodge a pause

0.1% is where mailbox providers start punishing you. If you're tripping it, fix the list, not the number.

3

### A pause is a diagnosis, not an annoyance

Auto-pause fires because something's wrong upstream — bad data, wrong audience, weak warm-up. Investigate before resuming.

4

### Pair it with verification and warm-up

Auto-pause is the last line; verified contacts (fewer bounces) and warmed mailboxes keep you from ever hitting the thresholds.

## Frequently asked questions

What does Delivery Protection do?

It auto-pauses a campaign when its bounce rate or spam-complaint rate exceeds a threshold you set, protecting your sender reputation.

Is it on by default?

No — it's **off** by default. Turn it on per campaign in the **Settings** tab.

What are the default thresholds?

Bounce **5%** (range 1–20), spam complaints **0.1%** (range 0.01–1).

Why those defaults?

They match widely-cited danger lines: bounce rates over \~5% and complaint rates over 0.1% are where mailbox providers start throttling or blocking senders.

What happens when a threshold is exceeded?

The campaign pauses sending so you can investigate before your reputation degrades further.

Is this per campaign or per mailbox?

Per **campaign**. Per-mailbox daily limits are a separate setting on the connector.

My campaign auto-paused — what should I do?

Review list quality, targeting, and warm-up before resuming; a trip usually means an upstream problem.

Can I make the thresholds stricter?

Yes — lower the bounce threshold (down to 1%) or the spam threshold (down to 0.01%) for extra caution on fragile domains.

## Ready to put this into practice?

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