Amazon Simple Email Service (SES) is the AWS-native email API, popular with large-volume senders, cost-conscious teams, and applications already running on AWS infrastructure. SES does not inject an unsubscribe link automatically; you construct the URL in your application and pass it in the message body. To satisfy Gmail one-click, either use the built-in Subscription Management feature (which hosts the unsubscribe page and adds RFC 8058 headers) or add the List-Unsubscribe and List-Unsubscribe-Post headers manually via the SendEmail API. Suppression is managed at account, configuration set, or global level via the SES suppression list feature.
Amazon Ses unsubscribe link
| Tag syntax | {{amazonSESUnsubscribeUrl}} |
| Placement | Manual placement or via Subscription Management feature |
| Scope | Account or configuration set level suppression |
| Config path | SES Console > Suppression list |
| RFC 8058 one-click | Manual header injection, or auto with Subscription Management feature |
How to add the unsubscribe tag in Amazon Ses
Place the merge tag exactly as shown below in the email template. Amazon Ses replaces it at send time with a signed URL scoped to the recipient and campaign.
{{amazonSESUnsubscribeUrl}}For custom HTML templates, wrap the tag in an anchor to render a proper hyperlink in the delivered email:
<a href="{{amazonSESUnsubscribeUrl}}">Unsubscribe from this list</a>Manual placement or via Subscription Management feature
Manual header injection, or auto with Subscription Management feature The recipient's mailbox provider (Gmail, Yahoo) uses the List-Unsubscribe-Post header to expose the native one-click button on the message. Requires domain authentication with DKIM and DMARC.
SES does not add List-Unsubscribe headers automatically for the standard SendEmail API. Enable Subscription Management (SES v2 API) to get automatic headers and hosted opt-out pages, or inject the headers manually in the send request. Gmail one-click compliance requires the manual path only if you skip Subscription Management.
Testing your Amazon Ses unsubscribe link
- Send a test message to a controlled Gmail address you own via the Amazon Ses campaign preview action
- Click the footer unsubscribe link and confirm the opt-out on the landing page
- Check the subscriber or contact record: the status should be Unsubscribed within seconds
- Verify the RFC 8058 headers in Gmail: open the message, click three dots, then Show original. Look for
List-UnsubscribeandList-Unsubscribe-Post: List-Unsubscribe=One-Click
Want the full 222-platform reference?
See the pillar guide with the compliance landscape, the RFC 8058 deep dive, and the unsubscribe tag for every ESP: How to add an unsubscribe link: the complete 2026 guide →
Amazon SES unsubscribe mechanism
Amazon SES does not inject an unsubscribe link automatically. As a developer-first email API, SES delegates unsubscribe handling to the sender: the application constructs the unsubscribe URL, includes it in the message body, and processes the opt-out request when the recipient clicks. SES provides two supporting features (Subscription Management for marketing sends, and List-Unsubscribe header injection for the RFC 8058 flow) but the primary rendering and processing is the sender responsibility.
Subscription Management
SES Subscription Management, released in late 2019, provides a hosted preference page and manages topic subscriptions for a contact list. Senders create topics within a Contact List, enable Subscription Management on a Configuration Set, and use the SES-provided unsubscribe URL template. This integrates with the SES suppression list so users who opt out are automatically prevented from receiving further messages under the same configuration. Suitable for marketing sends; overkill for pure transactional flows.
One-click headers via the SES API
For RFC 8058 one-click headers, senders add the List-Unsubscribe and List-Unsubscribe-Post headers to each message through the SendRawEmail API or the SendEmail v2 API with header parameters. The URL in List-Unsubscribe must point to a sender-hosted endpoint that accepts HTTP POST and processes the opt-out. Google and Yahoo bulk-sender requirements from February 2024 mandate these headers on any account sending 5,000 or more messages per day to their services; SES accounts sending at that scale must implement them.
Suppression list integration
SES maintains an account-level suppression list that automatically includes any address that hard-bounces or files a complaint. Senders can add unsubscribes to this list programmatically through the PutSuppressedDestination API, which is the recommended approach for enforcing opt-outs. Once suppressed, SES rejects any SendEmail call attempting to reach that address, providing a hard technical barrier against accidental sends to opted-out contacts. This is why disciplined SES usage requires integrating the unsubscribe endpoint with the suppression list, not just recording the opt-out in a separate database.
About the Author
Alaa · LinkedIn
Email infrastructure specialist with 8+ years of hands-on experience in SMTP, deliverability, and email verification. I’ve configured and troubleshot mail systems across Postfix, Exchange, and cloud relays, managed IP reputation and warmup campaigns, and built verification pipelines processing millions of addresses. My work spans DNS authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC, BIMI), bounce handling, blocklist monitoring, and compliance frameworks including CAN-SPAM and GDPR. I write every article on SMTPedia to give email professionals, developers, and marketers the accurate, RFC-grounded reference they need.
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