Products · Pattern or everyday thing
Unsubscribe flows
Raised as a usability problem by 60 people on Hacker News over 17 years (2010–2026), in 43 threads.
No issue was raised by at least 3 people in 3 threads this year.
Every issue, all time, most people first
Unsubscribing requires forced login or users can't find howUnreviewed
20102026- Unsubscribe link only removes one of many channels, so users report spam instead2026-04-12
- One-click unsubscribe only stops one of 16 email categories, forcing more opt-outs2025-12-18
- Unsubscribing is sometimes made intentionally difficult, such as requiring a login2025-05-28
Long wait and repeated confirmations before unsubscribingUnreviewed
20102026- Unsubscribing asks confusing questions instead of unsubscribing immediately2022-06-21
- Long wait and repeated confirmations required before unsubscribing2022-01-03
- Unsubscribe flows are unintelligible and waste time avoiding recurring charges2020-09-08
Unreviewed issues were grouped by machine: Claude Haiku labelled each comment as a usability complaint, named what it's about and summed up the problem in a line, and a small model grouped similar problems. Nobody has checked them by hand. Expect mistakes.
The newest 50 complaints
- Unsubscribe button hidden behind many screens in tiny font2026-07-14
- Unsubscribe link only removes one of many channels, so users report spam instead2026-04-12
- One-click unsubscribe only stops one of 16 email categories, forcing more opt-outs2025-12-18
- Unsubscribing is sometimes made intentionally difficult, such as requiring a login2025-05-28
- Unsubscribe link demands login to an account the person never created2025-04-10
- Unsubscribe links are tiny, faint, buried at the bottom, or broken and do nothing2024-10-16
- Unsubscribe link is tiny, buried at the bottom, and often hard to spot2024-10-16
- Still receives emails after unsubscribing, via 'terms have been altered' notices2024-08-12
- Unsubscribe buttons break and ad blockers block the marketing page they load2024-08-12
- Spends minutes trying to figure out how to cancel a subscription2024-08-12
- Cancelling subscriptions is awful, with obstacles and retention tactics blocking exit2024-07-19
- Unsubscribe button layouts prevent automatic unsubscribe tools from working, forcing manual unsubscribing2024-01-29
- One-click unsubscribe only stops one topic; other emails keep coming unless you log in and change settings2024-01-10
- Unsubscribe links route through tracking domains blocked by DNS, so unsubscribing fails2023-11-02
- Unsubscribing takes multiple clicks and re-entering email address, unlike one-click in US emails2023-10-31
- Unsubscribe pages requiring login, email retyping, or complicated preference lists are frustrating2023-10-30
- Opt-in confirmation interfaces are obscure and hard to use, blaming the user for mistakes2023-08-19
- Unsubscribe leads to confusing checkboxes instead of immediately removing the sender2023-03-06
- Unsubscribing asks confusing questions instead of unsubscribing immediately2022-06-21
- Clicking unsubscribe is ignored and marketing emails resume a month later2022-03-29
- Unsubscribing from unwanted mailing lists is impossible, and optout links use dark patterns that are hard to find2022-02-05
- Long wait and repeated confirmations required before unsubscribing2022-01-03
- Unsubscribe link blocked by ad blocker, forcing manual temporary allowance2021-06-09
- Forced to create an account just to unsubscribe from emails2020-11-07
- Unsubscribe requires multiple steps and survey questions instead of one click2020-11-07
- Unsubscribe links use dark patterns that frustrate people into giving up2020-11-07
- Unsubscribe flows are unintelligible and waste time avoiding recurring charges2020-09-08
- Unsubscribe link hidden below a large blank space in emails2020-07-02
- Unsubscribe link is hard to find and the web page it leads to is confusing2020-06-15
- "Unsubscribe from all" is sometimes ignored, so marketing emails keep arriving2020-05-29
- Unsubscribe requires logging in or entering info, or doesn't work on mobile2020-05-29
- Unsubscribing from promotional mail could be made deliberately difficult to navigate or complete2020-04-13
- Must unsubscribe individually from hundreds of sites after spam attack, many without unsubscribe laws2018-10-29
- Unsubscribe links often don't work, so unwanted trial marketing keeps arriving2018-07-15
- Follow-up confirmation screen after unsubscribing feels like a retention tactic pushing people to stay2018-05-01
- Unsubscribing takes a page load and an extra confirmation click2018-04-11
- Unsubscribe link leads to login page, forcing account creation just to opt out2018-03-26
- Unsubscribing requires logging into an account the user never created2017-04-20
- Unsubscribe page shows the email address with the plus sign turned into a space2017-03-26
- Unsubscribe link only removes the first category, with no indication, so spam continues2016-12-06
- Unsubscribe link is hidden in light grey, hard to find and read2016-12-06
- Unsubscribing forces sign-in and acceptance of new terms, blocking opt-out2016-05-14
- Unsubscribe requires retyping email, many checkboxes, delayed or non-working effects2015-10-28
- Clicking unsubscribe still results in more unwanted emails2014-10-09
- Unsubscribe link is small, buried in fine print, and often only removes one list2014-02-23
- Can't unsubscribe because the account belongs to someone else and password reset is impossible2013-11-10
- Forced to log in just to unsubscribe from emails2013-11-10
- Must sign in to a service never signed up for just to stop emails2013-11-10
- Unsubscribing requires login, typed confirmations, or hunting through small print2013-11-10
- Requires logging in to unsubscribe, which can be impossible without an existing account2013-11-10