---
title: "Double opt-in and the confirmation email"
description: Ask new subscribers to confirm by email, write the confirmation message, set what happens after they confirm, and email people who are still pending.
url: "https://hiveplugins.com/docs/hive-mail-double-opt-in/"
updated: "2026-10-28"
category: Hive Mail
---

# Double opt-in and the confirmation email

With double opt-in, a new subscriber must press a button in an email to confirm the address is theirs. Until then they stay Pending and get no campaigns. Hive Mail must be able to send email with a valid From address: see [Is my site ready to send email?](/docs/hive-mail-is-my-site-ready-to-send/).

## Set the defaults

Go to **Settings** > **Compliance**, card **Double opt-in**.

| Setting | What it does | Default |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Ask new subscribers to confirm by email** | The default for forms and automations that do not decide for themselves. A signup form can choose its own answer. | On |
| **The confirmation link works for (days)** | After this many days since the latest confirmation email, the link offers a new email instead. | 30 (1 to 365) |
| **Remove people who never confirmed after (days)** | A daily job moves Pending contacts who were asked and did not confirm to the trash (restorable for 30 days). People nobody asked yet are never touched. | 0 = keep everyone (or 7 to 365) |

Press **Save changes**.

## Write the confirmation email

1. In the card **Confirmation email**, edit the **Subject** (default "Please confirm your subscription to {{site_name}}"; merge tags such as `{{site_name}}`, `{{business_name}}` and `{{first_name|there}}` work), the optional **Preview text**, and the plain-text **Message**. A blank line starts a new paragraph.
2. Press **Insert the button** to put `{{confirm_button}}` at your cursor. If you remove it, Hive Mail adds it at the end when you save.
3. Check the live preview (a sample person, Jane Smith). To send a real test, type an address in **Send a test to** and press **Send a test**. The test's button only opens your home page.
4. Press **Save changes**.

![The Confirmation email card with the subject, the message, the Insert the button link and the live preview.](https://hiveplugins.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/hivemail-compliance-confirmation-email-01.webp)

The email has a **Confirm my subscription** button and a closing line telling anyone who did not ask to ignore it. It has no footer, because it goes to people who are not subscribed yet.

## Choose what happens after they confirm

In the card **After confirming**, pick **Then**:

| Setting | What it does | Default |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Show a message** | Shows a **Heading** and **Message** on the page. | "Subscription confirmed" / "Thank you. You are subscribed." |
| **Go to another page** | Sends the person to **Go to this address** (full http or https address). | Empty (shows the message) |

The page texts accept `{{site_name}}`, `{{business_name}}` and `{{current_year}}`.

## Ask Pending contacts to confirm

An import or a hand-made Pending contact is not emailed automatically.

- **One person:** open their profile and press **Send confirmation email**.
- **Everyone:** in **Settings** > **Compliance**, use **Send confirmation to pending contacts**. Choose **Who** (every pending contact, or the pending members of one list), press the button and confirm **Send confirmation emails?**. Save other changes first; the button is off while the screen has unsaved changes.

The result reads "N confirmation emails queued, M contacts skipped." No email goes to suppressed addresses, to contacts who are not Pending or Transactional, or if one was sent in the last 5 minutes.

![The Send confirmation to pending contacts card with the Who choice and the button.](https://hiveplugins.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/hivemail-compliance-pending-card-02.webp)

## What the person sees

The link opens **Confirm your subscription** with a **Confirm my subscription** button. Opening the link changes nothing, so mail scanners cannot confirm anyone. Pressing the button sets the contact to Subscribed, saves the time and the source `double_optin` as proof, and adds them to the list named in the email (a signup form's first list). The timeline says "Confirmed their subscription by email". For a signup form, it also adds the form's other lists and tags and counts under **Confirmed**.

Other pages: "You are already confirmed"; "This link has expired" with **Send me a new email**; "We could not confirm you"; "This link does not work".

![The public page with the Confirm my subscription button.](https://hiveplugins.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/hivemail-public-confirm-page-03.webp)

> **Warning:** A Pending contact who never confirms is never sent your campaigns. That is what protects you. A person who unsubscribed can only be confirmed again if they join through a signup form afterwards; an old link never reverses an unsubscribe.

This is information, not legal advice.

Next: [The confirmation email does not arrive](/docs/hive-mail-confirmation-email-does-not-arrive/), [Settings: Compliance](/docs/hive-mail-settings-compliance/), [Contact statuses](/docs/hive-mail-contact-statuses/).