How do I send a campaign preview?

A preview is a real email sent from one of your mailboxes. It uses your daily send budget and cannot be recalled.

Send a preview

1. Save the campaign draft.
2. Select Show preview in the page header.
3. Check the Desktop and Mobile views.
4. Select Send test email.
5. Choose a contact under Merge fields from.
6. Enter up to 5 addresses under Test recipients, or leave it empty to send to the sending mailbox.
7. If the campaign has subject variants, choose the variant.
8. Select Send preview.

The preview always uses the last saved message. Save again before testing new edits.

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The numbered dots in this screenshot

1. Switch between desktop and mobile previews.
2. Choose the contact used to render merge fields.
3. Enter the address that should receive the preview.
4. Select Send preview to send the test email.

Limits and cost

Rule	Limit
Destinations	5 addresses per preview request
Campaign previews	20 in a rolling 24-hour period
Workspace previews	50 in a rolling 24-hour period
Preview requests	20 per hour across the workspace
Send budget	1 send for each successful destination

ColdMerge refuses the whole request when the chosen mailbox’s daily budget cannot cover every destination. Suppressed addresses never receive previews.

If one address fails after earlier addresses have succeeded, the receipt names both groups. Retrying can send a second copy to an address that already received the first attempt.

Choose the contact and destination

Merge fields from chooses whose merge data appears in the message. The picker shows the first 25 contacts on the campaign’s list. Use Previous and Next member to move through the rendered preview.

Test recipients controls where the test arrives. Use your own test addresses. A preview follows the campaign’s footer and your account’s unsubscribe header. Its unsubscribe links are safe stand-ins and do not suppress a real contact.

The receipt reports where the preview went, failed destinations, and any merge tokens that rendered empty. Empty fields do not block a preview. Add a fallback before launch when a field may be missing.

If the preview is refused

Problem	What to do
No list or the list is empty	Choose a populated list and save.
No subject or message	Complete both fields and save.
No mailbox can send	Reconnect a mailbox or wait for Gmail’s hold to end.
A destination is suppressed	Use another test address. There is no override.
The account has no active plan	Send only to your verified account address or the sending mailbox itself.

Preview sending is available only from a saved draft on a computer. For a campaign that has already started, select Duplicate to a new draft and preview the copy.