Does deleting unengaged contacts fix reputation instantly?

Deleting unengaged contacts is necessary but not instantly effective:

Stops ongoing damage by preventing further negative signals from recipients who ignore or report your mail.

Does not erase history. Providers remember past behavior. The damage from previous sends remains in their models.

Rebuilding takes time. Positive signals from your now-engaged audience must accumulate over weeks or months to demonstrate genuine improvement.

Quality matters. Simply shrinking your list helps only if the remaining recipients actually engage. A smaller disengaged list still sends negative signals.

Think of list cleaning as stopping the bleeding. Healing the wound requires continued healthy behavior over time.

Cleaning your list is like stopping the leak. The ship no longer takes on water, but you must still pump out what flooded in and repair the damage before sailing normally.