# Preference center overview

The email subscription preference center lets subscribers choose which types of emails they want to receive, such as newsletters, promotions, or product updates.

Instead of unsubscribing from all emails, users can opt out of specific categories and stay subscribed to what matters most to them.

## Why you should set it up

A preference center improves the user experience and helps you meet legal requirements:

- **Better user experience.** Users choose which types of emails they receive, such as newsletters, promotions, or product updates. This reduces full opt-outs and keeps your audience more engaged.
- **Compliance with email regulations.** Several laws require that users can easily manage their communication preferences:
  - **GDPR** (EU) requires clear options to opt in or out of specific types of communication.
  - **CAN-SPAM** (U.S.) requires every commercial email to include a visible unsubscribe link.

Without these options, you may face legal penalties, and your email service provider (ESP) account may be flagged or suspended.

## Start working with the preference center

<Aside type="caution" title="Important">
Email categories apply only to campaigns created **after** the feature is enabled. Campaigns created before category setup ignore user preferences entirely.
</Aside>

<Steps>

1. **Set up categories**

   Create the email categories users can choose from, such as *Newsletter* or *Product Updates*, and decide who is subscribed automatically. When you save, the preference center turns on and the subscription pages are ready. [Learn more](/product/messaging-channels/emails/preference-center/set-up-preference-center/#set-up-categories)
2. **Add links to your emails**

   Add two links to your emails: an unsubscribe link and a link to the preference center. Users reach the subscription pages through these links. [Learn more](/product/messaging-channels/emails/preference-center/set-up-preference-center/#add-links-to-your-emails)
3. **Choose a category for each campaign**

   Choose a category for every marketing email. Only users subscribed to this category receive the email. [Learn more](/product/messaging-channels/emails/preference-center/set-up-preference-center/#select-a-subscription-category-in-your-campaigns)
4. **Check what users see**

   Check the subscription pages users land on after a click. They are ready-made and work by default, and you can customize them later. [Learn more](/product/messaging-channels/emails/preference-center/set-up-preference-center/#what-happens-when-users-click-your-links)

</Steps>

## Manage categories

Add, rename, and delete categories, or turn the preference center off and on.

<LinkCard title="Learn more about managing categories" href="/product/messaging-channels/emails/preference-center/set-up-preference-center/#manage-the-preference-center" />

## Manage unsubscribes

Choose the steps users go through after they click the unsubscribe link, and collect the reasons for leaving.

<LinkCard title="Learn more about managing unsubscribes" href="/product/messaging-channels/emails/preference-center/unsubscribe-flow/" />

## Customize subscription pages

Change the text, design, and buttons of the pages users see when they unsubscribe or manage preferences.

<LinkCard title="Learn more about customizing subscription pages" href="/product/messaging-channels/emails/preference-center/customize-subscription-pages/" />

## How the preference center works

Pushwoosh stores each user's category subscriptions in a tag and uses them to decide who receives which email.

### Categories and subscriptions

Pushwoosh tracks category subscriptions using the **`Subscribed Email Categories`** tag. This tag stores the list of categories each subscriber is currently subscribed to.

Delivery logic:

- If a category name is in the list, the subscriber receives emails for that category.
- If a category name is not in the list, the subscriber does not receive emails for that category.
- You can populate this tag automatically when [adding a category](/product/messaging-channels/emails/preference-center/set-up-preference-center/#add-a-category) or by [importing subscription categories via CSV](/product/messaging-channels/emails/preference-center/set-up-preference-center/#import-subscription-categories-via-csv).

<Aside type="caution" title="Deprecated tag">
The previously used **`Unsubscribed Email Categories`** tag is deprecated and will be supported only until **May 31, 2026**. Use **`Subscribed Email Categories`** for all new setups and updates.
</Aside>

### How categories apply to campaigns

Once the preference center is set up, every marketing campaign you send (via Journey or One‑Time Message) will prompt you to assign a category before sending. [Learn more](/product/messaging-channels/emails/sending-emails/send-one-time-emails/#select-subscription-category)

This ensures emails are only delivered to subscribers who are subscribed to that content type.

### Handling transactional messages

Transactional messages are a separate message type designed for critical, non-promotional communication. Unlike marketing emails, transactional messages bypass all delivery restrictions to ensure they reach the user.

When creating an email campaign in Pushwoosh, you must choose between two message types: marketing and transactional. [Learn more about message types and delivery rules](/product/messaging-channels/marketing-vs-transactional/).

### Full opt-out with the Unsubscribed Emails tag

For a complete opt-out from all marketing emails, Pushwoosh sets the [**Unsubscribed Emails**](/product/audience-data-and-segmentation/user-data-tags/tags/#default-tags) tag to `true`. This happens when a subscriber:

**With the preference center enabled:**
* Clicks **Unsubscribe from all** in the preference center.

**Without the preference center:**
* Clicks the unsubscribe link in any email and, if the **Confirmation** step is on, confirms. This opts them out of all marketing emails.

In both cases, unsubscribing via the email client using the [List-Unsubscribe header](/product/messaging-channels/emails/email-deliverability/#list-unsubscribe-header-support) (for example, the native unsubscribe button in Gmail or Apple Mail) also sets the tag to `true`.

[Transactional emails](/product/messaging-channels/marketing-vs-transactional/) are not affected by this tag and are always delivered.

### Events and segments

Every subscribe, unsubscribe, and resubscribe action also fires the [**PW_EmailSubscribed**](/product/audience-data-and-segmentation/events/default-events/#pw_emailsubscribed) or [**PW_EmailUnsubscribed**](/product/audience-data-and-segmentation/events/default-events/#pw_emailunsubscribed) event, so you can trigger follow-up automation based on category-level opt-ins and opt-outs.

#### Segment by category

To target users by a specific email category:

1. In segment builder, click **Event** in **Add filter by**, then select **PW_EmailSubscribed** or **PW_EmailUnsubscribed**.
2. Click **+ Attribute** and select **categories**.
3. Choose an operator. See [event attribute operators by type](/product/audience-data-and-segmentation/segmentation/create-segments/by-events/#event-attribute-operators-by-type).
4. Pick a category from the value dropdown. It lists your actual email categories instead of raw recorded values.

## FAQ

Answers to common questions about categories, transactional emails, unsubscribe links, and the survey.

<LinkCard title="Read the preference center FAQ" href="/product/messaging-channels/emails/preference-center/preference-center-faq/" />