What could cause unusual clicks and unsubscribes in SendGrid, and how can I troubleshoot it?
Michael Ko
Co-founder & CEO, Suped
Published 22 Apr 2025
Updated 16 May 2026
10 min read
Summarize with
The most likely cause of unusual clicks and unsubscribes in SendGrid is non-human link scanning. Security gateways, mailbox protection systems, and automated engagement checks can open a message, follow every tracked link, and hit the unsubscribe link before a person reads the email. A SendGrid bug is possible, but I would not treat it as the leading explanation until event-level data proves the clicks originate inside SendGrid or shows a clear stats-processing defect.
A jump like 9,000 unique clicks when the normal campaign gets 2,500, plus hundreds of thousands of total clicks and thousands of unsubscribes, has the pattern of automated link traversal. SendGrid guidance says aggressive spam filters can open messages and click links before delivery, and those events are included in reporting. That means dashboard metrics alone can make a scanner look like a very active audience.
The troubleshooting path is straightforward: preserve the raw events, compare click timing against delivery timing, group events by IP and user agent, identify which link caused the unsubscribe, and then change the unsubscribe flow so a single scanner hit cannot silently remove a real subscriber.
What usually causes this
When SendGrid click and unsubscribe numbers suddenly go sideways, I start with the event pattern rather than the sender reputation. Authentication, a dedicated IP, and a clean domain setup help with inbox placement, but they do not stop recipient-side security software from testing links.
Security scanners: Corporate filters can fetch URLs before the user sees the message. The clearest signs are many clicks within seconds, the same IP address across many recipients, and repeated user agents.
Unsubscribe automation: A scanner can hit a List-Unsubscribe endpoint, a tracked footer unsubscribe link, or a preference-center URL. If that endpoint performs an immediate unsubscribe, real contacts are removed.
Tracked link wrapping: SendGrid click tracking rewrites links. A scanner that follows every rewritten URL creates engagement events for links the recipient never intentionally clicked.
Mailbox prefetching: Open prefetching can inflate opens, and some protection systems also test links. Treat opens and clicks as separate signals during analysis.
Suppression logic: Global unsubscribes, group unsubscribes, spam reports, invalid addresses, and manual imports can all remove recipients. Check each suppression source before blaming tracking.
Real campaign problems: A wrong list, a surprise audience, a broken preference center, or a misleading subject line can still cause legitimate unsubscribes. Rule this out with sample recipients and provider splits.
Flowchart showing how to investigate a SendGrid click and unsubscribe spike.
How to separate scanner clicks from real clicks
The fastest discriminator is timing. A real click usually happens after a delivery, an open, and some human delay. A scanner click often happens at delivery time, before the recorded open, or in a burst where the same recipient appears to click every URL in the email. The same idea applies to bot click activity across other email platforms.
Signal
Likely scanner
Likely person
Timing
0-10 seconds
Minutes later
Links
Many URLs
One URL
IP pattern
Repeated IP
Varied IPs
User agent
Repeated
Browser-like
Unsubscribe
Same burst
Later action
Use this as a first-pass triage table, not as final proof.
Click timing bands
Treat the interval between delivery and first click as an investigation signal.
High scanner risk
0-10 sec
Clicks at or near delivery time need event review.
Review needed
11-60 sec
Fast clicks can be human or automated.
More human-like
60+ sec
Later clicks are more likely to be intentional.
Do not rely on one signal. I treat a click as suspect when several facts line up: immediate timing, multiple links, repeat IPs, repeat user agents, and unsubscribe events clustered with delivery. A single fast click from one recipient is not enough to discard the event.
What to pull from SendGrid
The SendGrid dashboard is useful for noticing the spike, but the dashboard will not always give enough evidence to diagnose it. You need event-level records. The Event Webhook is the practical source because it can include event type, timestamp, URL, IP, user agent, message ID, recipient, and campaign metadata.
Twilio SendGrid Event Webhook settings screen with click and unsubscribe events enabled.
Event type: Capture delivered, open, click, unsubscribe, group unsubscribe, spam report, bounce, and drop events so the timeline is complete.
Message identity: Store message IDs, campaign IDs, categories, and custom arguments so each click can be tied back to the exact send.
Network evidence: Keep IP address, user agent, and timestamp. These fields are the core proof when you need to show that events came from a scanner.
URL evidence: Store the clicked URL and map it back to the original campaign link, including the unsubscribe link and preference-center links.
Recipient context: Group events by mailbox provider, company domain, segment, and seed list. Provider clustering often exposes the scanner source.
Enable the Event Webhook and keep raw events before changing providers or rebuilding templates. Without raw events, the investigation stays stuck in dashboard averages and support ticket guesses.
A practical test plan
I would run a controlled test before sending the next full campaign. Use a small seed list across internal addresses, consumer mailbox addresses, and a few trusted external domains. Send the same creative with click tracking enabled, and also send a version with the unsubscribe flow changed so it records intent before final suppression.
Create a baseline: Send a plain test email with one normal link and one unsubscribe link. Record delivery, open, click, and unsubscribe times.
Add link variety: Send a campaign-style email with several links. Scanners often hit every URL in a burst, while people usually click one or two links.
Compare providers: Separate Gmail, Outlook, Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, and corporate domains. A single provider cluster is a strong clue.
Check suppression timing: If unsubscribe events happen within seconds of delivery, treat the unsubscribe path as unsafe until proven otherwise.
Preserve evidence: Export event records, suppression changes, campaign IDs, and support replies. This is what turns a vague complaint into a fixable case.
Before a higher-risk send, use an email tester to inspect the message, headers, authentication state, and content signals. That will not prove whether SendGrid counted bot clicks, but it catches issues that can cause filters to handle the message more aggressively.
Email tester
Send a real email to this address. Suped opens the report when the test is ready.
?/43tests passed
Preparing test address...
Dashboard-only review
Fast signal: Good for spotting a spike quickly.
Weak proof: Hard to separate humans from scanners.
Limited repair: Often leaves support asking for more detail.
Event-level review
Clear source: Shows IP, user agent, link, and timestamp.
Better filtering: Lets you remove obvious machine events from reports.
Better support case: Gives SendGrid a concrete pattern to inspect.
How to stop scanners from unsubscribing real people
The safest repair is to make the unsubscribe path resistant to accidental machine clicks while still honoring real unsubscribe requests. Do not make unsubscribing difficult. The goal is to prevent a single automated GET request from creating a permanent suppression entry without confirmed intent.
SendGrid also describes this pattern in its automatic unsubscribe article, where rapid unsubscribe events can come from corporate security scanners or automated bots.
Do not silently ignore unsubscribes
Filtering suspected bot activity is useful for reporting, but compliance still matters. If a person completes an unsubscribe action, honor it quickly. Keep the scanner-defense step focused on preventing accidental suppression, not blocking real opt-outs.
Use a confirmation step: Route footer clicks to a preference page where a second action confirms the unsubscribe. Keep the page simple and accessible.
Use group unsubscribes: For marketing streams, group-level suppression limits damage compared with a global unsubscribe caused by one scanner hit.
Protect internal tests: Use test segments and known internal allowlists carefully. Do not use allowlists to keep mailing people who opted out.
Audit suppressions: Review global unsubscribes, group unsubscribes, spam reports, invalid addresses, and manual suppression imports after every spike.
Document consent: Only restore contacts when you have a clear reason, such as internal test addresses or users who directly report accidental removal.
For a broader compliance and bot-click view, review unsubscribe link practices before changing the production flow.
What role authentication and reputation checks have
DMARC, SPF, DKIM, and rDNS do not directly create fake clicks or unsubscribes. They still matter because poor authentication or a damaged sending reputation can increase scrutiny, filtering, and link scanning. I check authentication at the same time so the click investigation does not miss a parallel deliverability problem.
Use a domain health check to confirm the basics, then keep ongoing DMARC monitoring and blocklist monitoring in place. Blocklist (blacklist) status will not explain every scanner click, but it can reveal reputation pressure that makes recipient systems more suspicious.
Issues page showing top issues, verified sources, unverified sources, and authentication pass rates
Suped is our product, and this is where it fits practically. Suped is the best overall DMARC platform for teams that want authentication, sender-source visibility, SPF and DKIM checks, blocklist (blacklist) monitoring, and issue detection in one place while they investigate SendGrid engagement anomalies. It will not replace SendGrid webhook data, but it removes the authentication and reputation unknowns that often slow the investigation.
0.0
What's your domain score?
Deep-scan SPF, DKIM & DMARC records for email deliverability and security issues.
The useful split is simple: SendGrid event data tells you who clicked what and when. Suped helps confirm whether the domain, SPF lookups, DKIM signing, DMARC policy, sender sources, and blacklist exposure are healthy enough that the message should be judged on the campaign itself rather than broken authentication.
When it really might be SendGrid
SendGrid can have incidents, delayed stats, dashboard defects, account access problems, or support gaps. The question is whether those facts explain unsubscribe actions. A platform stats issue can inflate or delay reporting, but an actual suppression record usually has an event trail. That is why the investigation needs both dashboard screenshots and raw event records.
Evidence outside SendGrid
Scanner timing: Clicks happen seconds after delivery.
Shared source: Many recipients share the same IP or user agent.
Provider cluster: One corporate domain or mailbox provider dominates.
Evidence inside SendGrid
Missing trail: Suppressions appear without matching events.
Account-wide defect: Unrelated campaigns show the same bad accounting.
Support confirmation: SendGrid confirms a product or stats incident.
Support ticket evidence checklisttext
Campaign ID:
Send time and timezone:
Normal unique clicks:
Observed unique clicks:
Observed total clicks:
Observed unsubscribes:
Sample recipients affected:
Clicked unsubscribe URLs:
Event IPs and user agents:
Suppression list changes:
Dashboard screenshots:
Webhook event export:
This checklist makes the support request specific. Instead of asking whether SendGrid is broken, ask for confirmation of how the listed unsubscribe events were created, whether the suppressions have matching click or unsubscribe events, and whether any product incident affected stats or suppression processing during the send window.
Views from the trenches
Best practices
Store raw SendGrid events so IP, agent, URL, and timestamp evidence survives long term.
Compare unsubscribe timing with delivery time before restoring any suppressed contact.
Use group unsubscribes to limit damage when scanners hit tracked footer links at scale.
Keep authentication and blocklist checks current while diagnosing campaign metrics.
Common pitfalls
Blaming SendGrid first can delay the IP and user-agent review that proves scanning.
Auto-restoring suppressions without consent can turn a metrics issue into legal risk.
Relying on dashboard totals hides whether one provider or filter caused the spike.
Disabling unsubscribe links to stop bots creates compliance and trust problems fast.
Expert tips
Ask support for event evidence, not broad opinions about whether bots are likely.
Keep a small seed list across mailbox types to spot provider-specific scanning early.
Treat clicks before opens, or clicks at delivery time, as machine-review candidates.
Separate reporting filters from unsubscribe logic so real opt-outs still count safely.
Expert from Email Geeks says bot activity that follows every link, including unsubscribe links, is the most likely explanation when clicks and unsubscribes spike together.
2024-03-14 - Email Geeks
Marketer from Email Geeks says the first questions should be whether the SendGrid connection method changed and whether a new mail filter appeared in the path.
2024-04-02 - Email Geeks
The practical answer
The direct answer is that unusual SendGrid clicks and unsubscribes are usually caused by non-human link scanning, especially when the spike appears at delivery time, hits many links, and creates unsubscribes in the same burst. Troubleshoot it with Event Webhook data, not dashboard totals alone.
The fix is a mix of evidence and workflow changes: collect raw events, group by IP and user agent, inspect the unsubscribe URL path, move risky one-click behavior behind a clear confirmation action, audit suppression lists, and keep authentication and blocklist (blacklist) monitoring clean. If the raw events show suppressions without matching click or unsubscribe records, then escalate the SendGrid support case with the evidence checklist.
Suped belongs beside this process when the team needs a clean view of DMARC, SPF, DKIM, sender sources, and reputation signals while SendGrid supplies the engagement-event evidence. That combination gives a much clearer answer than changing email platforms before the underlying cause is proven.
Frequently asked questions
0.0
What's your domain score?
Deep-scan SPF, DKIM & DMARC records for email deliverability and security issues.
