> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.cymbal.co/help/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.cymbal.co/help/email/troubleshooting/total-contacts-have-decreased.md).

# Total contacts have decreased

A common concern is seeing your total recipient count drop after sending a few email blasts.

* The main reason for this is that contacts may have recently moved into the 1-star category. The 1-star category typically has 0 contacts when you first onboard to Cymbal. However, as Cymbal collects data on your audience’s open and click rates, you may notice some contacts shift into the 1-star category.

By default, Cymbal excludes 1-star contacts from campaigns.

To test this, go to the recipient targeting modal and remove the 1-star exclusion. Once you remove that exclusion, you should see your contact count increase again.

<mark style="color:$warning;">Disclaimer: We don’t recommend sending to 1-star contacts, as it can harm your domain reputation and cause your emails to land in spam.</mark>

Another common concern is seeing a higher contact count in the Audience tab than you see when building email campaigns.

* The main reason for this is that the Audience tab counts total contacts, including subscribed, unsubscribed, bounced, suppressed, and no-status contacts. However, when building an email in Cymbal, we filter by subscribed contacts by default.

If a contact is not subscribed upon import, they will not appear as a recipient when sending an email campaign.

<mark style="color:$warning;">Disclaimer: Cymbal does not charge based on “total contacts.” Cymbal only counts subscribed contacts toward your billing statement.</mark>