How to Delete Contacts in Salesforce Marketing Cloud

[@andre6893]

I cannot thank you enough! This video is simple and amazing! We raised several tickets with SFDC for help and all we needed was to watch this. Other people have said, but I'll say it again: absolute life saver!

[@thomasworm8853]

Thanks, this is perfect and a very thorough walk through the whole process. I'll have a look at it and probably add a second verification step to the automation to check if the count of contacts to be deleted are higher than x rows and if so stop the automation and send me an email, so I can make sure the "spike" is ok and I'm not about to delete all my contacts by mistake. Thanks a million, Thomas

[@roxnroll8050]

OMG - what a life saver! PERFECT video - thanks!

[@LoneWandererAWOOOOO]

Thank you for making this video. It's exactly what I need. I am however having an issue filling out the necessary details in the JavaScript code. How would I go about finding these details? The only one I can find is the MID Id.

[@MadanMeelan]

Nice information @Cameron

[@tovewalden9205]

Best tutorial ever :)

[@JoubertMaia]

Thank you for this!!!

[@jhansijuluru3873]

Thanks for the video. This will be extremely helpful. I have a question, how do we verify that the last email was sent was more than 180 days ago. I didn't see it the sql query? did i miss anything ??

[@SeanPGorman]

In the SSJS for the List ID you're not clear which list we should be deleting from. I think the line should be "targetList":{"listKey":"ID for CONTACT TO DELETE extension filled by 3.1 in the Automation","listType":{"listTypeID":3}} Is this correct @Cam Also - does the entry rest instance in "HTTP.Post(authobj.rest_instance_url+'contacts/v1" need to be explicitly stated or will this work without edit (it looks like you think this will work but I am getting an error and it is proving difficult to trace.)

[@japhendywijaya7046]

thank you

[@alirazaali1]

Hi Cameron.. In the SSJS Contact Deletion please can you tell me which DE's are you referring to "listKey":"ddddddddddddddddddddddddd" AND var de = DataExtension.Init("eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee") Thanks

[@ValleyMedicalCtr]

For listKey, I believe you want to plug in the external ID for the Contacts to Delete DE and initialize using the external ID for the Contact API Log DE.

[@mohamedabdelrehim858]

Thanks alot. I just have one question. In case my sfmc is connected with my sales cloud and I delete or merge account/contact in sales cloud, does it affect on the target record in sfmc?

[@goonlopez3888]

if u dont update the contact list in marketing does not affect. SC --> MKC works only ony way

[@gabrielsvob8618]

Am I correct in assuming we need to create an Installed Package in Setup with a Server to Server API integration component to get the Client Id and Secret?

[@saketshan]

Does this means, we can delete the contacts stored on any sendable DE? I have a DE with 100 contacts can I delete them all using the script discussed in the video?

[@oykumprl]

What happens to the send log and tracking data in Data View, after deletion took place? Does the customer data get anonymised?

[@vedantvyas2454]

Hi, One question So we keep the reference data extension on the parent BU and run this automation, does this also deletes records from Sendable DE's from all Child BU's? or does this work only All contacts

[@harshithams2262]

It will be deleted from all the child BU's

[@venson80]

HI Cameroon.. Can we do this with AmpScript (without SSJS).

[@bhriscannan2080]

Does the suppression rule act as a cooling off period on the off chance that you chance your mind on having deleted that contact? Eg you click delete contact with a 10 day suppression time. You then have 10 days to change you mind before the contact is actually deleted?

[@ImplementationGuru]

Hi @Bhris, great question! Adding suppression time to the contact deletion process just prevents the record from being contacted until the deletion event takes place; as a SFMC user, there is no way to undo a deletion action in the interface. SFMC Support may be able to cancel a deletion activity if it's still in the suppression phase, however this would be in extreme scenarios and should not be relied on for common usage.

[@bhriscannan2080]

@@ImplementationGuru Thanks very much for this. I really appreciate your efforts :)

[@kenroberts9566]

Newbie alert: Getting a syntax error on the query: "Errors: [AllContacts] is not a known data extension or system data view. You can only query existing data extensions or system data views." I created the AllContacts mobile list but it does not recognize it as a DE?

[@АлександрКойнак-ж4о]

Hi, is there any possibility to remove multiple contacts only from a specific list or DE? Unfortunately, I can't find a solution where I can delete a group of customers in one business unit and it will not affect the same users in another one.

[@ImplementationGuru]

Contacts are stored across the account, so deleting a contact will affect all BUs in your account.

[@gopubhargavreddy3013]

How much time it takes to delete records from MC and how to prioritize this

[@ImplementationGuru]

Deletion is quite quick, however it depends how many records you are trying to delete at once; plus any suppression effects you have set in the Contact Delete Settings. I've not tested the speed per record, however I've seen batches of thousands be removed in just a few hours.

[@gopubhargavreddy3013]

@@ImplementationGuru i am deleting only one record and suppression 0 days but from 1 week the status showing as in processing

[@ImplementationGuru]

@@gopubhargavreddy3013 Best contact Salesforce Support to check that happened. It's rare - however contacts can get stuck during the deletion process, and a support ticket is needed to complete the deletion. Good luck!

[@venson80]

Hi Cameron.. Can you please post the ssjs script here for reference. thank you.

[@saketshan]

Does this means, we can delete the contacts stored on any sendable DE? I have a DE with 100 contacts can I delete them all using the script discussed in the video?

[@nachocurubeto546]

Hi, could you paste the API code here please?

[@venson80]

Can you please share the SSJS script. thank you

[@dorakib5692]

I keep getting a runtime error. Are there limitations with this method?

[@muppallaprudhvi1067]

I'm also having the same issue. @Datarati - Implementation Guru Can you please help us to resolve this?

[@BrunoLuizz]

I had the same error! How do you resolve this?

[@BrunoLuizz]

I had the same error! How do you resolve this?

[@Daddyho83]

Is it possible to have the SSJS code?

[@ImplementationGuru]

Hi @Daddyho83, Sure - I'll put a link in the video description. Make sure you understand how the code works before running it as contact deletion can not be undone!

[@Daddyho83]

@@ImplementationGuru thanks, can you let me know when it's there?

[@goonlopez3888]

Can u explain a little the script?

[@dorakib5692]

Thank you for this video!!