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Retargeting sends a follow-up push message to the Subscriptions that reached a specific outcome on a previous send — for example, Subscriptions that clicked, didn’t click, or failed delivery. Start retargeting from the Audience activity section of any push message report.
Retargeting is available for push messages sent within the last 30 days. Audience activity data is retained for 30 days from the time the original message was sent.

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How to retarget users

1

Open a sent message

Go to Messages > All messages in the OneSignal dashboard and select the message whose audience you want to retarget.
Messages list in the OneSignal dashboard showing sent notifications

Select a sent message

2

Open Audience activity

Scroll to the Audience activity section of the message report. The available retargeting categories are:
  • Sent — message was sent to the device.
  • Confirmed Receipt — delivery was confirmed by the device.
  • Did Not Confirm Receipt — delivery confirmation was not received.
  • Clicked — user clicked the notification.
  • Did Not Click — user did not click the notification.
  • Failed — delivery failed.
  • Unsubscribed — Subscriptions that became unreachable (uninstalled, cleared browser data, or opted out) since the original send.
3

Start retargeting

Click Send a Retargeted Message next to the category you want to target.
Audience activity section with the Send a Retargeted Message button

Send a retargeted message button

4

Compose and send

Enter a Message Name so you can find it later. The Audience is pre-filled with the Subscriptions in the category you selected. Compose your follow-up content with the standard message editor and send.
Retargeting message setup showing the pre-filled audience

Retargeting message setup

Retargeted messages must be scheduled within 30 days of the original message’s send date. After 30 days, audience activity data is purged and the original message is no longer eligible for retargeting.

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FAQ

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Which channels support retargeting?

Retargeting is available for push messages. It is not currently available for email, SMS, or in-app messages. To build a similar flow for other channels, use Segments and Journeys.

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Why don’t I see my previously sent notifications?

Notifications sent via the API or as Automated Messages are automatically deleted after approximately 30 days. Once deleted, they no longer appear in your message history and cannot be used for retargeting. Dashboard-composed messages follow the same 30-day retention window for audience activity.

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Why can’t I retarget older messages?

Audience activity data is retained for 30 days. After that, the interaction data needed to rebuild the retargeting audience is purged and the original message becomes ineligible. If you recently upgraded to a plan that includes retargeting, messages sent before the upgrade are not retroactively stored. Retargeting data collection begins only after your account gains access to the feature.

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Can I retarget a retargeting message?

Yes. A retargeted send creates a new push message report with its own Audience activity, so you can retarget from it like any other message, as long as you do so within 30 days of that follow-up send.

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Does retargeting use the Create message API?

No. Retargeting is a dashboard feature that builds the audience from the original message’s Audience activity. To reach a similar audience through the API, capture the outcome as a Data Tag or user property on each Subscription, then target a Segment built from that tag in the Create message API.
Need help?Chat with our Support team or email support@onesignal.comPlease include:
  • Details of the issue you’re experiencing and steps to reproduce if available
  • Your OneSignal App ID
  • The External ID or Subscription ID if applicable
  • The URL to the message you tested in the OneSignal Dashboard if applicable
  • Any relevant logs or error messages
We’re happy to help!

Push message reports

Delivery outcomes, engagement metrics, and per-Subscription audience activity for each push send.

Segmentation

Build reusable audiences from Data Tags and user behavior.

Journeys

Automate multi-step follow-ups across channels based on user events.

Exporting data

Export message and user data to CSV for offline analysis.