Smart Lists in HighLevel

Updated: February 6, 2026  | 
Author: Bill Stilwell

This post covers what Smart Lists are, how they differ from static lists, what filter criteria are available, how to create them, how to use them for campaigns and bulk actions, and the most useful Smart Lists to set up for a typical HighLevel sub-account.

Reading time: about 6 minutes.

What Are Smart Lists in HighLevel?

Smart Lists in HighLevel are saved, dynamic contact filters. They allow a user to define criteria for a contact segment – and save that criteria so it can be re-applied at any time with a single click, always showing the contacts who currently match.

The key word is dynamic. A Smart List is not a list of specific contacts that were in a segment at the moment the list was created.

It is a saved query that runs against the live contact database every time it is opened – showing who currently matches the filter today, not who matched it last month.

This distinction matters practically. A Smart List for “contacts added in the last 30 days tagged Facebook Lead” shows different contacts on April 1 than it showed on March 1.

The contacts in it are always current. The business owner does not need to rebuild the filter – they just open the Smart List.

Dynamic vs. Static Lists

Understanding the dynamic nature of Smart Lists clarifies how they should be used.

A static list is a fixed snapshot – a group of contacts identified at a specific moment and stored as a list. The contacts in it do not change unless someone manually adds or removes them.

Static lists are like a photograph: accurate at the moment it was taken, increasingly outdated over time.

A dynamic list (Smart List) is a live query – it returns whatever contacts currently match the criteria at the time it is accessed. It is like a window looking into the current state of the database.

Both have their place. A static export works for a one-time campaign sent on a specific date to a specific group, where the exact list should not change after it is created.

A Smart List works for recurring campaigns, regular reference views, and ongoing segmentation where the relevant contacts change over time as their data changes.

Filter Criteria Available

Smart Lists support a range of filter criteria. Tag-based filters are the most commonly used: contacts who have a specific tag, contacts who do not have a specific tag, or contacts who have any of a set of tags.

Custom field filters allow segmenting by the values in custom contact fields – contacts whose “Service Interest” custom field equals “Roofing,” or contacts whose “Budget Range” custom field is not blank. Custom field filtering is what makes the HighLevel contact database useful for business-specific segmentation beyond generic CRM filters.

Date-based filters cover: date added to the CRM (in the last 7 days, in the last 30 days, before a specific date), date of last activity, and date of last message. These enable recency-based segments – fresh leads for immediate follow-up, dormant contacts for re-engagement.

Pipeline and status filters: contacts in a specific pipeline stage, contacts with an open opportunity, contacts with no opportunities. DND filters: contacts with SMS DND off (contactable by SMS).

Assigned user filters: contacts assigned to a specific team member.

AND and OR Logic

Smart Lists support combining multiple filter criteria with AND and OR logic.

AND logic narrows the segment – all criteria must be true for a contact to be included. A Smart List with AND logic: “tagged Facebook Lead” AND “added in the last 14 days” AND “DND SMS off” shows only contacts who meet all three conditions simultaneously.

OR logic broadens the segment – any one of the criteria being true includes the contact. A Smart List with OR logic: “tagged Roofing Interest” OR “tagged Exterior Home Services” shows contacts who have either tag.

Combining AND and OR logic – (“tagged Facebook Lead” OR “tagged TikTok Lead”) AND “added in the last 30 days” – allows precise, nuanced segmentation that would be impossible to manually recreate each time without saved filter logic.

Creating a Smart List

Creating a Smart List starts in the Contacts view. Open the filter panel, add criteria, preview the results, and save the filter with a descriptive name.

Naming discipline matters. A Smart List named “Filter 3” is not useful when a team member opens the Smart Lists panel looking for dormant leads.

A Smart List named “Dormant Leads – No Activity 90+ Days, SMS DND Off” is instantly clear about what it contains and when to use it.

Names should describe the criteria, not a vague intent. A name like “Re-engagement” could mean many things.

A name like “Facebook Leads – Unopened, Last 60 Days” tells exactly what is in the list and when it should be used.

Bulk Actions on Smart Lists

One of the most practical uses of Smart Lists is as the target for bulk actions. Select all contacts in a Smart List (or a subset) and apply an action to all of them simultaneously.

Common bulk actions on Smart Lists: add a tag to all contacts in the list, remove a tag, assign to a specific team member, enroll in a workflow, or send a one-time campaign. Bulk actions performed on Smart Lists are targeted – they affect only the specific segment, not the entire contact database.

A quarterly re-engagement campaign targeting dormant leads is a bulk action on a Smart List: open the “Dormant Leads – 90+ Days” Smart List, select all, send campaign. The campaign goes to the right contacts without any manual list building or filter re-application.

Smart Lists as Campaign Audiences

When sending a bulk SMS or email campaign in HighLevel, the audience can be defined by a Smart List. The campaign is sent to all contacts currently in the Smart List at the time of sending.

This means recurring campaigns can use the same Smart List each time – the audience is always current. A monthly “New Leads – This Month” campaign always reaches the contacts who became leads in the current month, without rebuilding the audience.

Using a Smart List as the campaign audience also ensures that contacts who should not receive the campaign are excluded by the filter logic. A “SMS DND Off” condition in the Smart List prevents sending to opted-out contacts.

A “Last Activity Before 90 Days” condition ensures the campaign only reaches contacts who have not been active recently.

Useful Smart Lists to Create

Most HighLevel sub-accounts benefit from a standard set of Smart Lists that support recurring operational tasks. These are not exhaustive – every business has specific segmentation needs – but these cover the most universal use cases.

New Leads – Last 7 Days: Contacts added in the last 7 days. Used for weekly new lead review and any “first week” follow-up campaigns that are not fully automated.

Dormant Leads – No Activity 90+ Days, SMS DND Off: Contacts with no activity for 90 or more days who have SMS DND turned off. Used for quarterly re-engagement SMS campaigns.

Active Pipeline – Open Opportunities: Contacts with at least one open opportunity. Used for reviewing all contacts who currently have a deal in progress.

Facebook Leads – Last 30 Days: Contacts tagged “Facebook Lead” added in the last 30 days. Used for reviewing Facebook campaign performance and for any Facebook-specific follow-up sequences.

No Tag Applied: Contacts with no tags. These contacts have not been categorized – they are often contacts from early in the account’s history before tagging automation was set up.

Used for data quality review and manual tagging.

What Can You Do With It?

• Segment the contact database without rebuilding filters manually: Save filter criteria once and reuse them indefinitely. Every time the Smart List is opened, the current matching contacts are shown – no manual filter recreation required.
• Run targeted campaigns to always-current contact segments: Use Smart Lists as campaign audiences – the contacts reached are those who currently match the criteria, not a stale static list from weeks ago.
• Apply bulk actions to specific segments with one click: Add tags, enroll in workflows, or assign to team members for an entire segment at once – without affecting the rest of the contact database.
• Monitor the size of key segments over time: Smart Lists show a contact count that updates dynamically. The count of “Dormant Leads – 90+ Days” tells the business how many inactive contacts are accumulating in the database – useful for gauging re-engagement campaign frequency.
• Create always-current operational views for the team: “Contacts Assigned to Me – Open Opportunities” or “New Leads – This Week” as Smart Lists give team members a personal workqueue view without manual filtering.

Key Definitions

Use Cases by Industry

Home Services – Seasonal Re-engagement

A gutter cleaning company creates a Smart List: “Past Customers – Last Service Over 11 Months Ago, SMS DND Off.” The “last service” date is stored in a custom field updated when a job is completed.

Every spring, the owner opens this Smart List. It shows all customers whose last service was over 11 months ago and who have SMS enabled.

The owner sends a bulk SMS to the list – “Hi [First Name], gutter cleaning season is here. Your last service was [date].

Want to book your spring cleaning?” The campaign goes to the right customers, at the right time, with the right message. No manual list building.

No missed customers.

Result: A recurring seasonal campaign based on actual customer service history reaches the right people at the right time every year – using a Smart List that is always current because the underlying custom field is updated automatically when jobs are completed.

Marketing Agency – Weekly Lead Review

An agency manages a client’s HighLevel account. They create a Smart List: “New Leads – Last 7 Days, No Pipeline Opportunity.” This Smart List shows any contact added in the last week who has not yet been added to the sales pipeline.

Every Monday morning, the client opens this Smart List. They review each new lead from the previous week, confirm they have been properly handled, and add any that are missing from the pipeline.

The Smart List is the quality control check – if a lead is in the list, it has not yet been moved into the sales process.

Result: No new lead from the previous week is missed in the sales process. The Smart List serves as a recurring checklist that surfaces any gaps in the workflow’s automated pipeline assignment.

Real Estate – Warm Buyers by Criteria

A real estate agent creates several Smart Lists for buyer types: “Buyer – Price Range $400k-$600k, Area = North Side,” “Buyer – Price Range $600k+, Area = Downtown,” and “Buyer – Pre-Approval Pending.” These combine custom field filters for price range and area preference with pipeline stage filters.

When a new listing comes to market, the agent opens the relevant Smart List – the segment of buyers matching that property’s profile – and sends a targeted SMS introducing the listing. The message goes to the right buyers, not the entire contact database.

The segmentation makes the outreach feel relevant rather than mass blast.

Result: Property introductions are sent to matched buyer segments based on their criteria rather than to everyone. Responses are higher because the properties shown are relevant to the buyers receiving them.

SaaS Agency – Subscriber Lifecycle Monitoring

A SaaS Mode agency creates Smart Lists that mirror subscription status. “Active Subscribers – Pro Plan,” “Subscribers – Trial Ending This Week,” and “Churned – Last 30 Days” are three dynamic views into the subscriber lifecycle.

The “Trial Ending This Week” Smart List is checked daily and contacted personally if the trial subscriber has not upgraded. The “Churned – Last 30 Days” list receives a win-back campaign 7 days after churning.

The Smart Lists make subscriber lifecycle management visible without manual data pulls from Stripe or HighLevel reporting.

Result: Subscriber lifecycle stages are visible in real time as named Smart Lists. The team’s proactive outreach is guided by what the lists show – trial expirations, recent churns – rather than by manual Stripe monitoring or periodic reporting pulls.

Who Is This For?

How to Create and Use Smart Lists

Step 1: Navigate to Contacts

Go to CRM or Contacts in the sub-account navigation.

Step 2: Open the filter panel

Click the filter or segment control in the Contacts view to open the filter configuration.

Step 3: Add the first filter criterion

Select the filter type – tag, custom field, date added, lead source, pipeline stage, or other. Configure the specific condition – “tag equals Facebook Lead,” “date added is in the last 30 days,” “pipeline stage is Proposal Sent.”

Step 4: Add additional criteria if needed

Add more criteria with AND or OR logic as appropriate. Preview the contact count to confirm the segment size is as expected.

Step 5: Save as a Smart List

Click Save as Smart List. Enter a descriptive name that clearly communicates what the list contains and when it should be used.

Step 6: Access the Smart List

Find the saved Smart List in the Smart Lists panel. Open it to see the current matching contacts.

The count updates automatically as contacts enter or exit the criteria.

Step 7: Use for bulk actions

Select all or a subset of contacts in the Smart List. Apply the desired bulk action – add a tag, send a campaign, enroll in a workflow, assign to a user.

Step 8: Use as a campaign audience

When creating a bulk campaign, select the Smart List as the audience. The campaign targets the current matching contacts at send time.

Step 9: Maintain the Smart List library

Periodically review saved Smart Lists. Delete ones that are no longer relevant.

Update criteria on existing ones if business segmentation needs have evolved.

How Does It Connect to HighLevel?

• Contact Management: Smart Lists are a layer on top of the Contact Management database. They query contact records using the same tags, custom fields, and attributes stored in the contact database. The quality of Smart List results depends directly on the quality of the underlying contact data.
• SMS Marketing Automation: SMS campaigns use Smart Lists as audiences for targeted bulk outreach. A quarterly re-engagement SMS campaign sent to a Smart List reaches exactly the right contacts – those who currently match the criteria – rather than a stale static export.
• Email Campaign Automation: Email campaigns also use Smart Lists as audience definitions. Newsletters, promotional emails, and re-engagement sequences can all be sent to Smart List-defined segments for precise targeting.
• Database Reactivation: Database reactivation campaigns specifically target dormant contacts – a use case Smart Lists serve exceptionally well. A Smart List for dormant leads with SMS DND off is the precise audience for a reactivation campaign.
• Pipeline Management: Smart Lists can filter by pipeline stage – “contacts with an open opportunity in the Proposal Sent stage.” This connects the contact segmentation layer to the pipeline, enabling outreach targeted to contacts at a specific point in the sales process.

Common Questions

What are Smart Lists in HighLevel?

Saved, dynamic contact filters that update automatically. Every time a Smart List is opened, it shows the contacts currently matching the saved criteria – not a static snapshot from when the list was created.

Where do I find Smart Lists in HighLevel?

In the Contacts section of the sub-account. The Smart Lists panel shows all saved filters.

Create a new one by setting filter criteria in the Contacts view and saving.

What filters can I use to create a Smart List in HighLevel?

Tags, custom field values, lead source, date added, last activity date, pipeline stage, DND status, assigned user, and combinations with AND and OR logic.

Is a Smart List static or does it update automatically?

Dynamic – it updates automatically. Every time it is opened, it queries the live database and shows contacts currently matching the criteria.

Can I send a bulk campaign to a Smart List in HighLevel?

Yes. Select the Smart List as the campaign audience when creating a bulk SMS or email campaign. The campaign targets contacts currently in the list at send time.

Can I use a Smart List as a workflow trigger in HighLevel?

Not directly – workflows are triggered by events, not list membership. But contacts in a Smart List can be bulk-enrolled in a workflow at any time using the bulk action option.

How many Smart Lists can I create in HighLevel?

No hard limit. Create as many as are useful.

A well-organized Smart List library covering the most frequently needed segments is the practical target.

Can I export the contacts from a Smart List in HighLevel?

Yes. Select all contacts in the Smart List and export as CSV. The export is a static snapshot of who is currently in the list at the time of export.

Can I bulk update contacts in a Smart List in HighLevel?

Yes. Select all (or a subset) in the Smart List and apply bulk actions – add tag, remove tag, assign user, enroll in workflow, send campaign.

What is the difference between a Smart List and a regular contact list filter in HighLevel?

A regular filter is temporary – set while browsing, not saved. A Smart List is a saved filter with a name, accessible at any time without re-configuring the criteria.

To Wrap It Up

Smart Lists are a feature that quietly saves significant time over weeks and months of operating a HighLevel account. The time saved is not dramatic in any single instance – it is the accumulated hours of not having to rebuild the same filters over and over that adds up.

More importantly, Smart Lists remove the friction from targeting. Without them, sending a campaign to a specific segment requires filtering the contact list, verifying the criteria look right, selecting the contacts, and sending – every time.

With Smart Lists, that process becomes: open the Smart List, confirm the count looks reasonable, send. The segment is always defined, always current, always one click away.

The prerequisite for Smart Lists to work well is the underlying contact data. Smart Lists built on tag and custom field criteria are only as accurate as the tagging and field population discipline in the account.

An account where 30% of contacts have no tags produces Smart Lists that miss 30% of the relevant contacts. Investing in tagging automation and custom field population is what makes Smart Lists actually smart.

Here is how to get started:

1. Identify the three or four contact segments that are used most frequently for campaigns or reviews
2. Go to Contacts and apply the filter criteria for the first segment
3. Verify the contact count and a sample of contacts look correct
4. Save as a Smart List with a descriptive name
5. Repeat for the remaining priority segments
6. Test each Smart List by opening it and confirming it shows the expected contacts
7. Use the Smart Lists for the next campaign instead of rebuilding the filter
8. Add Smart Lists to the account as new segmentation needs emerge

Start with the Smart Lists that save the most time first – typically the re-engagement segment and the new leads segment. These are opened frequently, the filter criteria are stable, and the time savings from not rebuilding them are immediate.

More nuanced Smart Lists can be added as the contact database grows and tagging discipline is established.