Why do my Mailchimp email clicks look wrong?
The Mailchimp help pages give 4 common reasons. The first to rule out: A web address typed as plain text in your email, instead of added as a link, is not counted, so clicks on it never show up.
What causes it?
A web address typed as plain text in your email, instead of added as a link, is not counted, so clicks on it never show up.
In the Mailchimp help:
If you type in your URL as regular text in an HTML campaign, it won't be tracked.
Troubleshooting Click Tracking, read 2026-11-12.Links that do not start with http:// or https://, such as email address links, are not counted as clicks.
In the Mailchimp help:
We can only track clicks on links that begin with http:// or https://.
Troubleshooting Click Tracking, read 2026-11-12.Clicks in test emails are not counted. Only clicks in the campaign you actually sent show up in its report.
In the Mailchimp help:
Only clicks in sent campaigns are tracked in your campaign reports.
Troubleshooting Click Tracking, read 2026-11-12.Some spam filters and security tools click links before the email reaches the inbox, and Mailchimp counts those clicks too, which can make clicks jump.
In the Mailchimp help:
Our system automatically tracks these clicks, even when a click is from a bot or spam filter.
Troubleshooting Click Tracking, read 2026-11-12.
How do I check it myself?
Look at your report with bot activity left out to see how many clicks came from real people.
In the Mailchimp help:
We recommend that you exclude bot activity from your reports for more accurate open and click metrics.
Troubleshooting Click Tracking, read 2026-11-12.Compare the click rate with how many people the email went to. It counts people who clicked any tracked link, as a share of everyone who got it.
In the Mailchimp help:
Percentage of total recipients who clicked any tracked link in the email.
Use Click Tracking in Emails, read 2026-11-12.If another tool, such as Google Analytics, shows more clicks than Mailchimp, remember that Mailchimp's automatic link checks can show up there as clicks.
In the Mailchimp help:
However, an outside link tracker, like Google Analytics, may register Mailchimp's automatic link validation as clicks.
Troubleshooting Click Tracking, read 2026-11-12.
How would I know the day it starts?
- Feder reads the clicks on each day's Mailchimp sends and compares each day with your own history.
- It does not sort real clicks from automated ones. It tells you when clicks go quiet or move outside their usual range.
Some numbers are too quiet to judge daily, such as a form filled in a few times a week. Until there is enough of your own history to judge a change, Feder says it is still learning and scores nothing, rather than guessing.
See what Feder reads from Mailchimp, which feeds Interest. Feder only reads. It never changes anything in Mailchimp.
What else goes wrong with these numbers?
- Why did my Mailchimp open rate jump?Mailchimp
- Why did Mailchimp send my email to fewer people than are in my audience?Mailchimp
- Why did Google Analytics stop collecting data?Google Analytics
- Why aren't my key events showing in Google Analytics?Google Analytics
- Why does Google Analytics show (not set)?Google Analytics
See every question.
Where do these answers come from?
Every cause and check on this page comes from the Mailchimp help pages, quoted above with the date we read them. Last reviewed 2026-11-12. We read them again by 2027-11-12. If one changes, this page changes or comes down.