> This page is part of the [Customer.io documentation](https://docs.customer.io). For the complete index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.customer.io/llms.txt).
> Last updated: August 5, 2026

# Manual segments

Manual segments let you group profiles according to business logic outside of Customer.io. As the name suggests, you’ll [add profiles](#add-people-to-a-manual-segment) to, and [remove profiles](#remove-people-from-a-manual-segment) from, these segments manually.

## Create a manual segment

You have the opportunity to create manual segments when you import profiles by CSV or from a database. Otherwise, you can create a manual segment first, and then add profiles to it later.

1.  Go to **Segments**.
2.  Click **Create Segment**.
3.  Enter a *Name* and *Description* for the segment. These help you find the segment—both in the list of segments, and when selecting the segment in an automation, broadcast, etc.
4.  Choose **Manual**.

From here, you can [add profiles to your segment](#add-people-to-a-manual-segment).

[![A screenshot of the bottom right corner of the first step in segment creation. The title is Manual. The description says Profiles already in this workspace will move into this manual segment whenever you upload a CSV file or call our API. Below the description is the question What is a manual segment? which links to more info. Below that and centered is the button Create manual segment.](https://docs.customer.io/images/segment_create_manual_option.png)](#43106783faae614a81599240b393439f-lightbox)

## Add profiles to a manual segment

Profiles must be identified in Customer.io before you can add them to a manual segment.

You can add profiles to manual segments via:

*   [CSV](#add-people-to-a-segment-csv)
*   [a workflow action](#add-people-to-a-segment-via-action) in an automation
*   [our Track API](/integrations/api/track/#operation/add_to_segment)
*   [Data-in integrations](/integrations/data-in/)
*   [the segment tab on a profile page](#add-a-person-from-their-profile-page)
*   [a shortcut](#add-a-person-using-a-shortcut)

### Via CSV

You can upload a CSV to add profiles to a manual segment from the **Segments** page. The CSV must contain identifiers (`id`, `email`, or `phone` values, depending on the identifiers your workspace uses) for profiles you’ve already identified. If a profile’s identifier in the CSV doesn’t match an existing profile, we won’t create a new profile and we won’t add them to the segment.

You can [identify profiles by uploading a CSV](/messaging/profiles/uploading-profiles/). You may want to do this to make sure profiles exist before you try to add them to a manual segment.

1.  Go to **Segments**.
2.  Click an existing manual segment or [add a new manual segment](#create-a-manual-segment).
3.  Click **Add by CSV**.
4.  Determine the identifiersThe attributes you use to add, modify, and target people. Each unique identifier value represents an individual person in your workspace. you want to use to match profiles from your CSV to your workspace: *By id*, *By email*, or *By phone* (if your workspace uses those identifiers).
5.  Choose the file you want to upload or import a Google sheet. If you import a google sheet, you must [grant Customer.io access to sheets in your Google account](/messaging/profiles/uploading-profiles/#google-import).
6.  Tell us which column holds the identifier you selected in earlier steps.
    
    [![Map your id or email column](https://docs.customer.io/images/segment_manual_via_csv_column_mapping.png)](#6d43807819cd7f2ed7577645c4bd4ae0-lightbox)
    
7.  If your file contains no errors, click **Add Profiles**. We validate data when you select your identifiers. If there are errors, you can download an error file (if any) or download the import file.

### Using a workflow action

You can add profiles to a manual segment as a part of an automation workflow.

1.  Drag a *Manual Segment Update* action into your workflow.
2.  Click the action item and edit the settings on the panel.
    *   **Update Name** - you can update the name of the action visible in your workflow.
    *   **What should happen when a profile reaches this step?** - choose whether to add or remove profiles
    *   **Manual Segment** - select the manual segment you want to change.
    *   **Conditions** - specify any conditions profiles should meet to be added or removed from the segment.
3.  Click **Save**.

[![Add to a Manual Segment via a Workflow Action](https://docs.customer.io/images/segment_manual_add_via_workflow-1.png)](#6f1ac798d163a60473f041c263ae853d-lightbox)

### From their profile page

You can add a single profile to a manual segment from their profile page.

1.  Go to **Profiles**.
2.  Filter for the profile you want to add to a manual segment then click on them.
3.  Click the **Segments tab**.
4.  Click the **Doesn’t Belong To** tab.
5.  To the right of any manual segment they don’t belong to, you’ll see **\+ Add to segment**. Click this to immediately add them to a specific segment.

[![On the left is the icon for manual segments, a wrench. In the middle is the title of the manual segment, Conference Leads. On the right is the button +Add to segment.](https://docs.customer.io/images/manual-segment-add-from-profile-1.png)](#33184485eb192916729c5fb390222a49-lightbox)

Accidentally add someone to a manual segment? You can also [remove them](#remove-a-person-from-their-profile-page) just as easily.

### Using a shortcut

You can add a profile to a manual segment using a shortcut. Go to [Webhook shortcuts](/messaging/profiles/shortcuts/#addremove-person-in-a-manual-segment) for more information.

## Remove profiles from a manual segment

You can remove profiles from manual segments through:

*   [“Clear Segment”](#clear-segment) on the segment’s page
*   [a workflow action](#remove-people-from-a-segment) in an automation
*   [our Track API](/integrations/api/track/#operation/remove_from_segment)
*   [a shortcut](#addremove-a-person-using-a-shortcut)

### Clear segment

1.  Click your manual segment from the *Segments* page.
2.  Click *Options* in the top right then **Clear Segment** from the dropdown.
    
    [![A screenshot of a manual segment titled Conference Leads. A red rectangle outlines the top-right button titled Options and a red arrow points to Clear Segment in the corresponding dropdown.](https://docs.customer.io/images/segment_clear_manual.png)](#7fdf00aa09155601fa917f97695b45b3-lightbox)
    
3.  A confirmation modal will appear. If this manual segment is used in automations or broadcasts, decide how we should process active journeys:
    1.  By default, **Update automation journeys** is set to **No**. Profiles with active journeys will show as not belonging to the manual segment, but they will neither leave delays with the condition of “not in: this manual segment” nor trigger automations with this condition. They will, however, leave this automation if the exit condition is “They stop matching the trigger or filter conditions.”
        
        [![clear-segment-toggle-no.png](https://docs.customer.io/images/clear-segment-toggle-no.png)](#793535ebb560a777e2729d2352460f8e-lightbox)
        
        For instance, assume Janet is cleared from the manual segment Conference Leads which triggered an automation that she now has an active journey in. Profiles are set to exit the automation when they stop matching the trigger condition. If **Update automation journeys** was left as **No** in the confirmation modal, she would still leave the automation because of the exit condition. She would not trigger an automation based on “not in: Conference Leads,” though.
    2.  Toggle **Update automation journeys** to **Yes** if profiles with active journeys should leave delays with the condition of “not in: this manual segment” or trigger automations with this condition. They will continue to follow the exit conditions of the current automation.
        
        [![clear-segment-toggle-yes.png](https://docs.customer.io/images/clear-segment-toggle-yes.png)](#9e7adab028cd789d90145f371e96c2cb-lightbox)
        
        For instance, assume Janet is cleared from the manual segment Conference Leads which triggered an automation that she now has an active journey in. Profiles are set to exit the automation when they stop matching the trigger condition. If **Update automation journeys** was set to **Yes** in the confirmation modal, she would still leave the automation because of the exit condition. She could also, for instance, trigger an automation based on “in: Signed up” and “not in: Conference Leads.”
4.  Click **Yes, clear segment** to confirm your choice.

### Using a workflow action

You can remove profiles from a manual segment as a part of an automation workflow.

1.  Drag a *Manual Segment Update* action into your workflow.
2.  Click it and edit the settings on the panel.
    *   **Update Name** - you can update the name of the action visible in your workflow.
    *   **What should happen when a profile reaches this step?** - choose whether to add or remove profiles
    *   **Manual Segment** - select the manual segment you want to change.
    *   **Conditions** - specify any conditions profiles should meet to be added or removed from the segment.
3.  Click **Save**.

[![Remove from a Manual Segment via a Workflow Action](https://docs.customer.io/images/segment_manual_remove_via_workflow-1.png)](#ad9a8018cb57d81140be17c8ead2b153-lightbox)

### From their profile page

You can remove a single profile from a manual segment from their profile page.

1.  Go to **Profiles**.
2.  Filter for the profile you want to remove from a manual segment then click on them.
3.  Click the **Segments tab**.
4.  Click the **Belongs To** tab.
5.  To the right of any manual segment they belong to, you’ll see **Remove from segment**. Click this to immediately remove them from a specific segment.

[![On the left is the icon for manual segments, a wrench. In the middle is the title of the manual segment, Conference Leads. On the right is the button +Remove from segment.](https://docs.customer.io/images/manual-segment-remove-from-profile.png)](#ec97c35134094f88c6ed3fa96e1e07eb-lightbox)

Accidentally remove someone from a manual segment? You can also [add them](#add-a-person-from-their-profile-page) just as easily. Note, they will not re-enter automations triggered by being in this manual segment if the automations had a frequency of “one time.”

### Using a shortcut

You can remove a profile from a manual segment using a shortcut. Go to [Webhook shortcuts](/messaging/profiles/shortcuts/#addremove-person-in-a-manual-segment) for more information.

## Edit a segment

You can edit the name and description of a manual segment from the segment’s details page. You cannot affect membership in the segment except by a CSV import from this page.

1.  Go to **Segments**.
2.  Click the segment you want to update.
3.  Click to edit the name and/or description for the segment.

## Delete a segment

1.  Go to *Segments*.
2.  Click the segment that you want to delete.
3.  Click and choose **Delete Segment**.

You can also select one or more segments on the *Segments* page then click **Delete**.

If one of your workflows depends on the segment, we won’t let you delete the segment so your automations and other actions don’t break. Find where your segment’s referenced under *Usage* and make sure it’s removed from all locations:

*   An automation, unsent one-time send, or API-triggered broadcast: your segment could be part of the trigger, recipient conditions, or other workflow conditions
*   A form
*   A SQL import
*   Another active segment (*Active* means it’s not [archived](/messaging/segmentation/segments/#view-archived-segments).)

*   *   [Create a manual segment](#create-a-manual-segment)
    *   [Add profiles to a manual segment](#add-people-to-a-manual-segment)
        *   [Via CSV](#add-people-to-a-segment-csv)
        *   [Using a workflow action](#add-people-to-a-segment-via-action)
        *   [From their profile page](#add-a-person-from-their-profile-page)
        *   [Using a shortcut](#add-a-person-using-a-shortcut)
    *   [Remove profiles from a manual segment](#remove-people-from-a-manual-segment)
        *   [Clear segment](#clear-segment)
        *   [Using a workflow action](#remove-people-from-a-segment)
        *   [From their profile page](#remove-a-person-from-their-profile-page)
        *   [Using a shortcut](#addremove-a-person-using-a-shortcut)
    *   [Edit a segment](#edit-a-segment)
    *   [Delete a segment](#delete-a-segment)

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