> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.conversion.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Creating a Blast

> Walk through the steps to create, configure, and send a blast email in Conversion.

To create a new blast, click **New blast** in the top right of the Blasts view.

## 1. Choose a starting point

You'll first be prompted to choose how to start building your email.

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="My templates">
    Start from a template your team has saved in Conversion. This is useful for emails you send regularly and want to keep consistent.
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Curated">
    Start from one of Conversion's pre-designed email templates. These are fully designed, ready-to-customise templates built for common use cases.
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Start from scratch">
    Open a blank canvas in the email builder. Every element is yours to add from the ground up.
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

## 2. Build your email

Once you've chosen a starting point, you'll be taken into the [Email Builder](/product-docs/emails/email-builder/overview) to design your email.

## 3. Configure your blast settings

After designing your email, configure the details of the blast. This includes your audience, sender, subject line, and send time.

<Frame caption="Blast settings">
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/conversion/et-EqypFFlYb-sLU/images/emails_blast_create1.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=et-EqypFFlYb-sLU&q=85&s=66764b454145acd5bf0d646b1eb9a00c" alt="emails_blast_create1" width="3346" height="1634" data-path="images/emails_blast_create1.png" />
</Frame>

### Delivery overrides

Two optional toggles in the blast settings let you bypass the default sending guardrails. Use them sparingly — they're intended for transactional or time-sensitive sends, not standard marketing emails.

| Toggle                          | Effect                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      |
| ------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Set as operational**          | Treats the email as operational (non-marketing). Sends to recipients regardless of their global unsubscribe status or topic-level unsubscribes, and also ignores the workspace's [communication limits](/product-docs/workspace-settings/emails-and-domains/overview#communication-limits). |
| **Ignore communication limits** | Ignores only the workspace's daily, weekly, and monthly [communication limits](/product-docs/workspace-settings/emails-and-domains/overview#communication-limits). Unsubscribes and topic unsubscribes are still respected.                                                                 |

<Warning>
  **Set as operational** overrides explicit recipient consent. Only use it for emails that recipients must receive regardless of marketing preferences (e.g. password resets, billing notices, account-critical updates). Misuse can violate regulations like CAN-SPAM and GDPR.
</Warning>

## 4. Send or schedule

Once your settings are configured, you can either send the blast immediately or schedule it for a future date.

When the blast is sent out, the email is only **sent once** to each unique email address in the audience. This means if two contacts in the audience share an email address, the blast is only sent to that email address once.

<Tip>
  Before sending, use the **Preview** and **Test send** features in the email builder to make sure your email renders correctly across devices and email clients.
</Tip>