---
title: "Preview Shows 0 Recipients with Target-Form Filters (Premium)"
description: "Sometimes the batch preview shows 0 recipients even when you know there should be matches. This is almost always due to merge tags in conditional logic. --- ## Why It Happens - The **Mass Email Conditional** section in feed settings…"
url: "https://brightleafdigital.io/docs/troubleshooting-preview-shows-0-recipients-with-target-form-filters-premium/"
updated: "2026-10-18"
category: Mass Email Notifications for Gravity Forms / Troubleshooting
---

# Preview Shows 0 Recipients with Target-Form Filters (Premium)

Sometimes the batch preview shows 0 recipients even when you know there should be matches. This is almost always due to merge tags in conditional logic.

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## Why It Happens

- The **Mass Email Conditional** section in feed settings lets you filter by target-form values.
- If you use merge tags (like pulling a date from the control form), the preview engine can’t resolve them.
- As a result, the preview estimate displays 0 recipients.

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## What Actually Happens

- At send time, those merge tags are filled in with real values from the control form.
- The batch then queries the target form entries using those resolved values.
- The correct recipients are included, even though the preview couldn’t show them.

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## Example

- Control form includes a date field: `{EventDate:3}`.
- Target form filter: “Registration Date is after {EventDate:3:meff}.”
- Preview shows 0, but once submitted, all matching entries are pulled.

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## Tips

- Don’t panic if you see 0 in preview with merge tags in filters.
- Test with a simpler static filter first to verify logic works.
- If unsure, create a small test form and run a sample batch.

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This is a known limitation of previews — actual sending always uses the proper recipients.