Applies ToOutlook for Microsoft 365 Outlook 2024 Outlook 2021 Outlook 2019 Outlook 2016 Outlook 2013

Use a contact group (formerly called a “distribution list”) to send an email to multiple people—a project team, a committee, or even just a group of friends—without having to add each name each time you want to send them an email message.

A contact group is stored in your contacts folder. Unless you're using a shared contacts folder, any changes you make to a contact group in your Contacts folder won't update other contact groups in your organization.

These instructions assume you've already created a contact group. For information on creating a contact group, see Create a contact group or distribution list in Outlook.

To add people to your contact group, do the following:

  1. On the Navigation bar, click People to view your contacts.

    Click People

  2. Under My Contacts, click Contacts.

  3. Double-click the contact group that you want to add members to.

    Double-click a contact group to add members.
  4. Click Add Members, and then choose the list that you want to add a contact from. For this example, choose From Outlook Contacts.Select Add Members to add to your contact group.

  5. In the Search box, type the person's name or email address.

  6. Double-click the name to add it to the Members box, and then click OK.

  7. Click Save and Close.

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