A contact group is a must for people working in large organizations that may have hundreds of people communicating with them. Although setting it up can take a while depending on how many contacts you have, once you set it up it can take a lot of the monotony out of sending the same email to multiple recipients.
Outlook’s contact groups feature is far from perfect. Management can be a hassle. However, this article will help you navigate, explaining what a distribution list is, its benefits, and how to create a distribution list in Outlook. Read on to master this part of the Outlook suite.
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Pros and cons of using distribution lists in Outlook
Here are some pros and cons of using the Outlook Contact group feature:
Advantages
- They are easy to create, especially if you are a tech-savvy person.
- They can be created in a matter of minutes .
- The function can be used by anyone.
Disadvantages
- You can accidentally send the wrong email to the distribution list – it’s harder to check e-mails in bulk
- The lists need to be updated frequently.
- Previous versions only allowed a limited number of e-mail addresses.
- Some email providers mark emails sent via distribution lists as “spam”.
Difference between contact groups, distribution groups and distribution lists in Outlook
In the most cases You may use these terms interchangeably as they serve the same purpose. Distribution lists were used in older versions of Outlook, but were later changed to contact groups because they are easier to understand for most users.
Sometimes distribution lists are managed by managers for the entire company and they send the E -Mails with a specific address. However, in most cases people tend to use contact groups with their individual email accounts.
Next we will look at how to create a mailing list in Outlook.
Instruction Create a distribution list in Outlook
Here are the steps you need to learn how to create a distribution list in Outlook:
Step 1: Essentially, on your Outlook client screen, click the People icon at the bottom left of the screen. This will open the Contacts tab where you can manage your recipients.
Step 2: Click New Contact Group in the toolbar. This will open a new window where you can create your Outlook distribution list.
Step 3: In the window that opens, choose the name for your contact group. We recommend using a keyword that allows you to immediately recognize the group of people. For example, write “accounting” for your contacts who work in accounting. After entering the name for your mailing list, click Add Members.
Step 4: Once you click Add Members, the A drop-down menu will appear where you can choose from three options: From Outlook Contacts, From Address Book and New Email Contact . Feel free to choose the option that suits you. In this case we will add a new email contact.
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Step 5: A small window will appear where you add the recipient can details. The Display Name option allows you to specify a name that will be displayed instead of the email address. Enter the email address and you can then choose whether you want to add this recipient to your contacts. Click OK to add the contact to the distribution list.
Your distribution list has been created. The contact group name should appear as a regular contact. Next time you want to send an email, just search the group name in the text box instead of typing each contact’s email address and you can send your email to the contact group.
To make changes to the distribution list, go to the Contacts section and click the three dots under the list name. Click Edit Outlook Contact, which will take you to the same window in step 3. From there you can follow the same steps to edit the list.
How to create an email group in Outlook 365
Here are the steps you need to know , if you want to know how to create an email group in Outlook 365:
Step 1: On the main screen of your Outlook 365 web page, click the People in the toolbar on the left side of the screen. This will take you to a new webpage with your contacts.
Step 2: On the People tab, click All Contact Lists and click on Create contact list. This will open a window where you can enter the details of your contact list.
Step 3: In this window, enter the name for the list.Choose something that will help you recognize the list immediately. As before, let’s take Accounts Dept as an example. Add a description in the text field at the end so you know who was added to the list.
Step 4: Enter your contact’s email address in the field Add email addresses in the window and then click Add to add the email to the list. If you want to remove an email from the list, click the cross icon to the right of the address. When you are finished making changes, click Create to save the contact list.
Your contact list is ready. If you want to update the contact list, follow the same steps by going to the All Contact Lists section on the People tab. From there you can follow step 4 to edit the contact list.
Alternatives to create a distribution list in Outlook
Creating a distribution list in Outlook may be more tedious than useful for some people. Luckily, you can use a few alternatives to create an email group.
External tools
You can use several email marketing tools to target emails in to send large amounts to your contact list. Some of these platforms include MailChimp, MailerLite, and Constant Contact, and they offer many handy features like drag-and-drop, tracking, and engagement metrics.
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Note that these tools are designed for marketing and may not be reliable for internal communications.
Microsoft 365 Groups
If you are using Microsoft 365 services, you can try upgrading your distribution lists to groups. This can help you overcome many disadvantages of creating a contact group in Outlook.
Although the groups feature may be useful in your particular scenario, note that this is not the original intent of this feature. They were created to support team collaboration so users can share files, notes, and important documents.
Also note that you need an active Microsoft 365 subscription to use this feature in Outlook to use.
Creating a distribution list in Outlook FAQ
What is an Outlook distribution list?
Outlook distribution list allows you to share your email Group recipients and present them as a single recipient. The feature goes by many names like distribution groups, contact groups, and email groups, but the purpose is essentially the same.
Once you’ve learned how to set up a distribution list in Outlook, it can be extremely handy when You need to send the same email to multiple people. This can become a big deal when you are responsible for managing communications for more than one department or office. This feature saves you from having to manually enter the email addresses of all recipients.
Once you set up a distribution list, it will appear in your contact list, just like a regular contact. They also appear in your address book, making it a convenient long-term feature.
How do you create a distribution list in Outlook?
You can create a distribution list by:
- In Outlook, go to the People section and go to the Contacts tab.
- Click there New contact group in the toolbar where you can name the contact group and add your contacts.
How to create a distribution list in Outlook 365?
- Click the People icon and go to the Contacts menu.
- Click All Contact Lists. strong> and then click Create contact list.
- Enter the details of your contacts there and click Create.
What is the difference between a distribution list and a group in Outlook?
A distribution list is a free feature built into Outlook that allows you to add your contacts to a list that you can view as one single contact treated. You can just select the distribution list when sending an email instead of selecting contacts one by one.
Groups in Microsoft 365 is a paid feature that enables collaboration between users. This allows users to share files, notes, and important documents.
How do I add members to a distribution list in Office 365?
- Go to People and on the Contacts tab, click All contact lists.
- Select the contact group you want to add members to and click on it Click the Edit button on the top toolbar.
- In the window that appears, enter the recipient’s email address in the Add email addresses and click Add.
Summary of our guide to Outlook distribution lists
Outlook’s distribution list is a great feature , which takes away a lot of the monotony of emailing multiple people by adding them all to a group and sp can accumulate.
We hope this article has helped you to better understand how to create a distribution list in Outlook and what its purpose is. Let us know in the comments if you have any questions, or check out some of these other Outlook guides:
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