How to Create a Group Email in Outlook 365, 2010, 2007 and 2003?

If you frequently send emails to multiple users via Outlook, you must be tired adding up email addresses individually. By creating a Contact Group or Distribution List in Outlook, you can turn this task easier than ever. If you are eager to know how to create a group email in Outlook, learn with us.

Outlook has a number of versions such as Outlook 2016, 365, 2013, and more. To create a group email distribution list, we will talk about the following Outlook versions.

How to Create a Group Email in Outlook?

In this particular guide, we will discuss a number of methods for creating email group lists in Outlook for numerous versions. In addition, you will discover the different ways of creating contact groups and distribution lists in Outlook. Let’s get started!

How to Create an Email Group in Outlook 365?

Microsoft Outlook provides a feature called Contact Group for dedicated users. With this feature, you can manage your contact list in curated groups. By creating a contact group, you can add several team members and send emails to all at once.

Note: These steps can be performed on Outlook 365, 2016, and 2013.

To know how to create a group email list in Outlook for newer versions, you can follow a number of ways which are as follows:

• From the Address Book.
• By copying the names from an email message.
• Create a Contact Group from the Excel list.

Let’s understand these three ways in detail and create contact groups in Outlook 365, 2016, and 2013.

Create a Contact Group from the Address Book

• Launch the “Outlook 365” app.
• Click on the “People” icon on the “Navigation” bar.

Note: You may find the People icon with one or two-person in the Navigation bar. Also, if you are using the expanded Navigation bar then you can click on the word People.

• Under the “My Contacts”, pick the folder where you wish to save your contact group. People usually select the “Contacts” folder.
• Select the “New Contact Group” option on the “Ribbon”.
• Enter the desired name for your contact group.
• Then, click on the “Add Members” option. This will show three ways to add members which are as follows:

• From Outlook Contacts
• From Address Book
• New E-mail Contact

If you wish to add members From Outlook Contacts or From Address Book then you do the following:

• In the “Address Book” drop-down list, choose the address book that contains email addresses you wish to add in the “Contact Group” list.
• Now, click on the names you wish to add from the list of names.
• Click on “Members”.

Note: You may add members from the different address books (if required) for the same group.

In case, you prefer to add new members then add details by clicking on New E-mail Contact. After that, do the following:

• In the “Add New Member” window, enter the required details such as Name, Email address, and Email type.
• Similarly, add other new members individually and click “OK”.
• When done, click on the “Save & Close” button.

This will successfully save your entered information for the group email list. Now onwards, you can send emails to the group of people. For that, you just need to type your group name (instead of a single email address) in the To/Cc, Bcc field. Doing so, your email will be sent to all the members added to a particular group.

Create a Contact Group by Copying Emails

• Open the email that is sent to you. This will help you to find the contact group attached to the email.
• In the “To” or “Cc” field, select all the names using the mouse.
• Right-click on the selected names and select the “Copy” option or use “Ctrl + C” to copy the names.
• In your main Outlook window, go to the “People” on the “Navigation” bar.
• Click on “New Contact Group”.
• In the “Name” box, type the desired name for your contact group.
• Click on “Add Members”.
• Go with the “From Outlook Contacts” option.
• When the new window opens, right-click inside the “Members” box.
• Choose the “Paste” option or use “Ctrl + V” to paste the copied names.
• Click “OK”.
• Click on “Save & Close”.

This will add all the copied emails in your Outlook contact. They will appear as the list of members for the contact group.

Import a Contact Group using the Excel Sheet

There are instances when your contact list becomes quite long. If that is the case, you can simply create an Excel sheet including all the names and import it to your Outlook account. This becomes easier for you to create a contact group.

Please note that you cannot import the Excel sheet with contacts directly to your contact group list. All you can do is import a list of contacts from Excel to the Contacts folder. Then, follow the on-screen instruction to create a contact group.

These are the steps for how to create an email group in Outlook 365. If you use some other version of Outlook such as Outlook 2010, 2007, or 2003 then keep on reading to find the procedure for them too.

How to Create a Group Email List in Outlook 2010?

Those who own Outlook 2010 can also create a group email list. All you are required to do is create a contact group in your account. For that, you can follow three different ways that are as follows:

• Using the Address Book.
• By copying the names from an email message.
• Add a Contact Group received from someone.

Let’s know how to create a group email list in Outlook 2010 with these three different methods in the following steps.

Create a Contact Group from the Address Book

• Launch the “Outlook 2010” app.
• In the “Contacts” section, go to the “Home” tab. In the “New” group, click on the “New Contact Group” option.

• In the “Name” box, type a desired for your contact group. The group name may contain spaces.
• Now, on the “Contact Group” tab, go to the “Members” group.
• Click on the “Add Members” list and choose the preferable way to add the members. Here you will find three ways as shown below:
  • From Outlook Contacts
  • From Address Book
  • New E-mail Contact

If you prefer to add members From Outlook Contacts or From Address Book then you do the following:

• In the “Address Book” drop-down list, select the address book that contains email addresses you wish to add in the “Contact Group” list.
• Now, click on the names you wish to add from the list of names.
• Click on “Members”.

Note: You may add members from the different address books (if required) for the same group.

In case, you are adding a new member then add details by clicking on the New E-mail Contact option. Then, do the following:

• In the “Add New Member” window, enter the required details such as Name, Email address, and Email type.
• Do the same for adding other members with the preferred way and click “OK”.
• When done, on the “Contact Group” tab, in the “Actions” group, click on the “Save & Close” button.

This will save the details of all the members in a group with the name you have set for the email list. Now, whenever, you compose an email for these people, you don’t need to add a name or email addresses individually. Just type the group name in the To/Cc, Bcc field. This will send the composed email to all the members added to a particular group.

Create a Contact Group by Copying Emails

• Open the message from where you want to copy the names to add to the Contact Group.
• In the “To” or “Cc” field, select all the names using the mouse.
• Right-click the selection and select “Copy” or use “Ctrl + C” to copy the names.
• In your mail, go to the “Home” tab.
• In the “New” group, click “New Items”.
• Then click “More Items”.
• Click on “Contact Group”.

• In the “Name” box, type the desired name for your contact group.
• On the “Contact Group” tab, in the “Members” group, click on “Add Members”.
• Then, choose how you want to add “From Outlook Contacts” or “From Address Book”.
• At the bottom of the “Select Members” dialog box, go to the “Members” box.
• Right-click and click “Paste” or use “Ctrl + V” to paste the copied names.
• Click “OK”.

Note: It is not necessary that a member should be available in your Address Book or in your Contact list. You can add the names just by copying the names from the message.

Add a Contact Group Received from Someone

When you receive a message on Outlook that has a contact group email list, you can save it quickly to your Contacts. To do so, you can follow these steps.

• Open the message (that has a contact group email list).
• In the “To” or “Cc” box, right-click the “Contact Group”.
• Then, click “Add to Outlook Contacts”.

This will save the contact group in your Outlook contact list. It will be easier for you to use these email addresses directly to send messages to the same people.

Till now we have learned how to create a group email in Outlook 2010. In case you are currently using Outlook 2007, we will also teach you how to create a group of email addresses in Outlook 2007. Let’s know more in detail.

How to Create a Group in Outlook Email 2007?

In Outlook 2007, you would not find the Contact Group feature as it was formerly called the Distribution List. So, here we will learn to create a distribution list in Outlook 2007. 

In addition, a distribution list can be created following different ways which as follows:

• From the Address Book.
• By copying the names from the email message.
• By saving a Contact Group received from someone.

Now we will understand these different ways with a manual procedure. You can then pick the one you find convenient.

Note: If you use a Microsoft Exchange account then your Global Address List contains the distribution lists. In other words, your distribution list will be available to everyone who uses this network. However, personal distribution is only available to you in the Contacts folder.

To know how to create a group in Outlook email (2007), look for the following steps mentioned below.

Create Distribution List from the Address Book

• Launch the “Outlook 2007” app.
• Go to the “File” menu.
• Point to the “New” option.
• Click on the “Distribution List” option.
• Go to the “Name” box, enter the desired name for the distribution list.
• On the “Distribution List” tab, click on “Select Members”.
• In the “Address Book” drop-down list, select the address book that has the email addresses you wish to add to the list.
• In the “Search” box, enter the name you want to add. When the desired name appears in the result, click on it.
• Then, click “Members”.
• Do the same for other people to add to the list and hit the “OK” button.
• To add a longer description for your distribution list, go to the “Distribution List” tab.
• Click “Notes” and type the description.
• When done, on the “Contact Group” tab, in the “Actions” group, click on the “Save & Close” button.

Once you are done, the distribution list will be saved in your Contacts folder with the name you have set.

Note: The maximum number of members you add in a distribution list totally depends on the size of your contact files. A distribution list contains 50-70 email addresses and names. The maximum number of email addresses with the minimum contact file size is 125 approximately. This can also include other distribution lists.

Create a Distribution List by Copying Emails

• Open the email that includes the names you want to add to the distribution list.
• In the “To” or “Cc” field, highlight or select all the names using your mouse.
• Right-click the selection and click “Copy”. You can also use “Ctrl + C” to copy the names.
• Click on the “Microsoft Office Button”.
• Under the “Create New Outlook Item”, click on “Distribution List”.
• On the “Distribution List” tab, in the “Members” group, click on “Select Members”.
• At the bottom of the “Select Members” dialog box, go to the “Members” box.
• Right-click and click “Paste”. You can also use “Ctrl + V” to paste the copied names.
• Click “OK”.
• Now, in the “Name” box, add the desired name for your distribution list.
• On the “Distribution List” tab, in the “Actions” group, click on the “Save & Close” button.

Remember that it is not necessary that a member should be in your Address Book or in your Contact list. You can add multiple names at once by copying the names from the message.

Save a Contact Group Received from Someone

When you receive a message on Outlook that has a contact group email list, you can save it quickly to your Contacts. To do so, you can follow these steps.

• Open the message (that has a contact group email list).
• In the “To” or “Cc” box, right-click the “Contact Group”.
• Then, click “Add to Outlook Contacts”.

Doing so, the contact group will be saved in your Outlook contact list. It will be easier for you to use these email addresses directly to send messages to the same group of people.

These are the steps for how to create a group email in Microsoft Outlook 2007. In case you have the older version of Outlook, we have got the solutions for that too. Keep reading!

How to Create a Group Email in Outlook 2003?

If you regularly send messages to a group of people in Outlook 2003 then you can simply create a distribution list to make the job easier. Doing so, you will need to send the message to that group only. As a result, all the members will receive your email in one place.

Remember that Outlook 2003 has no Contact Groups feature but a Distribution List. To understand how to create a group email in Outlook 2003, check out these steps mentioned below.

• Open the “Outlook 2003” app
• Click on the “File” menu.
• Go to the “New” option.
• Click on the “Distribution List” option.

Tip: You can also use “Ctrl + Shift + L” keys on your keyboard to bring the Distribution List box.

• Enter the desired name for the distribution list in the “Name” box.
• On the “Distribution List” tab, click on “Select Members”.
• In the “Show names from the” drop-down list, select the desired address book that has the email addresses you wish to add to the list.
• In the “Search” box, enter the name you want to add. When the desired name appears in the result, click on it.
• Then, click “Members”.
• Do the same for other people to add to the list and hit the “OK” button.
• To add a longer description for your distribution list, go to the “Distribution List” tab.
• Click “Notes” and type the description.
• When done, click on the “Save & Close” button.

This will save your mentioned information for the distribution list. Henceforth, you can send emails to the group. For that, you just have to enter your group name (instead of a single email address) in the To/Cc, Bcc field. When you do so, your email will be sent to all the members added to a particular group.

Sum up

Creating a Contact Group or Distribution List in Outlook is pretty easy. All you have to do is identify your Outlook version and follow the methods accordingly. We have discussed how to create a group of email addresses in Outlook 365, 2016, 2010, 2007, and 2003.

Furthermore, we have learned different ways to create a contact group or a distribution list. For instance, you can create contact groups from the address book, by copying the email or add the contact group from the message you receive.

Hopefully, this guide has helped you.

If you are curious to know more about Outlook, read this curated guide on MSN email IMAP server setting for Outlook.