If you have a team, committee, board, or family members and friends you send email to on a regular basis, a distribution list saves you time. You won't have to enter each email address or contact name. Instead, you enter the group name and Outlook takes care of the rest.
A distribution list, or group mailing list, contains a group of Contacts with its own name. You might create lists called "Board," "Team", and "Department." If you use Exchange, you can also use distribution lists in task requests and meeting requests.
Follow these steps to create a new distribution list:
- Click New from the File menu and select Distribution List, or use Ctrl+Shift+L shortcut.
- Enter a name into the Name box.
- Click Select Members from the Distribution List tab's Members group for those listed in Contacts.
- Select the Address Book by clicking the down arrow under Address book.
- Enter the name into the search box to quickly navigate the list, select the name, and click Members.
- Repeat Step 5 for each member you want in the distribution list, and click OK when finished.
- Click Add New from the Distribution List tab's Members group to add members who don't appear in Contacts.
- Complete the Add New Member form and click OK.
- Click Save & Close.
Send an email to the newly created distribution list by opening a new e-mail message and entering the name of the list into the To box. You can click To and open the Contact list to search for the name of the distribution list. Write the email message and send it.
Save time by clicking the plus sign (+) next to the distribution list in the To box and click OK to expand the list showing the members' names. The disadvantage of this method is that you can't collapse the list. This comes in handy if you're planning a surprise for one or two members on the list and you need to remove them from the email distribution.
To add or delete names from a distribution list, click the Address Book icon and locate the distribution list. Double-click the list to manage the list. Click Remove to delete a name. Click Save & Close when you finish.
