How To Create An Email Distribution List In Office 365

You can create a group to store a list of people you want to send email to. Use this group to send messages to multiple contacts without having to enter each contact separately in the message.

Groups that you create in your Contacts folder aren't available to other users in the University.

How to create a Contact Group in Office 365

Click on the menu icon in Office 365 then, in the pop out menu, select People
ExpandNew and choose Contact list
Enter a name for the list
Think privacy...when naming your contact group, think about making sure it has a name that is obviously different from any other contact lists or resource accounts you use. This is essential to avoid inadvertently sending information to the wrong person / group. The most important thing is that the first few letters are not the same as any other email addresses or groups you use. For example, rather than having the groups "Childhood Yr1" and "Childhood Yr2", perhaps call them "1st Year Childhood" and "2nd Year Childhood", so that the first few letters are different. The autocomplete feature in Outlook can be very helpful but only if it autocompletes with the correct address.
In the Add members box, start typing the name of someone you want to add to the list. If the person is not already one of your contacts, you can choose to search the University's directory
Once you have clicked on the person's name they will be added to the list
Add all the people who you want to be in the list in the same way.
When you have finished, click Save

Note: to subsequently edit your list, click on the Office 365 pop out menu icon, click on People. Search on the name of your list, check the box next to the name and then click Edit in the menu bar.

Using your contact group in an email

In Office 365 Email, click on the To: button in the To field of a new email
Select the double arrow to expand the side panel
Select Your contacts
Depending on how many contacts you have, you may be able to see the group name. Otherwise you can search for it
Once found, click the plussymbol to the right of the group name, and you'll see it appear in the 'To' field
Select Save and you will be returned to the email

Please note: if you regularly send emails to this group you may be able to start typing the group name in the To field and select it from those suggested Please take note of the privacy caution above when naming the group.

More information about contact lists for Office 365 from Microsoft.

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