Home > Administrative Offices > Information Technology > Helpdesk > Windows Live > Creating and Using a Contact Group(Distribution List)

Creating and Using a Contact Group(Distribution List)

Step 1:

Open Microsoft Outlook 2010.

Opening Page on Startup of Microsoft Outlook

Step 2:

On the Home tab select New Items, then More Items, then Contact Group.

Step 3:

In the Name box type the name you would like to use for your group.

Name Box highlighted, type name for group

Step 4:

Select New Members, and then choose From Outlook Contacts, From Address Book, or New E-mail Contact.

Add Members and Type selected Highlighted

Step 5:

If you are adding a New E-mail Contact, enter the information for the person in the Add New Member dialog box.

If you are adding a member from Outlook Contacts or Address Book, skip to Step 6.

Add new member window, Display name ane e-mail address boxes highlighted

Step 6:

In the Address Book drop-down list, click the address book that contains the email addresses that you want to include in your Contact Group.

Select Members window, Select Address Book

Step 7:

In the list of names, click the names that you want, and then click Members. You can add names from different address books to the same Contact Group.

Select name highlighted, select member

Step 8:

Add all members you wish to be in the group, and then click Okay.

Select Okay (highlighted)

Step 9:

Now click the Save & Close button.

Contact Group Window, Save & Close button highlighted

Step 10:

You will be able to view your new group in your Contacts.

Contact List, Contact List highlighted

Using your contact group

Step 1:

To send a message or meeting invitation to a Contact Group, enter the group name in the To: field or Bcc: field.

New message window, To... field and Bcc... field highlighted

Step 2:

To send using the Bcc: field you will need to click the To: button.

New message window, To... button highlighted

Step 3:

Now select your Contacts from the drop down menu, then select the Group you would like the message sent to, and click the Bcc: button followed by OK.

Select names window, Address book select contacts, group and Bcc button highlighted

Step 4:

When you send your message it will now appear in your sent items folder with all names and e-mail addresses of the group members shown.

Sent items window, e-mail recipients highlighted

Note:

When you send a message using a Contact Group via the To: field, everyone who receives the message will see all the addresses of the people in the group. In order to prevent this, send messages where you are using a Contact Group via the Bcc: field.

Congratulations!

Congratulations! You have successfully created and used a Contact Group (Distribution List) in Microsoft Outlook 2010. If you encounter any issues while following these steps, feel free to e-mail us at helpdesk@valdosta.edu or call us at (229) 245-4357.

Please note that our work request system can only accept emails sent from a VSU email address.