Use a contact group (formerly called a “distribution list”) to send an email to multiple people—a project team, a committee, or even just a group of friends—without having to add each name to the To, Cc, or Bcc line individually.
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On the Navigation bar, click People.
Note: You can find People in one of two places on the Navigation bar.
If you're using the compact Navigation bar, click the People icon.
If you're using the expanded Navigation bar, click the word, People.
Under My Contacts, select the folder where you want to save the contact group. Usually, you'll select Contacts.
On the Ribbon, select New Contact Group.
Give your contact group a name.
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Click Add Members, and then add people from your address book or contacts list.
Note: To add someone who is not in your address book or contacts, select New E-mail Contact.
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Click Save & Close.
To learn how to use your new contact group, see Send an email message to a contact group.
Import Contacts to Outlook
Note: If creating a contact group from an Excel list
If you have any business or personal contacts that you keep in an Excel spreadsheet, you can import them straight into Outlook.
Then you can create a contact group (formerly called a “distribution list”) using the imported contact information.
Unfortunately, you can't import a list of contacts from Excel directly into a distribution list. You can still import the contacts into your Contacts folder and then use the instructions above to create a distribution list from those contacts.
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At the top of your Outlook ribbon, choose File.
If your ribbon doesn't have a File option in the top left corner, you're using an older Outlook version. See What version of Outlook do I have? to get to the import instructions for your version of Outlook.
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Choose Open & Export > Import/Export. This starts the wizard!
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Choose Import from another program or file, and then choose Next.
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Choose Comma Separated Values, and then choose Next.
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In the Import a File box, browse to your contacts file, and then double-click to select it.
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Choose one of the following to specify how you want Outlook to handle duplicate contacts:
Replace duplicates with items imported. If a contact is already in Outlook and your contacts file, Outlook discards the info it has for that contact and uses it from your contacts file. You should choose this option if the contact info in your contacts file is more complete or more current than the contact info in Outlook.
Allow duplicates to be created. If a contact is in Outlook and your contacts file, Outlook creates duplicate contacts, one with the original Outlook info and one with the info imported from your contacts file. You can combine info for those people later to eliminate duplicate contacts. This is the default option.
Do not import duplicate items. If a contact is in Outlook and your contacts file, Outlook keeps the info it has for that contact and discards the info from your contacts file. You should choose this option if the Outlook contact info is more complete or more current than the info in your contacts file.
Click Next.
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In the Select a destination folder box, scroll to the top if needed and select the Contacts folder > Next. If you have multiple email accounts, choose the Contacts folder under the email account you want to be associated with the contacts.
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Choose Finish.
Outlook begins importing your contacts immediately. You'll know it's finished when the Import Progress box closes.
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To see your contacts, at the bottom of Outlook, choose the People icon.