How to create Distribution List in Outlook for 365

In this article you will learn how to create Distribution List in Outlook for 365. You will learn how to create distribution list (DL), how to add members in distribution list, and how to send email using distribution list.

Outlook Distribution Group

Outlook Distribution Group (DG) is similar to the Distribution Group created in Exchange Admin Center. Both distribution groups are used to distribute the emails to their members, but they operate at different levels of the email infrastructure. Let’s talk about the difference between distribution groups created from Outlook and the distribution groups created from Exchange Admin Center (EAC).

Outlook Distribution Group
  • Outlook distribution groups are created and managed within the Outlook email client. They are primarily used for sending emails to a group of people simultaneously without having to add individual recipients every time.
  • These groups are usually managed by end-users within Outlook.
  • Outlook distribution groups are limited to email communication within the Outlook client environment.
Exchange Online Distribution Group
  • Exchange Online distribution groups are created and managed at the server level in Microsoft Exchange Online.
  • They are similar to Outlook distribution groups in function, allowing you to send emails to a group of recipients with a single email address.
  • Exchange Online distribution groups offer additional features and administrative controls compared to Outlook distribution groups. For example, administrators can assign permissions on the groups so that users can send emails using these distribution groups.
  • Exchange Online distribution groups can be managed through the Exchange Admin Center (EAC) or PowerShell commands, offering more robust management capabilities than those available within Outlook alone.

Why you need to create a distribution list in Outlook

The purpose of creating a distribution list in Outlook is to easily send emails to multiple users (internal or external).

Imagine you want to send an email to multiple users. If you do not have a distribution list in Outlook, you need to type their email addresses manually as shown below:

send email to multiple users in outlook

Instead of typing multiple email addresses in TO or CC field, you can create a distribution group in Outlook, add members within the group, type the email address of distribution group in TO or CC field, and the email will be delivered to all the members of the group.

Create distribution list in Outlook for 365

To create a distribution list in Outlook, click Contacts, make sure you are on Home page, and click New Contact Group as shown in below image.

create a distribution group in outlook

Give a name to the distribution list, click Add Members and click From Address Book.

add members in distribution list in outlook

Add users in the group by double clicking on their accounts in Address List, and click OK.

add users in distribution list in outlook

As you can see in the below image, the users are added in distribution list. Click Save & Close to close the wizard.

users in outlook contacts group

Create a distribution group in Outlook from email

If you’re always emailing the same group of people, you can create a distribution group in Outlook that includes all of the recipients by using a previous email that you sent to them.

Find the email in your mailbox Sent Items folder, select all the email addresses and click Copy.

copy emails in outlook

Click Contacts, make sure you are on the Home tab, and click New Contact Group.

create a distribution group in outlook

Give a name to the distribution list, click Add Members and click From Outlook Contacts.

create DL in outlook client

Paste the email addresses next to Members as shown below and click OK.

create list in outlook

You can see in the below image, the email addresses are added within My DL distribution list. Click Save & Close to close the wizard.

emails in dl in outlook

Send email from Distribution Group in Outlook

To send an email from distribution group in Outlook, click New Email, type the email address of the distribution list that you just created in TO or CC field and click Send.

Send email from Distribution Group

You can also see the members of the distribution list by clicking the + icon before the distribution list name as shown below.

expand distribution list in outlook

On the Expand List prompt, click OK.

expand dl in outlook

In the below image you can see all the members of this distribution list.

users of DL

Conclusion

In this article you learnt how to create a distribution group in Outlook for 365, how to add members in the group, and how to send email using distribution group in Outlook application.

You might like our other article on Convert Distribution Group to Microsoft 365 Group.

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