Creating Distribution Lists in Outlook

From ITS Wiki

If you have groups that you regularly send emails, distribution lists will make it easy for you to quickly your send messages with one or two clicks in the “To” field (instead of always adding each name). The directions below will guide you through the steps to follow to create distribution lists in Outlook 2007 and Outlook 2010.

For Outlook 2007…

Creating a distribution list by using names in the Address Book

1. On the File menu, point to New, and then click Distribution List.

2. In the Name box, type the name of your distribution list. (For example, "Political Friends.")

3. On the Distribution List tab, click Select Members.

4. In the Address Book drop-down list, click the address book that contains the e-mail addresses you want to include in your distribution list.

5. In the Search box, type a name that you want to include. When the name you're searching for appears in the list below, click it, and then click Members.

6. Do this for each person whom you want to add to the distribution list, and then click OK.

If you want to add a longer description of the distribution list, on the Distribution List tab, click Notes, and then type the text. The distribution list is saved in your Contacts folder under the name that you give it.

Creating a distribution list by copying names from an e-mail message

1. In the message that you want to copy the names from, select the names in the To or Cc box.

2. Right-click your selection, and then click Copy on the shortcut menu.

3. Click the Microsoft Office Button, and under Create New Outlook Item, click Distribution list.

4. On the Distribution List tab, in the Members group, click Select Members.

5. At the bottom of the Select Members dialog box, in the Members box, right-click and then click Paste on the shortcut menu.

6. Click OK.

7. In the Name box, type a name for the distribution list.

8. On the Distribution List tab, in the Actions group, click Save & Close.

For Outlook 2010…

Creating the Distribution List

1. Open Outlook

2. Click the Home tab to move to the Home Page, click Address Book to open your Address Book.

3. Click the list below Address Book, and then select Contacts.

4. On the File menu, click New Entry.

5. Under Select the entry type, click New Contact Group.

6. Under Put this Entry, click In The Contacts. (This may be automatically filled in with Contacts – your username)

7. Click OK. Your new distribution list is now set to be saved in the Contacts folder, and an untitled distribution list form opens. At this point, you can begin adding contacts to your new distribution list, as outlined in the following section.

Adding Contacts to Your New Distribution List

1. In the Name box, type the name of your new contact group.

2. Click the Select Members button to add members from any of your Address Book entries or Contacts.

3. Click Save And Close to save the new distribution list.

The name of the distribution list appears bold as compared to the other entries in the contact folder. In table views, the distribution list name appears in the Fill Name field. You can view the members of the list by opening the entry.