Create Email Group

Dear Computer Lady,

How do I create a list of email addresses, to which I send the same message on a number of occasions?

Thank you, Carol

 

Dear Carol,

Creating a list of email addresses is called creating a group. Before you begin you should have all the individual members that you want to be in your group already in your contacts or address list.

These directions will work great for small groups of 15 to 25 people. If you are going to be sending messages to larger groups, I would suggest that you look into an online group service like yahoo groups or Google groups.  

Here are directions for creating groups in the 5 most common email programs:

 

Outlook:

1. Open Outlook and click on “Contacts” in the navigation pane.
2. Click on “File” in the menu bar, point to, “New” and click on “Distribution List”.
3. Type a name for your list in the “Name:” section.
4. Click on “Select Members” in the command bar.
5. Double click on each name in your address book that you want to include in your list.
6. When you have added all your members, click the “OK” button.
7. Click the “Save and Close” button on the left of the command bar.
8. To send an email to your group, just start a new email message and type the name of your group in the “To” field.

 

Outlook Express:

1. Open Outlook Express and click on “Tools” in the menu bar. 
2. Click on “Address Book” in the drop down menu. 
3. In the Address Book window, click on “File” in the menu bar.
4. Click on “New Group…” in the menu.
5. In the “Group Name” section, type a name for your list.
6. Click on the “Select Members” button.
7. Double click on each contact that you want to be part of your group.
8. Click “OK” and then click “OK” again to close both windows.
9. To send an email to your group, start a new message and type the name of your group in the “To:” section.

 

Windows Mail:

1. Open Windows Mail and click on the “Contacts” button in the command bar. 2. In the “Contacts” window that opens, click on “New Contact Group” in the command bar. 3. Type a name for your group in the “Group Name” section. 
4. Click the “Add to Contact Group” button. 
5. Double click on the first contact that you want to add to your group. 
6. Click again on the “Add to contact Group” button. 
7. Double click on the next contact that you want to add to your group. 
8. Repeat steps 6 and 7 until you have added all the contacts that you want in your group. 
9. Click the “OK” button to save your group and close the window. 
10. Close the Contacts window. 
11. To send an email to your group, click “Create Mail” and type the name of your group in the “To:” field.

 

Gmail

1. Log into your Gmail page.
2. Click on “Contacts” in the left column.
3. Click on the “New Group” icon. It is a small square with a plus sign and two people.
4. Type a name for your group and click “OK” in the small dialog box that appears.
5. Click on the name of your new group in the contacts window.
6. Click once where it says, “Add to this group” and begin to type the name of your first member.
7. As you type a list will appear with names that match what you have typed so far.
8. Click on the correct name and it will appear in a list below.
9. Repeat steps 6-8 until your group has all the desired members.
10. Click on “Compose Mail” and type the group name in the “To:” section.

 

AOL

1. Open AOL and click on “Mail” in the menu bar, then click on “Address Book” in the menu.

2. Click on “Group Options” and then select “Add Group” from the drop down list.
3. Type a name for your group in the top section of the dialog box.
4. Click on a person that you want to be a member of your group and click on the “Add” button in the middle of the dialog box.
5. Repeat step 4 until all members have been added.
6. Click on the “Save” button at the bottom of the dialog box.
7. Click on “Write Mail” to start a new email message and type the name of your group in the “Send To:” section.

Elizabeth