How to Create a Contact or Distribution List in Outlook

Do you often need to loop in the same group of people via email? Make your life much easier by learning how to create a contact or distribution list in Outlook. Send emails to multiple recipients with just a click, saving you the hassle of typing each email address every time. This tutorial shows you how to get it done.

Note: Distribution Lists are called Contact Lists in newer versions of Outlook.

Create and Edit a Contact List in Outlook on Desktop

The Outlook email client for Windows and macOS is a powerful tool that offers many features to make your email experience as efficient as possible. That said, with great power comes a bit of complexity, which certainly extends to the Outlook contact or distribution list creation process. Follow our step-by-step instructions to navigate the maze that is Outlook’s user interface.

Tip: to clear your inbox more quickly, try creating rules for your Outlook emails.

Windows

Keep in mind that our instructions are intended for the latest version. If you’re using an older version, some steps might vary a little.

Launch Outlook and switch to the People tab by clicking the corresponding icon in the sidebar on the left.

Click the small arrow next to the New contact button, and select the New contact list option.

Name your new contact list and enter all email addresses you want to include in the email entry field, clicking the Add button after each address. Click the Create button to save your Outlook distribution list.

You can find your list in the All contact lists section of the People tab. To add or remove addresses, select the list, and click the Edit button in the top toolbar.

Mac

In Outlook for Mac, open the Help menu. Select the Revert to Legacy Outlook option. Unfortunately, this step is mandatory, as the contact or distribution list feature currently isn’t included in the latest version of the email client.

Switch to the People tab by clicking the corresponding icon at the bottom of the left sidebar.

Select the New Contact List option in the top toolbar. If the option is grayed out, open Outlook settings, go to the General section, and disable the Hide On My Computer folders option.

Name your new contact list, and click the Add button to include all intended recipients. Click Save & Close once you’re happy with how your Outlook distribution list looks.

To edit any distribution list created in Outlook for Mac, navigate to the People tab, select the address book in the On My Computer section, and click the list you want to edit.

Tip: in addition to contact or distribution lists, both Outlook for Windows and Outlook for Mac support email templates, and they can save you a lot of time if you often find yourself sending similar messages.

Create and Edit a Contact List in Outlook on the Web (Outlook.com)

Using Outlook.com? Don’t worry; you’re not left out of the contact list game. The Web interface has much in common with the latest desktop version of Outlook for Windows, so learning how to create a contact list in Outlook on the Web (as Outlook.com is sometimes called) is a breeze:

In your Outlook.com account, navigate to the People tab by selecting the relevant icon in the sidebar on the left.

Click the tiny drop-down arrow adjacent to the New Contact button, and choose the New Contact List option.

Assign a name to your new contact list, and input all desired email addresses into the designated field, clicking Add after each one. Click the Create button to finalize and save your new Outlook distribution list.

Locate your saved list under the All Contact Lists area within the People tab. To either add or delete email addresses, highlight your list, and hit the Edit button in the upper toolbar.

Outlook Contact List vs. Group

You wouldn’t be the first Outlook user to wonder about the difference between a contact list and a group. Both features seem to offer similar functionalities – grouping multiple email addresses under one name – but they’re not entirely interchangeable:

• Contact List: allows you to send an email to multiple people without having to select each address one by one.
• Group: a shared workspace that gives multiple team members access to a shared inbox, calendar, and file storage.

If your main goal is to send emails to multiple people as effortlessly as possible, then a contact list is what you need. But if your team needs a more collaborative environment with shared files, calendars, and a central space for conversations, then an Outlook Group is the right choice.

Mastering Microsoft Outlook

So there you have it, a simple roadmap on how to create a contact list in Outlook across various platforms. Now that you have the hang of it, why not take your Outlook skills to the next level? Let us show you how to use conditional formatting in Microsoft Outlook, which will help you keep your inbox more organized.

Image credit: Unsplash. All screenshots by David Morelo.