How to create a distribution list in Outlook

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Setting up distribution lists are a great idea if you regularly send emails to a specific group of people.  For example, you might be running a project and need to send emails to your team.  Rather than having to type in each person’s email address every time you send a message, you can just select the distribution list and the email will go to everyone on that list.

This obviously saves you a lot of time and effort and ensures that you don’t miss anyone out of important email messages.

So read on to find out how to create a distribution list in Outlook and send an email to it, or click on the image below to view the video in YouTube.

To create a distribution list in Outlook, go to Contacts and select New in the menu bar at the top and then Distribution List from the drop down menu.

Give the list a name.  Now choose the people that you want to add to the list.  For existing contacts click on the Select Members button and choose the people you want to add. To select more than one member at a time, just hold the Ctrl key down when clicking on the name. Then click on the Members button and the names will be added, and click OK.

If you want to add people who aren’t already on your contact list then click on the Add New button and type in their details, and click OK.

Once you have added everyone to the list then Save & Close.  As you can see, the list appears in the main Contacts folder.

To send an email to that distribution list, double click on it in the folder and the dialog box will open up.  Select Email in the menu and you will be taken to a new email dialog box.  Write your email and send it in the normal way.  If you don’t want to share everyone’s email addresses with each other then ensure that you move the distribution list to BCC.

So now you know how to create a distribution list in Outlook and send an email to that list.
 

If you want to get more tips on how to manage your time and work effectively in your business, then download a copy of our guide “How to organise your workload so there’s more time for you“. This guide is packed full of time management tips as well as 10 online tools to help you work more productively. Click on the link to download the guide >> How to organise your workload
 

How to Export an Outlook Distribution List

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If you’ve got a distribution list on Outlook and you now want to use it in other programs such as email marketing, then you will need to download the list on to your computer.

This blog outlines how to export an Outlook distribution list and save it in a format that you can use in other software such as an email marketing or contact management program.

Alternatively you can watch the video below.

• First of all locate your distribution list on Outlook and double click to open it.

• You open up a new dialog box which lists the names and email addresses of the people on the list.

• Click on the “Send” drop down menu in the menu bar at the top and select “In Internet Format”.

• You open up a new email dialog box with the distribution list attached as a plain text file.  Open the plain text file attached to the email by double clicking on it.

• Copy the contents of the plain text file (information from the distribution list, eg names, email addresses etc) by selecting the text, right clicking on it and then selecting Copy from the menu.

• Now open up an Excel spreadsheet, click on the first cell in the sheet, and select Paste from the menu bar at the top.

• This will paste the names and email addresses from the plain text document into the appropriate columns in the spreadsheet.  You may need to adjust the width and height of the columns and rows.

• Ensure everything has been copied across correctly and then click on the Office button on the top left of the menu bar and choose Save As from the menu.  Give the spreadsheet a name and in the “Save as type” drop down box underneath, choose CSV (comma delimited).  This saves the spreadsheet as a CSV file which is basically the same as a normal Excel spreadsheet but without any formatting. Ignore any dialog boxes that pop up – just click on OK or Yes.

So now you know how to export an Outlook distribution list in a format that can be uploaded to other programs such as MailChimp or Aweber for email marketing, or Capsule for CRM database management.

 
If you want to get more tips on how to manage your time and work effectively in your business, then download a copy of our guide “How to organise your workload so there’s more time for you“. This guide is packed full of time management tips as well as 10 online tools to help you work more productively. Click on the link to download the guide >> How to organise your workload