A contact group is a nickname for several people at once. You create it, put the addresses in, and from then on you type one word in the To box instead of ten addresses. Outlook expands it for you when the message is sent.
Create the group
Click the People icon in the bar on the left (it looks like two figures).
Contact groups live with your contacts, not with your mail, which is why people struggle to find them.
Click New Contact Group at the top left. If you only see New Contact, click the small arrow beside it.
Contact and Contact Group are two different things: one person versus a bundle of people.
Type a short, obvious name — Family, Choir, Street WhatsApp crowd — and nothing else yet.
This name is what you will type into the To box, so make it something you would guess in a hurry.
Add the people
Click Add Members then From Outlook Contacts.
Anyone already saved as a contact can be pulled in without retyping an address, so there is no risk of a typo.
Double-click each person you want. They appear along the bottom in the Members line. Click OK when done.
Double-clicking is faster than select-then-add, and the Members line lets you check nobody is missing.
For someone not in your contacts, click Add Members then New E-mail Contact, type their name and address, and click OK.
Tick 'Add to Contacts' in that box so they are available to every future group too.
Click Save & Close.
The group now sits in People like a single person. That is the whole trick.
Send your first message to it
Go back to Mail, click New Email, and start typing the group name in the To box.
Outlook suggests it after a couple of letters, usually shown in bold with a small group icon.
Before sending, click the small plus or arrow beside the group name to expand it.
Expanding shows every recipient so you can confirm the list before it goes out. Do this the first time to build trust in it.
If the message is personal, put the group in Bcc instead of To.
Bcc hides everyone's address from everyone else — the polite choice for anything wider than close family.
Keep it up to date
In People, double-click the group, then use Add Members or select a name and click Remove Member.
One edit updates every future email to that group.
Click Save & Close to finish.
Closing without saving leaves the group as it was — worth knowing before you assume someone was removed.
Check yourself
If you can say yes to each of these, you have finished.
- I have a group saved under a name I would guess.
- I can type that name into To and see it suggested.
- I know how to expand it to check who is included.
- I know how to add or remove someone later.