What a distribution list does and why you might want one
A distribution list in Gmail is a saved group of email addresses that you can send a message to all at once by typing a single name. Instead of typing five or ten addresses into the "To" field every time you email the same group, you type one label — like "book club" or "project team" — and Gmail fills in all the addresses automatically.
Gmail calls this feature a contact group. It lives in your Contacts, not in your email settings, and it only works for messages you send from your own account. If you want other people to be able to send to the same group, you would need a different tool — Google Groups, which is a separate product. But for your own use, a contact group is fast and cuts down on typing mistakes.
Key Takeaways
- Gmail contact groups are created in Contacts, not in the Gmail inbox or settings.
- You can add addresses to a group one at a time, or paste multiple addresses at once if you have them in a list.
- Once you create a group, typing its name in the "To" field of a new email will show it as an option to select.
- You can edit a group later to add or remove addresses without creating a new one.
How to create a contact group from scratch
Open Google Contacts in a new tab — go to contacts.google.com, or click the grid icon in the top right of Gmail and select Contacts from the menu. You are not staying in Gmail for this step.
On the left side of the Contacts page, you will see a section called "Labels". Below that is a button that says "Create label". Click it. Type the name you want for your group — "Marketing Team", "Monthly Dinner", "Project Reviewers", whatever makes sense to you. Click "Save". The group now exists, but it is empty.
Adding addresses to your new group
After you create the group, a panel will appear on the right side asking you to add members. You can type or paste email addresses into the field. If you type, Gmail will suggest contacts it already knows about — click the name to add them. If you paste multiple addresses separated by commas, Gmail will add them all at once.
You do not have to add everyone right away. You can close this panel and add people later. To add addresses to an existing group, go back to Contacts, find the group name on the left side, click it, and then click the "Add members" button or the plus icon that appears.
Using your group to send an email
Go back to Gmail and start a new message. In the "To" field, start typing the name of your group. Gmail will show it as an option — it will have a small group icon next to it to tell you it is a group, not a single person. Click on it. All the addresses in that group will fill in at once.
You can still add individual addresses to the same message if you need to. The group just saves you from typing out the whole list. When you send, each person receives the email as if you typed their address individually — they do not see the other recipients unless you put the group in the "To" field instead of "Bcc".
The difference between To, Cc, and Bcc with groups
If you put a group in the "To" or "Cc" field, everyone in the group will see who else received the email. If you put a group in the "Bcc" field, each person will receive the email but will not see the other addresses. Bcc is useful for mailing lists where people do not need to know who else is on it, or where you want to protect people's privacy.
Gmail treats a group the same way it treats any other address for To, Cc, and Bcc — the field you choose determines what people see, not the fact that it is a group.
Editing or deleting a group later
Go back to Google Contacts and click the group name on the left. You will see all the addresses in that group. To add more people, click "Add members". To remove someone, hover over their name and click the trash icon. To delete the entire group, click the three-dot menu at the top right of the group and select "Delete label".
Deleting a group does not delete the individual contacts — it only removes the label that grouped them together. If you delete a group by mistake, you can undo it when ready using Ctrl+Z (or Cmd+Z on Mac), but after you close the page, it is gone.
Limits and things that do not work the way you might expect
A Gmail contact group only works when you are sending email from your own account. You cannot share a group with someone else so they can use it too — if your coworker needs to email the same people, they have to create their own group or you have to send them a forwarded message. If you need a group that multiple people can send to, use Google Groups instead, which is a different product with its own email address.
Contact groups also do not work in Gmail on your phone the same way they work on a computer. On mobile, you can still use a group you created on desktop, but creating a new group from your phone is harder. It is easier to create groups on a computer first.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use a contact group to send an email to myself and a group at the same time?
Yes. Type your own email address in the "To" field, then add the group name. Both you and everyone in the group will receive the email. This is useful if you want to keep a copy in your sent folder and also send to the group.
What happens if I remove someone from a group after I have already sent them an email?
Nothing happens to emails they already received. Removing someone from a group only affects future emails you send to that group. They will not receive the next message you send to the group, but they will still have the old messages.
Can I create a group of groups?
No. You cannot put one contact group inside another contact group. If you need to send to overlapping sets of people, you have to create separate groups for each set and add people to multiple groups if needed.
Is there a limit to how many people can be in one group?
Gmail does not publish a hard limit, but contact groups work best with under 500 addresses. If you are sending to thousands of people regularly, Google Groups is a better tool because it is designed for large mailing lists.