Guide

How to create an email group

An email group is a saved set of addresses you can add to the To field by typing one name instead of pasting a dozen. Gmail and Outlook both support this, with different names for the same idea. Here is how to set one up in each, and what to do once maintaining the list becomes the annoying part.

1. 1

   Create an email group in Gmail

   Go to contacts.google.com and select the people you want in the group (checkboxes appear on hover). Click the label icon in the toolbar, choose "Create label," and name it, for example "Team parents." That label is now Gmail's version of a group. To send to everyone in it, start a new email and type the label name in the To field.

2. 2

   Create a contact group in Outlook

   In new Outlook or Outlook on the web, open the People app, click "New contact list," name it, and add members by email or by picking existing contacts. In classic Outlook for Windows it is Home, then New Contact Group, then Add Members. Either way, to send to the group, type its name in the To field of a new email.

3. 3

   Know the difference between a Gmail label and a Google Group

   A Contacts label just auto-fills the To field; the email still comes from your own address, one send at a time. A Google Group is a different, heavier product built for ongoing discussion: it gets its own address, and members can reply to the whole group. If you only need to blast an announcement occasionally, a label is simpler and does not require setting up a Group first.

4. 4

   The part neither one handles

   Both are lists you maintain by hand. Someone joins the team and you have to remember to add them; someone's address bounces and nothing tells you; a season later half the list has moved on and you find out when they reply confused. Neither Gmail nor Outlook shows you who actually opened or received the last send.

5. 5

   Or keep one list your whole team can send from

   TangoHive keeps a contact list for your group, imported by CSV or added one at a time, organized into named groups (like "Grade 3 parents" or "Volunteers") or tags. When you publish an announcement, you pick which groups or tags should get it and TangoHive sends and tracks the delivery. Anyone on your team with access can send to the current list; nobody has to keep a personal label in sync with who is actually on the team this season.

Short version: for a handful of recurring recipients, a Gmail label or an Outlook contact group takes a minute and works fine. For a group whose membership changes over a season, and where more than one person needs to send to the same current list, a shared, tracked list beats a label only you maintain.

Common questions