How to Make a Group Email in Gmail (and Edit It Later)

To make a group email in Gmail, create a label in Google Contacts and add the people you want to reach. Then type that label’s name in Gmail’s To field and select it to fill in the recipients.

That is the contact-group feature you need for a book club, volunteer rota, or recurring project update. The group lives under Labels in Google Contacts, so looking for a separate group button in Gmail’s sidebar won’t help. You can change the membership later without building the list again.

A contact label does not create a new email address. If you want an address that distributes incoming messages to members, our Google Groups email guide covers that option.

The desktop and Android instructions below were checked against Google’s help on October 7, 2026.

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How to make a group email in Gmail

1. Open Google Contacts using the account you send from.
2. Create a label, give it a memorable name, and save it.
3. Select the people who belong on your list.
4. Apply that label using Manage labels.
5. Return to Gmail and select the label in a new message’s recipient field.

How to create a contact group in Gmail with Google Contacts

Start at Google Contacts. Next to Labels in the left sidebar, choose Create label, enter a name, and click Save. A specific name like “Saturday volunteers” is easier to recognize than “Group 1.”

Next, check the boxes beside your contacts. Open Manage labels at the top, choose the label you just created, and click Apply. These are the controls in Google’s contact-group instructions.

Before continuing, open your new label and look through the names. For a volunteer list, check that it includes this week’s helpers rather than everyone who has ever helped.

Check the email address, too. If someone’s contact record contains both a personal and a work address, the label uses only their default email address. Google documents that caveat in its Contacts guide, so don’t assume both addresses will receive your message.

Create or edit a group without leaving Gmail

You can also manage contact labels from Gmail’s recipient picker. Open Compose, then click the To, Cc, or Bcc label beside the recipient field to open the picker. Find a contact, select their checkbox, and open Manage labels.

From there, apply an existing label, remove a label, or choose Create label and follow the prompts. Google includes this route under “Create or edit groups”.

This is handy when you remember a missing person halfway through writing an update. Make sure you’re changing their label membership, not just adding them to this one message. If the list needs a bigger cleanup, the full Google Contacts view gives you more room to review it.

Make a contact group from a list of email addresses

Save the addresses as contacts first, then apply your group label. For a short list, use Create contact in Google Contacts; Google also documents Create multiple contacts for entering several people together in its add contacts guide.

Already emailed someone? Look in Other contacts on the desktop. For a work or school account, you may also find colleagues in Directory; Google’s Workspace instructions explain how to add a directory entry to your contacts before organizing it.

For a spreadsheet, use Google’s contact template and save it as a CSV. In Contacts, choose Import, then Select file, select your CSV, and import it. Review the imported records and apply the label to the people you want in the group.

Google’s import guide also accepts vCard files. Split imports larger than 3,000 contacts into separate CSVs, and remember that the account’s total contact limit is 25,000. Check names and email columns before importing a large file. A misplaced column can leave you with records that aren’t ready to email.

How to send a group email in Gmail

Start a new message in Gmail, type your contact label in To, and select the matching suggestion. Gmail expands the label into individual recipients, so check those addresses before sending.

Use this sequence for your first group message:

1. Open Gmail on your computer and click Compose.
2. Enter the label name in To and choose the correct group.
3. Review the recipients, especially anyone with more than one saved email address.
4. Add your subject, message, and any attachments.
5. Send when both the content and recipient list are ready.

Google’s sending instructions show that the contacts appear in the recipient field. The label is a shortcut for selecting people, not an address that receives mail itself.

For an important announcement, send yourself a separate test first to check formatting and attachments. That test checks the message, not the group’s membership: still review the expanded recipient list in the actual group draft.

If no matching label appears, check that Contacts and Gmail are using the same Google account. Then open the label in Contacts to confirm that it contains the people you expected.

Send a group email without showing everyone’s address

Put your contact group in Bcc when recipients should not see each other’s email addresses. You can put your own address in To, then select the group in Bcc and check that none of its members remains in To or Cc.

Google’s Bcc documentation explains that Bcc recipients cannot see other Bcc recipients. They can still see anyone listed in To or Cc.

Bcc is useful for a club announcement where members have not agreed to share their addresses. Use To or Cc when visible participation is intentional, such as a small project discussion where everyone needs to reply to everyone else. Our guide to CC and BCC in Gmail explains that distinction.

Bcc does not make a message anonymous: recipients still know who sent it. It also does not turn your contact label into a shared mailbox or a managed newsletter subscription.

How to edit an email group in Gmail

1. Open Google Contacts in the account that owns the list.
2. Choose the group’s label to inspect its members.
3. Apply the label to anyone you want to add.
4. Uncheck it for anyone you want to remove.
5. Check the recipients again when you compose your next group email.

Add someone to a group email in Gmail

Save the person as a contact if necessary. Select their record, open Manage labels, choose your group’s label, and click Apply. Open the label afterward to confirm they appear.

For example, when a new volunteer joins, update “Saturday volunteers” before composing the next rota. Adding their address to a draft is enough for that one send, but updating the saved group avoids having to remember them each week.

Remove someone from a group

Open the label in Google Contacts and select the person or people to remove. At the top right, open Label and uncheck the group’s name. That is the removal path in Google’s Workspace Contacts guide.

Use the label controls for a membership change, rather than deleting the person’s contact record. You may still need their details for another list or an individual message. If you’ve already addressed a draft to the group, review its recipients before sending. The addresses visible in that draft are the ones to check.

Rename or delete a group

To rename or delete the list itself, open Google Contacts and point to its name under Labels, then follow the on-screen prompts. That is the route in Google’s edit-or-delete guidance.

Before confirming a deletion, read the dialog carefully and check what it will remove. If you only want fewer people on the list, remove their label membership instead. If the list still serves a purpose but has a confusing name, rename it to something you’ll recognize while composing.

See who is in an email group

Click the label’s name in Google Contacts to review its members. Then compare that list with the addresses Gmail inserts when you select the group in a draft.

Those checks answer different questions: who belongs to the saved group, and which addresses this particular message will reach. Use both after a staff change, a new school term, or a club membership renewal.

For clearing old messages rather than changing your contact list, see how to clean up Gmail.

Make a contact group on Android or use a computer for iPhone

On Android, use the Google Contacts app to create and maintain contact labels. Google’s Android instructions give this route:

1. Open Contacts and tap Label at the top.
2. Choose New label, enter a name, and tap OK.
3. Tap Add contact and select a person.
4. To add several people, touch and hold a contact, select the others, and tap Add.

To remove people, open the label, touch and hold a contact, select any others, and use More → Remove from label. Google notes that some steps require Android 14 or later.

Android also lets you change a contact’s default email: open the contact, touch and hold the desired address, and select Set default. This helps when a group message would otherwise go to someone’s old or personal address.

On an iPhone, use a computer instead: create the group in Google Contacts and send to it from desktop Gmail, as described above. The Android label controls don’t apply to iPhone.

Gmail group email limits

A contact label does not increase your account’s sending allowance. The table below lists Google’s published limits as of October 7, 2026; Workspace daily limits use a rolling 24-hour window.

Sources: personal Gmail limits, Workspace sending limits, Contacts storage limits, and mail merge limits.

Because Gmail expands a contact label into separate addresses, count every address in the label as a recipient when you plan a send. Using a label doesn’t get you around the limits.

Total and unique recipients are different counts. Sending twice to the same 400 external addresses uses 800 total recipient deliveries but 400 unique recipients. A 2,500-person list already exceeds the standard per-message cap, even before you consider daily allowances.

For a mass mailing list, eligible Workspace accounts can use mail merge, which sends personalized copies and adds an unsubscribe link. Eligibility includes Workspace Individual, Business Standard/Plus, Enterprise Standard/Plus, and Education Standard/Plus. Creating a contact label alone does not enable mail merge.

Gmail contact groups vs Google Groups vs distribution lists

A Gmail contact group is a label you maintain in Google Contacts. “Gmail distribution list” commonly describes that same reusable recipient list; a Google Group is a separate service with its own email address.

Here is the practical distinction as of October 2026:

Google documents the address and permissions in its group settings guide. For setup, follow our Google Groups email guide; for assigning incoming group conversations, see Google Groups Collaborative Inbox.

How to create a distribution list in Gmail

Use the contact-label steps above: save the contacts, give them one label, and select it when composing. You do not need to create a Google Group just to reuse a list of recipients.

Contact labels also differ from Gmail labels, which organize messages in your inbox. If your goal is to share Gmail labels containing conversations, that is a different workflow from organizing people’s contact details.

When a group email needs a shared inbox

A contact group is enough when one person sends updates and handles the replies. It becomes awkward when several teammates need to answer messages sent to support@ or info@ and keep track of who is handling each request.

Imagine two volunteers answering registration questions. A recipient list helps reach both volunteers, but it doesn’t assign the next parent’s question to either one. They still need to coordinate who answers and check whether the other person has already replied.

That is a team email management problem. A shared inbox gives the team a place to manage incoming conversations, while our Gmail shared mailbox guide explains the options for doing that in Gmail.

Keeping’s shared inbox for Gmail lets agents assign conversations, track their status, and add internal notes inside Gmail. Teammates can see who owns the work, and replies go from the shared mailbox address. Those capabilities help a team answering customers. You don’t need them to email your book club.

Source: Using Keeping in Gmail, Keeping’s public help guide.

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Frequently asked questions about Gmail contact groups