Purdue University Northwest > Information Technology > Services > Email Distribution Lists

Email Distribution Lists

Email distribution lists are used to send an email to multiple people—a project team, a committee, or even just a group of friends—without having to add each name to the To, Cc, or Bcc line individually.

Distribution Lists at PNW

Faculty, staff, and student users will be automatically added to university-wide e-mail distribution lists when their accounts are first created.  Users cannot be removed from these lists as long as their PNW status does not change.  Only authorized individuals are able to send to these lists.  Contact your department head to request authorization to send to these lists.

Users may also be added to distribution lists by their local department, business unit, school, or even class.  On occasion, users will be given the ability to send to these lists.  Rights to send to those lists are managed by the owner/creator of the list.

There are distribution lists available for discussion between PNW faculty and staff.  These lists can be joined and left by faculty and staff at their discretion.  Those lists are: #PNW_Faculty_Discussion and #PNW_Staff_Discussion.  Instructions on joining those lists can be found below.

Joining/Leaving a Distribution List (Faculty/Staff)

While some distribution lists are mandatory, some lists can be joined/left at the user’s discretion.  Users can also contact the CSC for distribution list support.  Follow these instructions to view the lists you are a member of, leave them, or join others:

  1. Open a web browser (Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, etc.)
  2. Go to https://outlook.office365.com.
  3. Login with your @pnw.edu e-mail address and password.
  4. Select the gear (settings) icon on the top right of the screen.
  5. Select “View all Outlook settings” on the bottom of the menu.
  6. Go to “General” settings.
  7. Select “Distribution groups”
  8. The left column will show you all of the distribution groups that you currently belong to, the right side shows groups that you own.
  1. On the left column, select the icon with the + symbol.
  2. The all group dialog box will appear.  Type in the group name you want to join in the search box.
  3. Once the groups shows up on the list, select the group to highlight it.
  4. Select the join icon with the + symbol and you will be added to the group.
  1. On the left column, select the group that you would like to leave.
  2. Select the remove icon with the – symbol.
  3. Choose Yes on the following dialog to be removed from the list.