This method is not necessary if you use Outlook 2010. In Outlook 2010 you can hit Reply to All then copy the addresses from the To and CC fields and paste into the members field of a Contact Group form (DL).

If all recipients are in your address book (in Contacts or GAL) or the address is in the display name (either the address only or in this format: "Diane (diane@domain.com)" ) you can copy from the To and CC fields in any version of Outlook. Outlook will resolve the names to the contacts.

You can use any list of email addresses to create a DL (or Contact Group), including from Excel or a custom view in Outlook (with only the display name and email address visible.) The only requirement is that each member's information needs to be delimited with a semi-colon or paragraph mark (one name and address per line). If there is not a display name, the address will be used for the display name in the finished DL.

poremsky <me@gmail.domain.com>
Diane Poremsky <me@domain.com>; <diane@domain.com>;

Video Tutorial

This video tutorial shows you how to get addresses from the header of a message in your Inbox and create the distribution list.

To get the addresses from the Internet header:

1. Right click on the message.
2. Choose Message Options
3. Click in the header field of the Message options dialog and press Ctrl+A to select all, Ctrl+C to copy.
4. Close the dialog.
5. Open a new message form and paste the header into it. I press Ctrl+A to select the signature then Ctrl+V to paste over it.
6. Delete the content below the addresses and above it.
7. Remove the text "To:" "CC:" and "From:"
8. Use Find and Replace to replace the commas with semi-colons and tabs (^t) with a space.
   If a name and corresponding address are on different lines, backspace to remove the paragraph mark. If you aren't sure, Ctrl+Shift+8 to toggle marks on and off. Or use Find and replace to replace paragraph marks (^p) with spaces.
9. Copy the prepared addresses. (Ctrl+A to select all, Ctrl+C to copy)

Create the Distribution list:

1. Open a new DL form
2. Click on Select Members
3. Click in the Members field (at the bottom)
4. Paste (Ctrl+V) the addresses

Save and close.

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Last reviewed on Aug 28, 2011