Microsoft 365 Groups are a shared workspace for email, conversations, files, and events where group members can communicate and collaborate. For example, you can create a group for your team and invite other Microsoft 365 users to join the group, and then share documents, conversations, meeting notes, and OneNote information related to that specific group. Note: This feature requires that you have an Microsoft 365 account.

For additional information see https://its.uiowa.edu/services/microsoft-365/microsoft-365-groups

  1. Log into Outlook on the web
  2. Open Outlook
  3. In the navigation pane, click the arrow to the left of Folders
  4. You should now see Groups, select the Create button +. (If you don't see the Create button, hover your mouse over the navigation pane).
  5. In Choose a name, enter a group name that briefly captures the spirit of the group.
  6. To assign an abbreviated name to your group which will be part of the group URL, in the Group ID box click Edit. If you see "not available," the group ID is already in use. Try something different. Note that once you choose a group ID, it cannot be changed.
  7. In Privacy, do one of the following:
  • To create a group in which anyone within your organization can view its content and become a member, select Public.
  • To create a group in which membership requires approval by a group owner and only members can view group content, select Private (default)
  1. To enable subscribed members to receive email and calendar event notifications in both their group inbox and personal inbox, select Send copies of group conversations and events to members' inboxes (optional). This is recommended when members belong to multiple groups because it means they can see all group notifications in one place without having to visit each group mailbox in order to stay current with group activity.
  2. Select Create.
  3. If you're ready to add members to your newly created group, continue with the create group wizard. Otherwise, select Not now. You can always come back and add group members later.
  4. In Add people, type a name or email alias. As you type, suggestions will be displayed. Select the appropriate person. To add multiple members, start typing the next name after each selection. You can only add individual members, not groups.
  5. Select Add. You will see your newly created group on the left navigation pane and a Welcome email in your group's inbox.

Outlook (Windows and Mac) has the ability to use Groups as well as Microsoft 365. See Compare Outlook Groups on All Platforms for more details.  

You can also use groups in the Outlook Mobile app - see Use Groups in the Outlook mobile app for more details. 

In Outlook, I change the From field to my Microsoft 365 Group but get an undeliverable error after sending the email. A Microsoft 365 Group is a list of email addresses so you can only email to a Microsoft365 Group and not from the group.

The Group appears in the Mail section of Outlook. If you click on a group's Calendar button, the Group calendar opens in a new window. 

However, if you want the Group calendar to show up in your Calendar Navigation pane, you need to add the group to Favorites (right click on the group and then choose 'Add to Favorites'). Once you do this, the group Calendar will show on the Calendar Navigation pane at the bottom of the My Calendars group.

Please contact the ITS Help Desk and request that your Microsoft 365 Group be restored. Depending on when it was deleted, we may not be able to restore the group. Plan to provide the exact group name and time it was deleted.  A previous email to the group should have the group name.

When you create a group, even if it is private, the group appears in the Global Address list (GAL) and anyone can send an email to that group.  If you wish to have the group hidden from the GAL, contact the ITS Help Desk. 

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