How to Create a Contact Group on iPhone—the Easy Way!

Making iPhone contact groups allows you to quickly send a message or email to multiple people. If you want to create a contact group for text messages, you can do that in the iPhone Messages app. We'll teach you how to add groups on your iPhone so you can quickly send group texts and emails.

How to Group Contacts on iPhone for Email

To make an email contact group using the method below, you will need to have updated your iPhone to iOS 17 or later. You'll also need to make sure that each contact you want to add to the group has an email address saved in their contact card; otherwise, you won't be able to include that contact in the group email. Here's how to create a group contact on iPhone, so you can easily send group emails:

1. To create a group on your iPhone, open the Phone app or Contacts app. From your main contacts list, tap Lists in the upper-left corner.
2. Tap Add Lists to create a new email group.
3. If you have email contacts synced, you'll need to tap your email contacts or iCloud contacts. In this case, I selected iCloud contacts.
4. Type a name for your list, then tap Done on your keyboard to save the name.
5. Tap your new list to open it and begin adding contacts.
6. Select Add Contacts or tap the plus icon in the top corner.
7. Tap to select each contact you want to add to your list. Selected contacts will have a blue check mark beside them.
8. When you're finished adding contacts, tap Done.
9. Review your new email group and make sure the correct contacts were added. From here, you can also tap the Mail icon to draft a new email to your group.

Now, whenever you need to send a group email on your iPhone, you can just start a draft in the Mail app and type the name of the contact group in the To: field. When you tap send, an email will be sent to each member of the group.

How to Create a Group on iPhone for Texting

You used to be able to text iPhone contact groups as well as email them, but that feature no longer works. However, the Messages app lets you create a group text on your iPhone, name it, and pin that chat to the top of the Messages app so you can easily find and text that contact group any time. Here's how to add a group to an iPhone for texting:

1. Start a new text in the Messages app. In the To: field, add all the contacts you want to include in the group text.
2. Compose your text as usual and tap the Send icon.
3. If you want to name your group chat, tap the contacts displayed at the top. (This requires everyone in the chat to have an iPhone and be using iMessages or to have RCS messaging enabled.)
4. Tap Change Name and Photo.
5. Type a group name and tap Done when you're finished.

One thing to be aware of is that if you delete the group conversation you created, you will not be able to send a text message to the group by entering the group name. However, as long as the group chat isn't deleted, you can use this quick shortcut to efficiently send large group texts.

That's all there is to it! Now, you can easily create groups on your iPhone to quickly send large group emails and texts. Have you ever accidentally deleted a contact? If so, you might be interested in learning how to retrieve deleted contacts on your iPhone. For more help with managing contacts, check out our guide on deleting multiple contacts at once. Be sure to check out our free Tip of the Day for more great iPhone tutorials.