need to send bulk emails

Question

need to send bulk emails

William Jantjies 0

We have established a Governing Body Association for Schools need to send bulk emails

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2 answers

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Answer 1

Liora 2,080 Independent Advisor

Dear @William,

I hope you’re having a good day.

There are several ways to send email communications, and the most suitable option depends on the size of your audience and how frequently you plan to contact them.

If you regularly send messages to the same group of people, you may find it helpful to create an Outlook Contact Group. This allows you to send a message to multiple recipients using a single group name instead of selecting each address individually. For more information: Create a contact group in Outlook | Microsoft Support
If your association uses Microsoft 365, a Distribution Group is often a better long-term solution. Members can be managed centrally, and emails sent to the group address are automatically delivered to all members. For more information: Create and manage distribution groups in Exchange Online | Microsoft Learn
For organizations that need more than email, such as shared conversations, files, calendars, and collaboration tools, you may also consider a Microsoft 365 Group. For more information: Create a group in the admin center - Microsoft 365 admin | Microsoft Learn
If you need to send personalized emails (for example, inserting the recipient's name, school name, or other information into each message), Mail Merge in Word and Outlook may be appropriate. For more information: Use mail merge in Word to send bulk email messages
If you plan to send newsletters or communications to a very large audience on a regular basis, it is also important to be aware of Exchange Online sending limits, as Microsoft 365 is not designed to function as a large-scale email marketing platform. Reference: Exchange Online limits - Service Descriptions | Microsoft Learn

To help identify the most suitable option for your Governing Body Association, could you please provide a little more information?

Approximately how many recipients will receive the emails?
Are you using a Microsoft 365 organization account or a personal Outlook account?
Will these be occasional announcements or regular communications?
Do all recipients belong to a fixed group, or does the recipient list change frequently?

I hope the information above is helpful. Thank you, and I look forward to your reply so that more specific guidance can be provided.

Warm regards,

If the answer is helpful, please select "Yes, accept answer". If you have any questions or new updates, please feel free to comment below.

William Jantjies 0 Reputation points

2026-09-22T14:26:29.8733333+00:00

I love the first point, viz:"If you regularly send messages to the same group of people, you may find it helpful to create an Outlook Contact Group. This allows you to send a message to multiple recipients using a single group name instead of selecting each address individually. For more information: Create a contact group in Outlook | Microsoft Support ' but I do not know how to do it
Liora 2,080 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-09-22T15:28:50.5133333+00:00
Hi William,

I'm glad that option sounds useful for your association.

Since your question is currently tagged Classic Outlook for Windows, I'll provide the steps using the Classic Outlook interface so that the instructions match what you are most likely seeing on your screen. In newer versions of Outlook, Microsoft refers to the same feature as a Contact List, while in Classic Outlook it is called a Contact Group.

If you happen to be using New Outlook or Outlook on the web, the process is very similar.

How to create a Contact Group in Classic Outlook

Open Outlook > Select People from the navigation pane > On the ribbon, select New Contact Group.

Enter a name for the group, for example: Governing Body Association

Select Add Members. Choose members from:

Outlook Contacts, if they already exist in your contacts list.

Address Book, if they are part of your organization's directory.

Select the people you want to include and click OK.

Select Save & Close.

After the group has been created, simply compose a new email and enter the Contact Group name in the To field. Outlook will automatically send the message to all members of that group.

I hope this helps you get started. Thank you for your follow-up, and I wish you the very best with your new Governing Body Association.

If the answer helps you, you may consider selecting "Yes, accept answer". This helps the answer stand out and may assist other users who are looking for the same information in the future.

Kind regards.
William Jantjies 0 Reputation points

2026-09-22T15:59:07.54+00:00

Perhaps you must give me the other option as this method is also not helping
William Jantjies 0 Reputation points

2026-09-22T16:02:33.66+00:00

How many email addresses can I put in a group?
William Jantjies 0 Reputation points

2026-09-22T16:14:51.2866667+00:00

2000; personal outlook account; kind of regular; fixed group
William Jantjies 0 Reputation points

2026-09-23T10:53:02.4533333+00:00

Hello William JANTJIES,

We limit the number of recipients for an email message to help free the world from spammers. We're sorry that it's getting in your way.

What do you need to do?

To send your mail, please remove some recipients. You may be able to increase the limit by verifying your account.

Verifying your account helps you enjoy Outlook.com with fewer interruptions and limitations.

Thanks, The Outlook.com Team......HOW DO I "VERIFYING YOUR ACCOUNT"
Liora 2,080 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-09-23T15:52:48.6566667+00:00
Hi William,

Thank you for the additional information.

Since you mentioned that you are using a personal Outlook.com account, need to contact approximately 2,000 recipients, and plan to send messages on a regular basis, the limitation you encountered is expected. Outlook.com applies sending limits to help prevent spam and abuse.

You can try verifying your account using the link provided in the message. However, even after verification, Outlook.com is generally not intended to be used for large-scale bulk email campaigns.

For a fixed group of around 2,000 recipients, you may want to consider a solution designed for this type of communication, such as:

Microsoft 365 Business Basic with Distribution Groups or Microsoft 365 Groups.

Mailchimp for newsletters and mass communications.

Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) for mailing lists and regular announcements.

These services are specifically designed to manage larger recipient groups and are typically more suitable than a personal Outlook.com account for ongoing communications.

If you need assistance with account verification, Outlook.com sending limits, or subscription options, you may also contact Microsoft Support directly: https://support.microsoft.com/contactus

I hope this information helps.

Kind regards.

Answer 2

For bulk email from Outlook/Word, the supported Microsoft option in the provided guidance is Word Mail Merge.

Install or use a MAPI-compatible email program such as Outlook.
In Word, open or create the message to send.
Go to Mailings > Start Mail Merge > E-mail Messages.
Prepare a mailing list that includes a column for email addresses for every recipient.
- If using Excel, format ZIP/postal code columns as Text to preserve leading zeroes.
- If using Outlook contacts, Outlook must be the default email program and the same version as Word.
Go to Mailings > Select Recipients and connect the mailing list.
Add personalization fields with Mailings > Insert Merge Field.
Preview the messages with Mailings > Preview Results.
Send with Mailings > Finish & Merge > Merge to E-Mail.
- Choose the To field, subject, and whether to send as Text, HTML, or Attachment.
- Merge to E-Mail is unavailable if a default email program is not selected.
- Selecting Mail Merge To Outbox places the messages in Outbox.

For larger-scale mass mailings, the provided Microsoft guidance recommends using resources outside Microsoft 365 for bulk email, such as:

on-premises email servers, or
a non-Microsoft bulk email provider.

Also keep the recipient database clean by removing incorrect or non-existent email aliases to reduce bounces and protect deliverability.

If the bulk email is promotional, bulk sender requirements include:

authenticate email domains,
provide a visible unsubscribe link,
enable one-click unsubscribe,
keep spam rates low,
do not use gmail.com or yahoo.com as the From address for bulk mailing.