How to find your Gmail Contacts List (2024 Guide) (2024)

Your contacts list is one of the most important elements in Gmail. Everyone of your recipients’ details can be found in your Gmail contacts list, saving you time in having to memorize each email address for when you need to get in touch.

The Gmail address book is one of the best way to double-up your efficiency in sending and receiving emails. But, knowing how to reorganize your contact list into easy-to-manage and more practical email groups, is the next step that will make your experience with Gmail as quick and as convenient as possible. In this guide, you’ll learn everything you need so you can find your Google contacts lists and create email groups for faster results.

Here’s what you’ll learn in this extensive guide:

The different ways to find your Gmail contacts (Step-by-Step Guide)
- using Gmail’s companion sidebar
- from Gmail’s inbox
- from Google’s homepage
- through the search bar in your browser
How to manage your Gmail contacts (Step-by-Step Guide)
- adding contacts in Gmail
- importing multiple contacts in Gmail
- exporting all your Gmail’s contacts
- editing a contact
- deleting a contact
How to go further with your Gmail contacts
- search for specific contacts
- use advanced search operators
- use labels to group contacts
- remove duplicates in your contacts list
How to create an email group in Gmail with your Google contacts

Ready to find out more? Let’s get started!

Your Gmail list of email addresses is your direct access to the contacts you need to reach. They’re a big deal, so you’ll want to know where to find the contacts list from your desktop or laptop.

Fortunately, tracking down your addressees is quick and easy. There are several ways you can get hold of your Gmail mailing list: either via Gmail or through the Google homepage.

In this quick guide, we’ll take you through all those methods, so you can access your Gmail contacts list.

How to find my contacts list using Gmail’s sidebar

Open your Gmail inbox
On the right side, within the companion sidebar, click on the Google Contacts icon
You can then browse all your Google Contacts (without leaving Gmail!)

Here’s a video that shows how to access your contacts list from Gmail’s companion sidebar:

How to find my contact list from Gmail’s inbox

Your first step should be to head to your Gmail inbox. From here, navigate over to the top right of your screen where you’ll find a button that looks like a nine-dot grid. Click this button
A drop-down menu should open up with your Google Apps, including your contacts, under a blue circular symbol with a person icon at its center. Click this icon.
A list of your Gmail contacts will appear just as before, ready to be messaged and contacted whenever you’re ready

That’s everything! Quick and easy, perfect for fast and reliable mail merges.

How do I access my contact list through Google homepage?

Open Google.com homepage

Head straight for the Google homepage and just as before, head to the top right corner of your screen. You’ll find the same grid icon as before – click on it.
Select the contacts page

On the dropdown menu that appears, you’ll find the same icon as with the Gmail route – a blue circle with a white silhouette in the middle.
Browse your contacts

Click on the icon and you’ll be taken through to your contacts again – all set up just as you left them!

As you can see, getting to your contact list through the Google homepage is just as simple as going through Gmail.

How to find my contacts lists through the search bar

You can also find you contact lists by going through the search bar on your browser. This can be the quickest way to get to your address book:

Click on the search barClick on the search bar of your browser, found at the top of the page.
Type in the Google Contacts addressEnter in contacts.google.com and hit enter. Your contact list will load and you’ll be all set.

So those were three handy ways for getting to the contacts list! All of your contacts you’ve already added should be there, so you’ll have everything you need to get your emails on the go.

How to manage your Gmail contacts?

Now that you know where to access your Gmail contacts list, let’s see how to add, import, export, manage duplicates and delete your contacts.

How do you add contacts in Gmail?

Open Google Contacts
In the upper left, click on the Create contact button, then click on “Create a contact”
A new page opens where you can fill the details of your new contact
Once you are ready, click on Save

You can add as much details as you want to your Google contact, including first name, last name, company name, job title, email address, phone number. That’s just a handful of all the details you can add, as more fields likelike birthday, website can be added or even custom fields.

One powerful feature is that you can label contacts to make it easier to find people of the same interest (e.g. skateboarders that you’ve met recently).

How do you import multiple contacts in Gmail?

Open Google Contacts
On the left sidebar, click on the Import option
Select a file to upload in CSV format or vCard
Once you are ready, click on Import to upload the file
Your contacts will be imported shortly after

How do you export all your Gmail contacts?

Open Google Contacts
On the left sidebar, click on the Export option
Select which contacts you want to export and how to export them
As soon as you click on Export button, a file with the selected contacts will be downloaded to your desktop

Exporting all your Gmail contacts is regularly used before sending a grouped email, for example when you want to invite everyone to an event, a party or to your wedding! To send personalized emails that feel unique, think about using a mail merge solution such as Mailmeteor.

How do you edit a contact in Gmail?

Open Google Contacts
Search for the contact in the search bar
To edit a contact, click on its name in the list

See Also
iPhone Basics: Adding and Managing Contacts
The contact profile shows up. Now, click on the Edit button
Make changes to your profile. Once you’re ready, click on the Save button
Your contact is now modified

How do you delete contacts in Gmail?

Open Google Contacts
Search for the contact in the search bar
Open the contact profile page by clicking on its name in the list
The contact profile shows up. Now, click on the “⋮” button to show more options
Select the Delete option to delete the contact definitely

How do you search contacts in Gmail?

Open Google Contacts
Search for the contact in the search bar. You can search just as you would search in Google. Email address, first name, last name, you named it. Google Contacts will show you the best results according to your query.
To learn more about a contact, click on its name in the search results
The contact profile shows up

Now that you have find a contact, learn how to edit it, add a label or delete it.

How to do an advanced search in Google Contacts?

While Google Contacts is really powerful to look for string in all your contacts, such as first name or last name, it definitely lacks of advanced search operators.

Here are all the available advanced queries you can perform in Google Contacts:

Search contacts by first name, last name
Search for all contacts having the email domain with: *@company.com
Search for any string present in your contacts details (e.g. New York)

Here are all the search operations you can NOT perform as of today:

Searching within a group of contacts (aka labels)
Searching for contact created after/before a date
Searching for all contacts living in a city or a country

How do you create contact group in Google Contacts?

Open Google Contacts
Select the contacts you want to group together
Now, click on the label icon in the topbar
Apply a label already created or click on Create label
Name your new group of contacts and click Save

Your contact group is now created. You can access it anytime from the left sidebar. You can also export it and send personalized emails to each recipient using a mail merge for Gmail.

How do you manage duplicates in your contacts list?

Open Google Contacts
On the left sidebar, click on the Merge & fix option
Google Contacts makes suggestions on which contacts seems duplicates. Review the suggestions and merge duplicates one by one by clicking on Merge or Dimiss
If you are happy with all the suggestions, you can click on Merge all

How do I create an email group in Gmail?

Now you’ve got your contact lists prepped and sorted, you might be thinking about creating an email group so that you can get everything organized for when you need to start sending emails.

Email groups are handy ways of collecting categories of recipient into one group. Say, for example, you regularly send emails to your family – without email groups, you’d have to enter each member’s email addresses into the recipient bar, one after the other.

With an email group, you can place all of your family in one group, called ‘family’ for example, and then all you need to do is type in family into the Gmail recipient bar and you can send emails to all members quickly and efficiently.

Creating email groups in Gmail takes only a few short steps. We’ve provided a step-by-step guide below on how to create a group email in Gmail to help you get started:

Head to your contactsJust like we saw in the previous guide, make your way to your contacts list through either the Gmail interface, the Google homepage or through your browser.
Pick the contacts from the groupCheck through your contacts and pick the ones you want to include as part of the group.
Add labels to each contactOnce you’ve chosen your contacts, click the label icon and choose create label.
Name the labelGive the label a name like family, or students for example.
Send your group an emailWhenever you’re ready, click on the email icon in the menu bar. A new Gmail window will pop up. Write up your first email and enter the name of your group into the recipients box. The group should automatically appear and your email will be all ready to go!

It's possible to export your group to Google Sheets in order to send them personalized emails using a mail merge. To export your group, click on the three vertically aligned dots then "Export". You will be able to export your group to a CSV file that you can then import to Google Sheets.

What’s next?

So now you’re all ready to go with your group emails from Gmail – but the best, most efficient and most reliable way to reach multiple recipients with one click is to go with a mail merge in Gmail.

A mail merge in Gmail lets you send the one email to hundreds of recipients all at the same time. Using a mail merge solution, like Mailmeteor, the top-rated Google mail merge add-on, will allow you to personalize each email for each contact, making every message feel unique and individual.

Better yet, with Mailmeteor, you can source all your contacts for your mail merge emails using Google Sheets. With extra importance placed on privacy, you’ll know your in safe and reliable hands with Mailmeteor.

This guide was written by Jean Dubrulle, founder at Mailmeteor. Mailmeteor is a simple & privacy-focused emailing software. Trusted by millions of users worldwide, it is often considered as the best Gmail mail merge to send mass personalized emails. Give us a try and let us know what you think!

➤ Start sending mass emails in Gmail with Mailmeteor

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