Creating and Managing Ad-hoc Google Groups

Ad-hoc Google Groups function as mail lists (mail “forwards”) and are created by an individual for personal or group use. They can be used as collaborative inboxes that have the same functionality as shared email accounts. Ad-hoc groups can also be used more broadly within Google Workspace (see Using Google Groups for Collaboration for more details) for granting access to Shared drives and Calendar events. An ad-hoc Google Group has ‘.group’ appended to its name (e.g., applefans.group@lafayette.edu). The ability to send email is determined by the owner/creator of the group.

Creating and Managing ad-hoc groups

Create an ad-hoc group

  1. Select the Groups icon from the “waffle” in the upper-right hand corner of any Google Workspace application, and near the top-left, click Create Group.
    • Note: a manually created group will have “.group” appended to its name (e.g., myteam.group@lafayette.edu)
  2. Enter the info and settings for the group.
  3. Click Create group.
    • Wait a few minutes for your new group to become active before sending a message to it or adding members.

See Google Group Roles and Permissions for more information on group membership and permission levels.

Manage your group's settings

The following settings can be accessed by clicking Group settings in the bottom left menu:

  • General: Change the group’s name, description, and email settings.
  • Posting policies: Determine who can moderate content and post to the group.
  • Email options: Set features to be included in every email.
    • A subject prefix: This helps identify messages as group email by adding a prefix, e.g., [ITS-group], to the beginning of each email subject.
    • A footer: This can help users access subscription settings and find the post in Google Groups.
    • Auto replies: This allows you to respond automatically to members and non-members of the group.
  • Member moderation: Set who can manage members and modify roles in the group.
  • Delete group

Information about your group

The About item, the last on the left menu, shows basic information about the group, such as the owners and privacy settings.

Add members to your group

See Adding People to Your Google Group for more information.

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