What a group contact is and why you'd use one
A group contact on iPhone is a single entry in your Contacts app that holds multiple people's names and phone numbers or email addresses. When you tap it, you see everyone in the group at once instead of scrolling through separate contacts. This is useful for groups you message or call regularly — a carpool group, a book club, your immediate family, or a work team.
iPhone doesn't have a built-in "group contact" feature the way some Android phones do. Instead, you create what Apple calls a contact group using the Contacts app, or you can add multiple people to a single contact entry if they share a household or organization. The method you choose depends on whether you want one entry with many people, or a way to message and call multiple people at once.
The most practical approach for most people is to use the Contacts app to create a group, then use that group when composing messages or emails. This keeps your contacts organized and makes it faster to reach everyone at once.
Key Takeaways
- iPhone's Contacts app lets you create groups by opening Contacts, tapping Groups, then the plus sign, naming the group, and adding people from your contact list.
- Once you create a group, you can select it when composing a message or email to send to everyone in that group at once.
- You can also add multiple people to a single contact card if they live together or work at the same organization, which creates a different kind of grouping.
- Groups you create in Contacts sync across your iPhone, iPad, and Mac if you use iCloud, so changes on one device appear on the others.
Creating a group in the Contacts app
Open the Contacts app on your iPhone. At the bottom of the screen, tap the Groups tab (it looks like two overlapping circles). In the top-left corner, tap Edit, then tap the plus sign in the top-right corner to create a new group.
A text field appears asking you to name the group. Type the name you want — "Carpool," "Family," "Book Club," or whatever describes the people you're adding. Tap Save. The new group now appears in your Groups list, but it's empty.
To add people to the group, tap the group name to open it, then tap Edit in the top-right corner. Tap the plus sign that appears, and your full contact list opens. Scroll through or search for the person you want to add, then tap their name. Their contact card opens with a checkbox next to their name. Tap the checkbox to select them, then tap Done. Repeat this for each person you want in the group.
Once you've added everyone, tap Done again to finish editing the group. The group now shows how many people are in it, and you can see all their names and contact information when you tap the group.
Using a group to send messages or emails
When you open the Messages app and start a new message, tap the plus sign or the compose field to add recipients. As you type a name, your groups appear in the suggestions — tap the group name to add everyone in it to the message at once. The same works in the Mail app when you're composing an email.
This is faster than typing individual names, especially for groups you contact regularly. Everyone in the group receives the message as if you sent it to them individually — they don't see that you used a group, and they don't see each other's replies unless you're in a group chat.
If you want to create a group chat where everyone can see each other's messages, you can still use the group feature to start the conversation, but the behavior is the same as manually adding each person.
Adding multiple people to a single contact card
If the people you want to group together live in the same house or work at the same organization, you can add them all to one contact card instead of creating a group. Open Contacts, find or create the contact, and tap Edit. Scroll down and tap Add Related Name. Choose the relationship — Family, Friend, Colleague, or other options — and select the person from your contacts.
You can add multiple related names to one card this way. When you open that contact, you see all the related people listed. This approach works well for a family household where you might want one "Home" contact that lists everyone who lives there, or a work contact that includes your team members.
The difference from a group is that this creates relationships within a single contact card rather than a separate grouping. You can't send a message to all related names at once the way you can with a group — you'd still need to select each person individually or use a group instead.
Syncing groups across your devices
If you use iCloud to sync your contacts, any group you create on your iPhone automatically appears on your iPad and Mac. Changes you make to a group on one device — adding or removing people — sync to the others within a few minutes.
To make sure groups sync, go to Settings on your iPhone, tap your name at the top, tap iCloud, and make sure Contacts is toggled on. On a Mac, open System Settings, click your name, click iCloud, and check that Contacts is selected. On iPad, go to Settings, tap your name, tap iCloud, and toggle Contacts on.
If you don't use iCloud or you turn off contact syncing, groups you create stay only on that device and won't appear elsewhere.
Editing or deleting a group
To change a group after you've created it, open Contacts, tap Groups, find the group, and tap Edit. You can change the group's name, add more people, or remove people by tapping the minus sign next to their name and then tapping Remove.
To delete an entire group, tap Edit in the Groups view, then tap the minus sign next to the group name, and tap Delete. Deleting a group removes the grouping but doesn't delete the individual contacts — they stay in your Contacts app.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I send a text message to a group?
Yes. Open Messages, tap the compose button, and start typing a name. When your group appears in the suggestions, tap it to add everyone. You can then type your message and send it. Everyone receives it individually, not as a group chat, unless you specifically create a group chat.
What's the difference between a group and a group chat?
A group in Contacts is just an organizational tool — a list of people. A group chat is an active conversation in Messages where everyone can see each other's replies. You can use a group to start a group chat, but they're separate things.
If I delete someone from my contacts, do they disappear from the group too?
Yes. When you delete a contact entirely, they're removed from any groups they were in. If you only want to remove them from the group but keep their contact information, edit the group and tap the minus sign next to their name instead.
Can I create a group on my Mac and have it show up on my iPhone?
Yes, if iCloud syncing is on for Contacts on both devices. Create the group on your Mac in Contacts, and it appears on your iPhone within a few minutes. The same works in reverse.
Do people in my group see each other's contact information?
No. A group is private to you. When you send a message to a group, each person receives it individually and doesn't see that you used a group or who else received it, unless you're in an active group chat.