How to use Groups in Proton Mail
You can create Groups in Proton Mail to make communications easier for teams in your organization. Emails you send to a group address will be forwarded to all group members, allowing you and other relevant stakeholders to contact all the team members in a group simultaneously using a single, unique email address. This functionality is also commonly known as a mailing list or distribution list.
Groups in Proton Mail are gradually rolling out to eligible users on Mail Professional, Proton Business Suite, and Visionary plans with a custom domain.
- How to manage groups
- How to accept group invites as a Proton user
- How to accept group invites as a non-Proton user
- How to send email to a group
- Frequently asked questions
How to manage groups
Organization administrators can manage groups, but first, you must enable multi-user support.
To get started, sign in to mail.proton.me(new window) and go to Settings → All settings → Organization → Groups.
How to create a group
To create a group, click the New group button. Specify a group name, purpose (optional), and group address for the new group.
Now you can add members to the group using their email addresses. Note that if you add a non-Proton Mail email address to the group, end-to-end encryption for messages going to the group address will be turned off. This does not affect the encryption of other emails received by Proton Mail addresses in the group.
Once you’re done, click the Save button to finish the group creation. Invites will be sent out automatically to group members.
How to configure group sending permissions
You can control who is allowed to send to a group using the Who can send to this group address menu in the group creation screen. Available options are:
- Everyone — Everyone can send emails to the group addresses. This includes emails from non-Proton users.
- Group members — Only emails sent from group members’ email addresses are accepted.
- No one — By default, no one is allowed to send to the group address. Admins can then override this permission for individual group members.
To grant a group member in a No one group permission to send emails to the group:
- Go to the Groups page in settings.
- Select the group and locate the group member whose permissions you’d like to change.
- Click on the three dots next to their name.
The group member permission options are:
- Use group permissions — Use the sending permission configured for the group.
- Always allow sending — Always allow this address to send emails to this group, regardless of the group’s configured permission.
How to edit a group
After a group is created, admins can change the group name, purpose, sending permission, and group members. To do so:
- Go to the Groups page in settings.
- Locate the group you’d like to edit.
- Click the Edit group button.
- Once you’re done, click the Save button to save changes.
How to accept group invites as a Proton user
When you add managed members from your own organization to a group, the membership gets automatically approved. Users can view which groups they are part of on the Group membership section in Settings → Account → Group membership.
When adding private members or email addresses outside your organization to the group, the membership must first be confirmed on this page.
How to accept group invites as a non-Proton user
Admins can also add the email addresses of non-Proton users to a group. In this case, an email will be sent to the external group member, allowing them to accept or decline the membership.
How to send email to a group
To send an email to a group, simply add the group address in the recipient field in your email. The email will then be sent to all active members of the group.
Frequently asked questions
Should I use Groups in Proton Mail or contact groups?
You may already be using our contact groups feature for personal use.
Groups in Proton Mail are better suited for organizations since they’re:
- Centrally managed: Groups in Proton Mail are managed centrally and available across your entire organization.
- Always up-to-date: The group email address remains valid, even as you add or remove members.
Contact groups, however, are limited to the user who creates them, and aren’t visible once your email is sent; they get replaced with individual email addresses belonging in the contact group.
Can I use groups within Proton Calendar or Proton Drive?
Groups are not supported at the moment within Proton Calendar or Proton Drive, meaning you cannot invite a group to an event, share a calendar with a group, or share files with a group. These are scenarios we are planning to eventually support.