# Build your contact list

Source: https://yamm.com/help/usage/create-campaign/build-contact-list/

This article covers how to build your **contact list**, remove duplicate addresses, add extra recipients from your list or your **Gmail draft**, and send to only part of your list.

## Create a contact list manually

The simplest way to set up recipients is to create a spreadsheet and enter email addresses manually in an `Email` column.

1. [Create a new spreadsheet.](https://sheet.new/)

2. In cell `A1`, enter `Email`.

3. Add one email address per row, starting from row 2.

   ![Email addresses listed one per row in the Email column](https://yamm.com/help/images/docs/usage/create-campaign/build-contact-list/import-contacts-from-google-contacts-0.png)

Info: The column doesn't have to be named `Email`. YAMM detects any column that contains email addresses and lets you select it when you start a mail merge.

That's the minimum YAMM needs. You can add more columns — for [personalization markers](https://yamm.com/help/usage/create-campaign/personalize-content/index.md), [cc/bcc recipients](#reach-multiple-recipients-per-row), or [Google Groups](#reach-multiple-recipients-per-row) — at any time.

## Import your Google Contacts

Import email addresses from Google Contacts to create or expand your contact list.

[Watch the video on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVvjTNlsOUQ)

1. Select **Extensions** > **Yet Another Mail Merge: Mail Merge for Gmail** > **Import contacts (Google, Salesforce)**.

   ![Import contacts (Google, Salesforce) selected from the Yet Another Mail Merge add-on menu](https://yamm.com/help/images/docs/usage/create-campaign/build-contact-list/import-contacts-from-google-contacts-1.png)

2. Click **Google Contacts**.

   ![Google Contacts option in the Import contacts dialog](https://yamm.com/help/images/docs/usage/create-campaign/build-contact-list/import-contacts-from-google-contacts-2.png)

3. Select a group to import and click **Import contacts**.

   ![Group selected and Import contacts button in the Import contacts dialog](https://yamm.com/help/images/docs/usage/create-campaign/build-contact-list/import-contacts-from-google-contacts-3.png)

   ![Confirmation that contacts were imported, with a Start Mail Merge button](https://yamm.com/help/images/docs/usage/create-campaign/build-contact-list/import-contacts-from-google-contacts-4.png)

Your contacts are imported into your spreadsheet.

## Remove duplicate addresses

Avoid sending the same message multiple times to the same recipient by removing duplicate email addresses before starting your mail merge.

### Use Sheets' data cleanup

Google Sheets has a built-in data cleanup feature. It keeps the first occurrence of a value and removes subsequent duplicates.

1. Open your spreadsheet.

2. On the menu bar, go to **Data** > **Data cleanup** > **Remove duplicates**.

   ![Data cleanup > Remove duplicates in the Data menu](https://yamm.com/help/images/docs/usage/create-campaign/build-contact-list/how-to-remove-duplicate-email-addresses-in-google-sheets-1.png)

3. Choose the column to verify. For the email column, select **Column A**.

   ![Email Address column in the contact list](https://yamm.com/help/images/docs/usage/create-campaign/build-contact-list/how-to-remove-duplicate-email-addresses-in-google-sheets-2.png)

   ![Column A selected in the Remove duplicates dialog](https://yamm.com/help/images/docs/usage/create-campaign/build-contact-list/how-to-remove-duplicate-email-addresses-in-google-sheets-3.png)

4. Click **Remove duplicates**.

Google Sheets scans the column and removes all subsequent occurrences.

![Confirmation that 5 duplicate rows were found and removed](https://yamm.com/help/images/docs/usage/create-campaign/build-contact-list/how-to-remove-duplicate-email-addresses-in-google-sheets-4.png)

### Use conditional formatting

For more control, use conditional formatting to highlight duplicates so you can review and remove them yourself.

1. Open your spreadsheet.

2. Select **Format** > **Conditional formatting**.

   ![Conditional formatting selected in the Format menu](https://yamm.com/help/images/docs/usage/create-campaign/build-contact-list/how-to-remove-duplicate-email-addresses-in-google-sheets-5.png)

3. Enter the range — for example, `A1:A106` for the email column.

   ![Email column range entered in the Conditional format rules panel](https://yamm.com/help/images/docs/usage/create-campaign/build-contact-list/how-to-remove-duplicate-email-addresses-in-google-sheets-6.png)

4. Open the **Format cells if…** drop-down and select **Custom formula is**.

5. Enter the formula: `=COUNTIF(A:A,A1)>1`

   ![Custom formula entered to flag duplicate email addresses](https://yamm.com/help/images/docs/usage/create-campaign/build-contact-list/how-to-remove-duplicate-email-addresses-in-google-sheets-7.png)

   This highlights all duplicates in the range.

   ![Duplicate email addresses highlighted after applying the custom formula rule](https://yamm.com/help/images/docs/usage/create-campaign/build-contact-list/how-to-remove-duplicate-email-addresses-in-google-sheets-8.png)

6. Click **Done**.

You can now see all the duplicates and manually remove them.

## Reach multiple recipients per row

Beyond the standard one-recipient-per-row, YAMM supports several ways to reach more people from a single row. These methods can be combined.

| Case | Method | Quota impact |
| - | - | - |
| **Send the same email to several people** | Add multiple addresses in the same cell of your contact list, separated by a comma, space, semicolon, or slash. ![Multiple email addresses in one contact list cell](https://yamm.com/help/images/docs/usage/create-campaign/build-contact-list/multiple-recipients-same.png) | 1 per address |
| **Send an email to a Google group** | Add the group address in a `Google Groups` column, one group per row. ![Google Groups column in the contact list](https://yamm.com/help/images/docs/usage/create-campaign/build-contact-list/send-campaign-to-one-or-multiple-google-groups-1.png) | 1 per group, regardless of member count |
| **Copy someone on all emails** | Add the address in **cc** or **bcc** directly in your Gmail draft. ![cc and bcc fields in the Gmail draft](https://yamm.com/help/images/docs/usage/create-campaign/build-contact-list/multiple-recipients-cc-bcc-draft.png) | 1 per address × number of rows sent |
| **Copy someone on a specific row** | Add a `cc` or `bcc` column; add one or more addresses, separated by commas. ![cc or bcc column in the contact list](https://yamm.com/help/images/docs/usage/create-campaign/build-contact-list/multiple-recipients-bcc-spreadsheet.png) | 1 per address in the column |

Keep these limitations in mind when using multiple recipients:

- YAMM can't send emails with only cc and/or bcc recipients — there must be at least one address in the `Email` column.

- If one of the addresses in a cell is invalid, YAMM still sends to the valid ones — but it doesn't tell you which is bad. After the merge, you may see fewer sends than recipients in your spreadsheet.

  ![Confirmation showing fewer emails sent than recipients due to an invalid address](https://yamm.com/help/images/docs/usage/create-campaign/build-contact-list/send-email-to-multiple-recipients-at-same-time-1.png)

- When a cc/bcc recipient or group member opens your email, YAMM records it as `EMAIL_OPENED` but can't identify who — see [Open rate is unusually high](https://yamm.com/help/usage/track-campaign/open-rate/index.md#open-rate-is-unusually-high).

  ![EMAIL_OPENED status recorded for Google group rows, with no way to identify the individual opener](https://yamm.com/help/images/docs/usage/create-campaign/build-contact-list/send-campaign-to-one-or-multiple-google-groups-3.png)

## Filter out some recipients

Send to only some of the rows in your spreadsheet — for a specific segment, or to hold some recipients back until later. YAMM has three methods, and they all leave the rest of your list untouched for a later merge.

### Apply a Google Sheets filter

Best for large contact lists, where the rows to skip share a common value. YAMM sends only to the rows your filter displays.

1. Open your contact list spreadsheet.

2. Click cell `A1`, then click the **Filter** button.

   ![Filter button in the Google Sheets toolbar with cell A1 selected](https://yamm.com/help/images/docs/usage/create-campaign/build-contact-list/segment-your-list-and-only-send-emails-to-specific-people-rows-1.png)

3. Set your filter — for example, only the people who replied to a previous campaign.

   ![Contact list filtered to show only the rows to send to](https://yamm.com/help/images/docs/usage/create-campaign/build-contact-list/segment-your-list-and-only-send-emails-to-specific-people-rows-4.png)

Warning: This doesn't work with filtered **views**: several people can create different views on the same sheet, and YAMM can't detect which one is active. Use a Google Sheets filter instead.

![Filter view in Google Sheets, marked as not supported by YAMM](https://yamm.com/help/images/docs/usage/create-campaign/build-contact-list/segment-your-list-and-only-send-emails-to-specific-people-rows-7.png)

### Hide the rows to skip

Best for smaller contact lists. YAMM skips hidden rows and sends only to the visible ones.

1. Open your contact list spreadsheet.

2. Select the rows to skip, right-click, and select **Hide rows**.

   ![Contact list with rows 3 and 5 hidden, shown by the collapse arrows in the row numbers](https://yamm.com/help/images/docs/usage/create-campaign/build-contact-list/segment-your-list-and-only-send-emails-to-specific-people-rows-8.png)

After the merge, only the rows that were visible have a merge status.

![EMAIL_SENT recorded for the visible rows only, with the previously hidden rows left blank](https://yamm.com/help/images/docs/usage/create-campaign/build-contact-list/segment-your-list-and-only-send-emails-to-specific-people-rows-9.png)

### Enter 0 as a merge status

Best for skipping a few specific recipients, especially when they share no common value. Marking a row with 0 is a shortcut for filtering it out.

1. Open your contact list spreadsheet.

2. If your sheet doesn't have one, add a column named `Merge status`.

3. Enter `0` (zero) in that column for every row to skip.

   ![Merge status column with 0 entered for the rows to skip](https://yamm.com/help/images/docs/usage/create-campaign/build-contact-list/segment-your-list-and-only-send-emails-to-specific-people-rows-10.png)

When you start the mail merge, YAMM filters those rows out of your spreadsheet. The recipients won't be emailed.

## What's next

- [Send a test email](https://yamm.com/help/usage/create-campaign/send-test-email/index.md) to preview your email template.

- [Launch your campaign.](https://yamm.com/help/usage/launch-campaign/start-mail-merge/index.md)