Create a global address list in Exchange Online

The built-in global address list (GAL) that's automatically created by Exchange Online includes every mail-enabled object in the organization. You can create additional GALs to separate users by organization or location, but a user can only see and use one GAL. For more information about address lists, see Address lists in Exchange Online.

If your organization uses address book policies (ABPs), you'll need to create additional GALs. To learn more, see Address book policies in Exchange Online.

For additional GAL management tasks, see Address list procedures in Exchange Online.

What do you need to know before you begin?

Tip

Having problems? Ask for help in the Exchange forums. Visit the forums at Exchange Online or Exchange Online Protection.

Use Exchange Online PowerShell to create global address lists

To create a GAL, use the following syntax:

New-GlobalAddressList -Name "<GAL Name>" [<Precanned recipient filter | Custom recipient filter>]

This example creates a GAL with a precanned recipient filter:

  • Name: Contoso GAL

  • Precanned recipient filter: All recipient types where the Company value is Contoso.

New-GlobalAddressList -Name "Contoso GAL" -IncludedRecipients AllRecipients -ConditionalCompany Contoso

This example creates a GAL with a custom recipient filter:

  • Name: Agency A GAL

  • Custom recipient filter: All recipient types where the CustomAttribute15 property contains the value AgencyA.

New-GlobalAddressList -Name "Agency A GAL" -RecipientFilter "CustomAttribute15 -like '*AgencyA*'"

For detailed syntax and parameter information, see New-GlobalAddressList.

How do you know this worked?

To verify that you've successfully created a GAL, replace <GAL Name> with the name of the GAL and run the following command in Exchange Online PowerShell to verify the property values:

Get-GlobalAddressList -Identity "<GAL Name>" | Format-List Name,RecipientFilterType,RecipientFilter,IncludedRecipients,Conditional*