How do i join a google group

Topics Map > Admin / Procedures

This KB documents how to join and leave a Google Group via email and the necessary Group Owner settings to allow/disallow the join feature.

If you have a list that allows people to join without being explicitly added by an administrator (i.e. a list open to the public), it’s possible to join the group via email.

Joining a list via email

1. To join a Google Group via email, send an email to [Group Name]+.
   1. For any group names with spaces, the spaces have to be replaced with hyphens (-), though standard naming conventions for Libraries lists do not include spaces.
   2. For example, to join the group called ulcinfo-lib, send an email to ulcinfo-lib+.
2. If this feature is available, you will receive an email with the following information:

We received your request to join [Group Name].

In order for us to complete the request, please reply to this email or click [the button] below.

Notes: 

• Always reply to the email to join. Clicking the button is inconsistent and will sometimes give an error of "you do not have permissions to access this group".
• You should send the subscribing message from the email address you want to receive messages. The above instructions need only be used for those without direct access to Google Groups at https://groups.google.com/a/wisc.edu/forum/#!myforums.
• For some groups, you may need to confirm the subscription request, as delineated above, while other with more restricted membership will require the group owner to approve your subscription request before you can join.

Leaving a list via email

1. To leave a Google Group via email, send a blank email to [Group Name]+un.
   1. In the standard convention, it should look like ulcinfo-lib+un.
2. If it is successful, you should receive an email with the following Subject Line and Content:

Your unsubscription to [group name] was successful.

Note: It may take some time for the unsubscribe request to go through. 

Group Settings

The following is for Group Owners:

• To enable the join feature, the Google Group setting under "Who Can Join This Group" is set to either "anyone can ask" or "anyone can join".
• For more security, "anyone can ask" will require approval for each incoming request.

Jim Ellsworth

unread,

Dec 4, 2011, 11:51:00 PM12/4/11

to

Hi all,

I have a couple of friends who would like to join the list.  They just got brand new iPhone 4S’s and are anxious to learn.

How can they join the list?  Can they just send an e mail request with something unique in the “to” field?

Thanks,

Jim

Reinhard Stebner

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Dec 5, 2011, 12:13:28 AM12/5/11

to

Have them Enter the following text on the browsers address bar:

http://groups.google.com/group/GroupName/boxsubscribe?email=myid

Replace the ‘GroupName’ here with the Google Group you wan to join and the ‘myid’ at the end with your desired email id. Hit enter and sweet! You will be required to click on the confirmation sent to the email id you entered and you would be subscribed without requiring a Google Account, Sign up

process, Gmail id etc.

For example:

http://groups.google.com/group/viphone/boxsubscribe?email=

Let me know if you have any additional questions

Jim Barbour

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Dec 5, 2011, 12:29:10 AM12/5/11

to

No, this list is specifically set up to not allow subscribing via email.

Here's what they need to do...

1) Visit http://groups.google.com/group/viphone

2) Login to Google, the subscriber will need a google account. If
necessary, they can create one. The email address they use for
their google account should be the email address where email for
this list gets delivered.

3) Click on "Edit my memberships" and then add yourself to the list.

Take Care,

Jim

Lynne Adema

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Dec 5, 2011, 12:50:40 AM12/5/11

to

All I did was go to google.com and search for viphone group. It list a link and I went there and signed up.

Sieghard

unread,

Dec 5, 2011, 10:20:29 PM12/5/11

to VIPhone

Hi Jim

The instructions Reinhard provided worked perfectly. I also did not
know you can subscribe in this way and by using this method use any
email address without having to first sign up with a gmail address.

I tried the link Reinhard provided, put "Viphone" in place of where he
wrote "ListName" or whatever it was and then at the end where it says
email=MyID just make sure you put whatever email you want after the
equals sign in place of "MyId". I tried this with my Hotmail address
and it straight away told me a confirmation message had been sent to
the email address provided. I checked my Hotmail and had the following
confirmation message from "" (it was in my
Junkmai lfolder, but it was there):

We have received a request for this email address to join the VIPhone
group, hosted by Google Groups. In order for us to process this
subscription, we need confirmation from you. If you did not request to
join this group, you may ignore this message.

This message is the result of someone entering your email address in a
public subscription box for this group. You will only be added to this
group if you click on the button below.

If you have questions related to this or any other Google group,
please visit the Help Center <http://groups.google.com/support?
hl=en&src=email> .

Anyhow, this was a good tip and I saved the link Reinhard provided,
much easier than signing up with a gmail address especially if you
don't have a gmail account and then having to add a different email to
the google profile and changing the delivery address.

Regards,
Sieghard
is a good

On Dec 4, 3:29 pm, Jim Barbour <> wrote:
> No, this list is specifically set up to not allow subscribing via email.
>
> Here's what they need to do...
>

> 1) Visithttp://groups.google.com/group/viphone

>
> 2) Login to Google, the subscriber will need a google account.  If
>    necessary, they can create one.  The email address they use for
>    their google account should be the email address where email for
>    this list gets delivered.
>
> 3) Click on "Edit my memberships" and then add yourself to the list.
>
> Take Care,
>
> Jim
>
>
>
> On Sun, Dec 04, 2011 at 05:51:00PM -0500, Jim Ellsworth wrote:
> > Hi all,
>
> > I have a couple of friends who would like to join the list.  They just got brand new iPhone 4S’s and are anxious to learn.
>
> > How can they join the list?  Can they just send an e mail request with something unique in the “to” field?
>
> > Thanks,
> > Jim
>
> > --
> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "VIPhone" group.
> > To post to this group, send email to .
> > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to viphone+.

> > For more options, visit this group athttp://groups.google.com/group/viphone?hl=en.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

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