Find and join a group

This article is for finding public groups that end in googlegroups.com. To find groups in your work or school account, go to Get started with Groups: Find and join a group.

You can join a group to have discussions about a topic or communicate with your team, organization, class, or other people. Some groups let you join immediately, but others require you to request membership.

You need a Google Account to join and participate in groups. However, you can't join groups using a Google Account that is set up for a child under 13. If a group is public, you can search for and read the group's messages without joining it.

Join a group directly

Depending on a group's settings, you can search for the group and join it from the group's page. If you know a group exists but can't find it, contact the group owner to request access.

  1. Sign in to Google Groups.
  2. Search for the group:
    1. At the top, click My groups and select All groups and messages.
    2. In the search box, enter the group's name or email address or a group topic and press Enter.
  3. (Optional) To customize or expand the search results, choose an option:
    • If you searched for a topic and want to view only groups, at the top, click Groups.
    • To view more results, at the bottom of the Groups search results, click +x more groups.
  4. Click the groupand then Join group.

    If you don't find any option to join the group or instead find Ask to join group or Contact owners and managers, go to Request to join a group (below).

  5. Anyone who can view the group's members can see your Google profile. If you don't want your profile to be visible:
    1. Uncheck the Link to my Google account profile box.
    2. (Optional) To use a different display name, click Display name and enter the name.
  6. For Subscription, select how to get email updates from the group.
  7. If available and you don't want to be automatically subscribed to updates when you post to the group, uncheck the Subscribe me to email updates box.
  8. Click Join group.

Request to join a group

If a group's settings don't let you join directly:

  1. Follow steps 1–4 above in Join a group directly.
  2. Click Ask to join group or Contact owners and managers. If you click:
    • Ask to join group—Wait for an email confirming approval of your membership.
    • Contact owners and managers—Complete and send the message to the group owners and managers to request membership. Then, wait for an email confirming approval of your membership.
  3. If there isn't any option to request or join , you can only join the group by direct invitation from a group owner or manager. If you know a group owner or manager, contact them and ask them to invite you.

Join a group without a Gmail address

If you don't have a Gmail address, you can still join groups. You need to associate your email address with a Google Account. If you:

  • Don't have a Google Account—Create a Google Account without changing your email address
  • Have a Google Account—Sign in to your Google Account with another email address

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