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I'm a manager on Google Groups for a group that has about 100 members. I want to be able to edit the display name so I can identify who my users are, instead of "JKL6" for example, which is the prefix for an email address. First, I can't seem to edit the "Display Name" and second, I have deleted the list of email addresses when I was fooling around with the identity tool. I was trying to change the settings about display name vs. Google name, and now my "Members" list does not have ANY email addresses showing.

2 Answers 2

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If you need to edit the "Display Name" of a user there is a easy work around for the Group Manager.

  1. Make a note of the members details i.e. email address
  2. Remove them from the group.
  3. Directly add them using the following format: "Display Name" <[email protected]>

*update as of 5/21/19 the format is simply:enter image description here You don't need quotes around the name & using them makes it appear in the user name (e.g. "Fred Smith" will appear if you use quotation marks). Put a space between first & last name, but NO other spaces are needed. Put a comma after each bracketed email if you're adding multiple emails. You can only add 10 emails at once.

This is handy for fixing typos or making display names more meaningful

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    This does not work for users outside the domain.
    – dmikester1
    Commented Apr 6, 2017 at 15:31
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    Indeed does not work. Has not worked since at least 2010. See productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/apps/6Z8OpwGk7UM for a support thread from 2009. Still not fixed.
    – Wim Leers
    Commented May 17, 2018 at 11:48
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    This worked fine for me in October 2018. I added someone to my group with format "John Doe" <[email protected]> and "John Doe" was correctly used as the Display name
    – Eric Barr
    Commented Oct 19, 2018 at 14:51
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    worked for me yesterday for any user, gmail or another. thanks a lot.
    – serge
    Commented Mar 21, 2019 at 16:18
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    The only drawback here is that the users get an email saying that they have been added to a list they thought they were already on. It would be great if this could be done behind the scenes somehow so as not to confuse people (and it definitely will...)
    – Brie
    Commented Apr 25, 2019 at 15:32
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How to set the display name for group members in Google Groups?

Group managers can't edit the display names of the group members but they can change the member identity settings. Check out the official help article in references to learn about the available options.

References

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    what is the question about, and what is the answer about...
    – serge
    Commented Mar 18, 2019 at 14:28
  • @Serge Have you experience using Google Groups? What about creating and managing groups on Google Groups? Commented Mar 18, 2019 at 17:11
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    OP asked how to change the display name, not how to change the identity settings. Fortunately, the @peter answer worked, by removing and then adding the member using the specified format
    – serge
    Commented Mar 21, 2019 at 16:16
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    but what kind of alternative is that? is like someone asking for a good restaurant and you recommend a very cool swimming pool
    – serge
    Commented Mar 22, 2019 at 9:34
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    I agree with @Serge; this doesn't answer the original question. Commented Mar 22, 2019 at 12:03

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