> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://distance.gitbook.io/distance/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://distance.gitbook.io/distance/getting-started/contacts/lists-and-segments.md).
# Lists & Segments
Lists & segments help your team organize contacts for targeted outreach, filtering, and automation workflows in Distance.
### **Introduction**
The **Lists & Segments** feature allows you to group contacts either manually or dynamically using rules and conditions. This helps your team organize audiences for SMS campaigns, follow-ups, automations, and customer management.
**Lists** are static groups where contacts are manually selected, while **Segments** automatically update based on configured conditions. Together, they help ensure the right contacts are always included as your customer data grows and changes.
***
### **Accessing Lists & Segments**
Navigate to **Contacts**, then click the **Lists & Segments** tab.
The **Lists & Segments** page displays all created lists and segments in your account.
Available columns include:
* **Name**
* **Type**
* **Contacts**
* **Created**
* **Edit** button
You can also use the filter dropdown to display only lists or only segments.
***
### **Creating a list or segment**
Click **Create** to open the **Create new** window.
Choose what you would like to create:
* **Segment** - Create a dynamic segment using conditions or rules
* **List** - Manually select specific contacts to create a list
Enter the **Segment name** or **List name** depending on the selected type.
Click **Create** to continue.
***
### **Understanding segments**
Segments automatically update based on the conditions you configure. Contacts are added or removed dynamically as their information changes and matches the configured rules.
After creating a segment, the page displays two tabs: [**Members**](#members-tab) and [**Conditions**](#conditions-tab).
#### **Members tab**
The **Members** tab displays all contacts currently included in the segment based on the active conditions.
When a segment is first created without any conditions applied, all contacts are displayed by default.
The tab label displays the current number of matching contacts, such as "**5 Members**". The number of contacts is also indicated under the **Segment** name.
The table displays the following information:
* **Name**
* **Email**
* **Phone**
* **Date added**
You can also click the **information icon** beside a contact to open that contact’s information page.
#### **Conditions tab**
The **Conditions** tab is where you configure the rules used to build the segment.
Click **+** **Add condition** to create a filtering rule.
Below this, you can set how conditions are evaluated using **Include contacts who match**, with a dropdown for **All (AND)** and **Any (OR)**.
Each condition is made up of two dropdowns:
* The left dropdown to select a contact field or custom property
* The right dropdown to select the operator
Available operators change based on the selected field or property type. For [**Custom properties**](/distance/getting-started/settings/custom-properties.md#custom-properties), operators depend on the **Property type**. For more details, see [**Property type**](/distance/getting-started/settings/custom-properties.md#property-type) in [**Settings**](/distance/getting-started/settings.md).
* **Text**
* **Number**
* **Date & Time**
* **Dropdown**
***
### **Condition preview**
The **Condition preview** section shows a summary of how your segment rules will behave as you build them.
This section displays a readable summary of the configured conditions and an estimated number of matching contacts.
After reviewing your rules, click **Apply condition** to update the segment membership preview and apply the filtering logic.
***
### **Understanding lists**
**Lists** are manually managed groups of contacts and do not update automatically based on conditions.
Unlike segments, lists give your team full control over which contacts are included, making them useful for curated audiences, one-time outreach, or specific campaign groups.
Each list can be managed with the available action buttons:
* **Rename** – Update the list name.
* **Delete** – Remove the list.
* **+ Add contacts** – Open the contact selector to manage list members.
When you click **+ Add contacts**, the **Add contacts to the list** window opens.
From here, you can select multiple contacts to add them to the list. Contacts that are already included can also be unchecked to remove them from the list.
Click **Update list** to save your changes or **Cancel** to close the window.
