How to use mail merge to send bulk email messages

mail-merge

Overview

To be able to send bulk email via mail merge, you must already have installed a MAPI-compatible email program such as Outlook or Gmail.

The following process assumes that you already have the message you intend to send created and open in Microsoft Word.

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Details / Instructions

Windows
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Prepare your main document
- Go to Mailings > Start Mail Merge > Email Messages
Setup your mailing list
- The mailing list is your data source. For more information, see Data sources you can use for a mail merge.
  - If you don’t have a mailing list, you will be able to create one during mail merge.
  - If you are using an Excel spreadsheet as your data source, format the ZIP/postal codes as text to avoid auto-deletion of any leading zeroes. For more information, see Format mail merge numbers, dates, and other values in Excel.
  - If you want to use your Outlook contacts as a list source, make sure Outlook is your default email program and is the same version as Word.
Link your mailing list to your email message
- Make sure your data source has a column for email addresses and that there is an email address for every intended recipient.
  - Go to Mailings > Select Recipients.
  - Choose a data source. For more information, see Data sources you can use for a mail merge.
  - Choose File > Save.
Add personalized content to the email message
- Go to Mailings > Greeting Line.
- Choose a format.
- Choose OK to insert the merge field.
- Choose File > Save .
  - You can add other fields from your data source to your email message. For more information about this, see Insert mail merge fields.
    
    Note: After inserting fields, you will need to format your email manually.
  - To learn how to fix any missing part of your addresses or other fields, see Mail merge: Match Fields.
  - To change the font, size, or spacing of the merged content, select the merge field name and make the needed changes.
Preview & finish
- Choose Preview Results, and then choose Next or Previous to see the names and addresses in the body of your letter.
- Choose Finish & Merge > Send E-mail Messages.
- In the To box, choose the email address column or field from your mailing list.
  - Note: Word sends an individual message to each email address. You cannot CC or BCC other recipients. You cannot add attachments, but you can include links,
- In the Subject line box, type a subject line for the message.
- In the Mail format box, choose HTML (the default setting) or choose Plain text to send the document as the body of the email message.
- Under Send records, select one of the following
  - All records (default).
  - Current record only the record viewable on your screen is sent the message.
  - From and To send only a range of records.
- Choose OK to run mail merge.

Mac
Show

Create main document in Word
- Go to Mailings > Start Mail Merge > Email Messages.
- In Word, created the email message that you intend to send.
Setup mailing list
- The mailing list is your data source. For more info, see Data sources you can use for a mail merge.
  - If you don’t have a mailing list, you can create one during mail merge.
  - If you're using an Excel spreadsheet, format the ZIP/postal codes column as text to avoid auto deletion of leading zeroes. For more information about this, see Format mail merge numbers, dates, and other values in Excel.
  - If you want to use your Outlook contacts, make sure Outlook is your default email program and is the same version as Word.
Link mailing list to your email message
- Make sure your data source has a column for email addresses and that there's an email address for each intended recipient.
  - Go to Mailings > Select Recipients.
  - Choose a data source. For more info, see Data sources you can use for a mail merge.
  - Choose File > Save.
Add & format merge fields
- Go to Mailings > Insert Merge Field, and then choose the fields to add.
- In your document, select Drag fields into this box or type text, and select the text to remove it.
- Add and format the fields you want to be included in the email message, then select OK.
Preview & send
- Go to Mailings > Preview Results to see how the email messages look.
  
  To scroll through each email message, use the left and right arrow buttons on the Mailings tab.
- Select Preview Results again to add or remove merge fields.
- When ready, go to Mailings > Finish & Merge > Merge to E-Mail.
  - Merge to E-Mail is unavailable if you have not selected your default email program.
- Choose the To merge field, the subject, and whether to send as text, HTML, or as an attachment. When you send as an attachment, the email has no body text; instead, the message is sent as an attached document.
- Select Mail Merge To Outbox.