Mail merge lets you create emails that are personalized for each recipient. For example, an email might be personalized to refer to each recipient by name.
1. Create an Excel file. This Excel file should contain fields for name, email address, and the other fields you want to merge. You will need to have a header row with field names like “Name” and “Email”. It is a good idea to put your (the senders) name and email address as the first & last record in the data file – this is explained further below. An example data file is as follows:
2. Save and close the Excel file.
3. Open Outlook in the profile you want to send from. You will do the merge from Word, but Outlook must be open.
4. Open Word and create a new document. Type or paste your entire email message into this document.
5. Click the Mailings tab. Click "Start Mail Merge" (located in the ribbon) and choose “Step-by-Step Mail Merge Wizard.” The Mail Merge window should pop up on the right of your screen.
6. On the right, choose “E-mail messages." Then, at the bottom, click “Next: Starting document".
7. On the right, choose “Use the current document." Then, at the bottom, click “Next: Select recipients”.
8. On the right, choose “Use an existing list”. Then, just below that, click "Browse...".
9. Locate and select the Excel file you created in steps 1 and 2. If you are prompted for Sheet1$, Sheet2$,... choose Sheet1$, Click OK.
10. You should now see a simple version of your Excel data. If you want, you can uncheck some addresses that you do not want to send to. Otherwise, click OK.
11. On the bottom right, click “Next: Write your e-mail message”.
12. If you want to personalize your email – do the following:
a. Click in the email where you want a field to appear.
b. On the right, click more items.
c. Double click the desired field from your data file. This should put <<Column_Name>> in the Word Document. If you have more fields to add, do the same steps. Remember to put spaces and commas where they are needed.
d. When finished, click "Close" on the Insert Merge Field window.
13. On the bottom right, click “Next: Preview your e-mail messages." Now, on the top right, you can click through multiple records (this will only make a difference if you personalized the message).
14. If the emails look correct, then choose “Next: Complete the merge” (located in the lower right).
15. Click "Electronic Mail..."
16. In the TO: drop down, choose the field in your data file that contains the email addresses. Then, enter your subject in the Subject Line and choose HTML as mail format.
As mentioned in step 1, it is a good idea to put your (the senders) name and email address as the first record in the Excel file. This is because now you can send a sample mailing to yourself (pending you put your record as #1) to see a test of the message. To do this choose “FROM 1 to 1” and Click OK to send.
17. Once you have entered who you want to send the email message to (whether it be all or from a specific row to a specific row), click OK to send.
18. You should have Outlook minimized from step 3. Open Outlook again. You can look at the Outbox folder to see the progress of your merge. Do not try to open any other applications while the merge is running. Do not try to open any of the non-delivery messages that you might be receiving – wait until merge is done running before you do ANYTHING else. Do not close Word or Outlook.
As mentioned in step 1, it is a good idea to put your (the senders) name and email address as the last record in the Excel file. This is because once you get a second copy of the message in your inbox, you know the message has been sent to everyone.
If you turned off “Save copies of messages in the sent items folder,” you might want to turn this back on.
After the merge is done, work on the non-delivery messages you received. The non-delivery messages will indicate what the issue was. If you get some non-delivery for improperly formatted addresses, fix these in your original data source. You will need to resend only the records that you have corrected. We recommend using a separate Excel file. Some messages may be returned because the receiving mailbox is full – there isn’t really anything you can do about these.