Use mail merge in Word to send bulk email messages
Applies ToWord for Microsoft 365 Word for Microsoft 365 for Mac Word 2024 Word 2024 for Mac Word 2021 Word 2021 for Mac Word 2019 Word 2019 for Mac Word 2016

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 already created to open in Microsoft Word. 

  • Go to Mailings > Start Mail Merge > E-mail Messages.

    Start mail merge with Email messages selected

The mailing list is your data source. For more information, see Data sources you can use for a mail merge.

Tips

  • 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.

Make sure your data source has a column for email addresses and that there is an email address for every intended recipient.

  1. Go to Mailings > Select Recipients.

  2. Choose a data source. For more information, see Data sources you can use for a mail merge.

  3. Choose File > Save.

To learn more about editing, sorting, or filtering your mailing list, see Mail merge: Edit recipients.

  1. Go to Mailings > Greeting Line.

  2. Choose a format. 

  3. Choose OK to insert the merge field.

  4. 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.

  1. Choose Preview Results, and then choose Next Next record button for mail merge preview results or Previous Previous record button for mail merge preview results to see the names and addresses in the body of your letter.

    Screenshot of the Mailings tab in Word, showing the Preview Results group.

  2. Choose Finish & Merge > Send E-mail Messages.

    Screenshot of the Mailings tab in Word, showing the Finish & Merge command and its options.

  3. 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, 

  4. In the Subject line box, type a subject line for the message.

  5. 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. 

  6. 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.

  7. Choose OK to run mail merge.

Go to File > Save. When you save the main document, you also save its connection to the data source. To reuse, open the document and answer Yes when prompted to keep the connection to the data source.

See also

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